Melt my Heart - Aaron Jeremiah

On our second day of working at the hospital, we continued with our well-baby checks and got to see lots of little ones. Some baby clothes had been donated and so we picked out outfits to give the little ones that came in.

One afternoon, Jeri pulled me aside and asked if I could bring an outfit for a little boy who had been born at the hospital, but missed the Blessing Ceremony that we had for them. He was about 6 months old and I had to dig through all the girly outfits we had for something for a little guy that looked like it would fit him.

When I brought it out to him, I asked his mom if I could hold him for a bit. I loved it - I just love babies, so it made my day. So we took some selfies together

And then he fell asleep. In my arms. Bliss.

So I walked around with him for a while with him sleeping in my arms gave his mom some time to be with her mother (the main reason they were at the hospital in the first place).

He just snuggled there for what seemed like an hour. And then he woke up and soon after it was time for me to leave the hospital. Such a sweet little guy.

Melted my heart.

Melt my Heart...just the beginning

Just last week, I returned from a 2 week medical missions trip to Kampala, Uganda. It seems so cliche to say that it changed my life. But it did. I'm not sure how exactly to describe that change. But my heart melted. Time and time again.

I've never been one to blog and write down every detail of what happened on a trip - there's just too much to capture, and I've never been able to keep up with my own journal detailing a trip...so what I want to do here is to share and remember the moments that melted my heart. Many of them have long stories and backgrounds, some were just brief instances. But these are the memories that are going to live long in my heart.

I never learned this precious girl's name. She never said anything to me. We were touring a government hospital, conditions were not ideal. I'm not sure anyone in the States would be willing to accept health care from a hospital like this one - but it's what they have. As we were wrapping up our tour, we visited the pediatric outpatient clinic. A few of us had stopped to talk to a little girl who was wearing her best dress - it was beautiful and she was so proud of it. As we were talking to her, this little one climbed down from her chair, toddled down the stairs and toddled straight to me.

She never said a word. She just stood there by me. So I knelt down and asked her if I could give her a hug. She came closer and hugged me. When I let go of her, she toddled to the others and then just stared at us as we had to leave to catch up with the rest of our group. I just wanted to scoop her up and hold her longer.

Melted my heart.