Home SWEET Home!

Hello everyone!

Yes! I am writing this blog update from my house in Ocean View, on my own couch, in my own clothes, as Kyle and one of our new Ubuntu interns, Ben play X-box and Kieren takes a second deep nap in her OWN crib. PRAISE! We got discharged this morning and couldn't be happier. The doctors were amazed and very pleased by Kieren's progress in the past 24 hours as her swelling went down, she opened her eyes, started walking, playing, and obviously was feeling much better. They opened her dressing today, checked her wounds, and decided she was ready to go home. She is still bandaged up like a little mummy, with only eye slits and mouth slit on her face, but you can see the beauty of this sweet girl anyways. Casey and I were talking about how somehow, even though most of her body is bandaged up, she is still as cute as ever! We brought her home, she slept the whole way and two hours in her bed on arrival. I think she just missed being at home and feels so at peace being back! Then we fed her a bit and took her outside to see her 'friends.' This was actually much hardened then I envisioned it in my mind, because the kids and people of the community have already begun to crowd around her with google eyes of pain and sadness. Uggh, it's just hard to have everyone STARE at her, and shudder at her pain. I am just so glad that she doesn't UNDERSTAND how they are looking at her, but I think it hurts me a bit. I keep reminding myself that the mummy look is temporary and she will be back to her beautiful self soon. It makes you question your desire for vanity, even for your kids, and definitely challenges me to question how I look at others. Is beauty really deeper than just what we see on the outside? For Kieren it surely is, but I know God is teaching me this lesson among SO many.

Kieren was a bit overwhelmed with all the people and new surroundings to get use to, so she was a bit whiny, but I passed her on to her granny, who was happy to sit with her outside and help her adjust. She quickly did and loved watching all the happenings of our yard today. Jacoba even put her in the stroller, which she loves, and she eventually fell asleep there until Jacoba transferred her to her crib for another nap. Sweet, sweet Kieren. We are praying for more miraculous recovery by the day and for her to adjust to her new life with the bandages and pain.

For me, I am doing okay, but recognizing that as we are moving out of survival mode, I am going to need to work through many different thoughts and feelings. It has been a traumatic experience for me as well. I do not have ANY guilt about the burns, I know they were completely an accident, but just the sadness of seeing Kieren in pain and the heaviness of days in a hospital nursing her to health has been incredibly difficult. I have never, EVER had to lean on God and His strength in the way I have this week. As we drove into our home of Ocean View this morning, in some ways it seemed like we never left, but at the same time I feel like a completely different person. The Prince's will never be the same, I am know and trust it's only for the better. God is working ALL these things for His good and I continue to see MANY of His scriptures come alive in our world. I have had many friends who are mothers reach out to me during this week, knowing that this accident has affected me in a personally emotional way, and it is true. But God is walking with me through every feeling and thought and will also HEAL me in every way. I take great comfort in our God and feel His mighty hands upon me.

Thanks for the continued prayers family - how God has bonded US together in an extraordinary way even across the world!

Lots of love,
Sarah