One Maroon Balloon

April 13 2014

            This weekend I got to be a Mommy! I wrote about a boy named Bonga whose mother has rejected him and now stays at CATCH. He is such a polite and sweet little thing; it just broke my heart to hear his story. He needs a Mommy, so I decided to take him home with me. Little Bonga got into our car on Saturday morning, reserved and quiet. He walked into the house, sat on the couch with his hands in his pockets and a straight face.

            It took a couple attempts at conversation to realize he doesn’t understand much English. I had to take another approach at making Bonga feel at home and comfortable. Slowly, with every action, he started to loosen up. I asked him if he likes to swim and he responded, “no”. This surprised me, so I acted it out to make sure he understood. After waving my arms through the air in a mock breaststroke, he smiled and nodded, “yes!” We went to the swimming pool. All of his discomfort disintegrated as he jumped and splashed in the chlorine-blue waters. He kept repeatedly dunking his face into the water like he was bobbing for apples. Then he waved his dripping wet arms in the air and yelled out, “Happy!!” Coincidently (or not so) when this action occurred, a maroon balloon happened to be floating airplane high in the clear sky. Bonga pointed to the balloon and said, “Emilee, look!!” He was overly happy to see that balloon and kept pointing until it became too tiny to see. Since the pool was such a success, I thought a visit to the ocean would be even more exhilarating.  I’m not sure what word to use here that would accurately express how much he enjoyed our visit to the ocean. He ran toward the sea, tackling each crashing wave like a linebacker in football. Then we sat on the beach and I watched in amazement at how much that little tummy could eat. With a satisfied tummy, he ran back toward the water. I enjoyed standing at the waters edge (mommy stance) with one hand creating a shield from the sun and the other on my hip and watching little Bonga enjoy the sea, smiling from ear to ear.

            Previous to making the spontaneous decision to bring home Bonga, I was invited to a friends place for supper, Zana. She is a high school art teacher with a very big heart for Jesus. Once she heard about her students living situation, she decided to make her home available to them. Zana expected no more than three girls to move in. Instead, six girls moved in with her. Bonga and I went to her place, where a completely new side of Bonga surfaced. The girls would talk to Bonga (in Xhosa) and he actually said a lot! They would translate for me, and he is really funny! Sometimes, he would break out in song and even rap in Xhosa. I could actually feel the massive amounts of love inside that home. It was clear that these girls had become family. Bonga lead us in few card games and the girls played with my hair and twisted it into a bodacious up do. I enjoyed a taste of mommy-hood, as Bonga didn’t leave my side. It was a late night but Bonga wasn’t appearing tired one bit. When we arrived home, there was a surprise waiting in my room. My housemates had blanketed the room with balloons. It was like a big birthday surprise! We played slow motion volleyball and then stacked all the balloons on the bed for story time.

            You know, I quite like this whole “mommy hood” thing. It’s so important for women to feel needed. It’s naturally within us to want to provide for others physical needs like food and love. That’s all we need in this life anyways, right? Picking out clothes, making lunches, brushing teeth, holding hands, reading books, watching movies, snuggling, and bedtime prayers just make my mommy heart happy. When I sent him off to Sunday school, I felt like I was sending him off to college. I suffer from MMAS (My Mothers Attachment Syndrome). I’m self-diagnosed, but the symptoms are pretty strong. I get it from my Momma, who naturally wants everybody that she meets to live in her home because she doesn’t want them too far away. I would love to have a home like Zana to share with dozens of sweet little ones. The Internet has been down so I haven’t contacted anyone from home. So don’t hate and I think I forgot y’all, cause dat ain’t da case.

            My mind is still running like an active hamster on a hamster wheel. Going round and round. I just pray that God hides these dreams deep in my heart and waters them. Even after I return to America and have other obligations, let this well of dreams never run dry. It brings me to tears that God would desire to use me. That he would plant these dreams in my heart, and then lay clues along the way like a scavenger hunt for me to discover. Speaking of which, Easter is just on the horizon! My favorite holiday because… my Savior lives!!

Goodnight!

xoxo