After four months with a very full house, the Miriam Home has calmed down. From the beginning of November to the end of February we averaged 24 children in the Miriam Home at any given moment. These months are Brazil’s summer vacation for school, so we had a lot of children full of energy and with too much time on their hands - you can imagine that everyone was pitching in to keep order!
In March the family situations for a lot of the children were resolved and the kids started leaving, until right now we have just seven children in the house (another extreme - this time lower than normal).
After a 1:12 house mom to child ratio (or 1:24 at night!) 1:3 seems pretty mild, but there is a special blessing in this quieter moment. All of the children presently in the house are here because their families are more complicated and it will be a while before they join family members or are released for adoption. The blessing here is that we have a lot longer to be able to pray over and minister to these young lives.
Let me introduce you to our gang, starting with the youngest. Emily and Nicholas have been with us for several months, and both have blossomed since they arrived. Emily came to us because of extreme abuse and arrived terrified of everyone. As time passed she grew to trust, first the house moms, then the rest of the staff and the other children. She has shown herself to be a loving, very bright, precious little girl. At two and a half she is growing more and more confidant. We are praying that our little angel will carry no memory of what happened before she came to the Miriam Home and that the Lord will open the doors for her to be adopted in to the family He has chosen for her.
Nicholas is the same age as Emily, and has been here since November. 
Editor’s note: You can read about the other children who are currently at the Infant Home here.
