What Does Love Mean?

Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you. Is 49:15

I had a plan, knew pretty much what I wanted to say to you, but this letter changed at 11:55 this morning. That is when the familiar white car pulled up, the one that belongs to the juvenile authorities. It only appears when children are arriving or leaving and since I knew no one was scheduled to leave… sure enough three little people came to join our family: two brothers Luis (about 6), Kaiwan (about 5) and baby sister Nicole (5 months).

Right now there is a lot we don’t know about the children (like their last name, their exact ages) but it is heart breaking to see all we do know. First, there is Nicole. She has thin hair, a poor appetite and cries without stopping. Her mom is a crack addict and an alcoholic, it is easy to see the effect of the mother’s actions on her child. Then there are her big brothers. It is unusual to see children arrive at the Miriam Home dried eyed, but these two little boys didn’t shed a tear as they climbed out of the car. There was no request for mom, no complaints that they wanted to go home. It appears the “home” doesn’t mean much to these little ones.

After taking a shower, receiving clean clothes and seeing where they are going to sleep (a kind of scary idea—each of them has their own bed! At home all three slept on a mattress), the boys sat at the table to have chocolate milk and a sandwich. They began to tell their story, not complaining or criticizing, just stating the facts the way children do. “I like chocolate milk for breakfast - my mom likes beer, but when she drinks it she drools. Do you drool?” By this time the children had been in the house two hours and Nicole hadn’t stopped crying. The house moms tried giving her milk, a light oatmeal dish and a baby food made with corn starch that is popular, but Nicole would have none of them. Luis went the house mom and said “you have to put pinga (a type of cheap alcohol) in it, that’s what mom does”.

As I said, there is a lot we don’t know. We were told that the children were removed from their mother by force; she maybe devastated right now. It is certainly possible that this young woman feels that it is an injustice that her children were removed, she may think she loves them. But love is demonstrated in our actions. These three small children have already discovered that they take second place to pinga, beer and crack. Now they have a chance to see what it means to be loved and cared for. Please pray for Luis, Kaiwan and Nicole, that they will learn what real love is. And pray for the house moms and all of us who help with these children, that we will show, in word and deed, the heart of the Father!

Editor’s note:  This is just part of Jonni Sliver’s June Newsletter.  Please visit here to read the entire newsletter including  how WMF quilts are a blessing at the Miriam Infant Home, prayer requests, and more!