Tear Streaks and Naptime Prayers

Two things that almost made me (Nick) cry today as I was putting the girls down for their naps this afternoon. The first was from Hailey. The more I get to know her, the more I think she is so much like me. Today, we were having lunch at Pappy and yaya's house. Mommy was going up to the office to send some emails and I had finished class so I was going to take the girls down to our house for their naps and do some homework while they slept. There is a long stretch of apartment like housing where the staff stay and then beyond that is the courtyard where classes are and student housing and then after that is the offices. Pappy and Yaya live on the front end of the staff housing and we live all the way down at the end. Hannah and I left pappy and yaya's and headed down toward our house. All of a sudden, Hannah said, where is Hailey? I turned around and she was marching her little self all by herself past the staff housing, almost to the courtyard another fifty yards away, almost to the offices past that. Hannah and I followed at a distance to see how far she would go. She passed students, staff, workers, throwing her arms backing and forth, swaying her hips and stomping her little feet, not afraid of a thing! She had no idea we were behind her. She knew exactly where she wanted to go and she was just fine getting there by herself. In the distance, I saw a problem. A Tanzanian that wanted to greet Hailey. So far, she hadn't been noticed, but now, this little white girl in a sea of Tanzanians realized she was outnumbered. She looked up a the young person that said hello and I could see in her that she felt lost. She turned right around and ran back toward home. Crying all the way until she turned the corner and saw Hannah and me waiting for her there. As I picked her up, and took her home, placing her in her bed for her nap, I looked down at her little face and could see tear streaks on her cheeks. Her little face was so dirty from the dust that covers everything here that you could see the troughs running down her face as the water rushed through like the rivers. When it rains here you can always see the signs of the rain. things have changed. You see a difference in the terrain. some roads are clean, others are left with debris, but everything is a little different. The leaves on the trees are rinsed, roofs look like they have been swept, puddles are left everywhere. As i saw the change that the streaks of made on Hailey's face, I felt like I wanted to cry because I could see that she is changing. I could see that she is different than she was when she came and so am I. I have gotten used to her face being dirty. She loves the dust. Its like the entire world is her own personal sandbox and she can't get enough of it. I've become accustom to Hailey constantly having a thin layer of dust all over her, and she has changed too. She is becoming her adventurous self again. She is turning into the hailey she was in America, only now, she is the hailey in Africa. She can march herself wherever she wants again. She is not confined anymore to mommy's hip or daddy's arms, but she is free again to be Hailey.
The second thing that almost led me to tears today during nap time was the sound of my daughter's voice in prayer as I left hailey in her room on my way into our room. Hannah was in our room, sitting up in the bed, talking to her Lord and I was eavesdropping. I heard her little 3 1/2 (almost 4, daddy) year old voice crying out to God. She said, in teh quietness of her prayer, "please tell them that I am crying right now." And then she began to cry.
I walked into the room slowly, not wanting to interrupt her prayers, but wanting to hear her heart for myself. She said, "I was praying that Jesus would go and tell all of my friends in Wenatchee that I miss them and that I am crying right now....all except Mya because I think she is probably on Skype and I was going to tell her myself." She began to tell me all about her friends, about how much she misses all of them; Mya, Emma, Kaylie, Lana, I really Amy, Grandma, I really miss my Grandma, Oh, and Grace, Grace is gonna be my age when I get back, and Oakley, and Abby, and Auntie Sarah, and Uncle Phil..." After all of this, she said, "I really wish that I would have given all of my friends a bigger hug before I left...I want to go home" I was tempted to just hold her and feel so sad that she had to be here where she does not feel at home yet. But instead, I felt this surge of pride and thankfulness. I was so proud of my little girl that she knew where to go when she felt alone. I was so proud of my eldest daughter that she trusted Jesus to be able to deliver a message for her. I was so proud of my wife and my family and all of my friends, all of you that have had a part in my daughter's life, teaching her that Jesus is real, he is here, and he hears us when we pray. Thank you. thank you for helping my baby to know Jesus. And then, I felt so thankful to Jesus that he has given my little girl an opportunity to pray. I was so thankful that he brought us here, to a place that is different than we are used to and given Hannah a reason to cry out to him. Thank you Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you.