When Smiles Come Full Circle
BACKSTORY:
On Carter's 1st birthday, we decided to do a fund raiser for Operation Smile in lieu of gifts - he didn't need anything and we couldn't think of a better way to celebrate his first year of life, than by giving the gift of a forever smile to someone else. We were blown away with so many generous donations and we exceeded our fundraising goal by 4 times the amount we had set out to raise!
A year ago, Shaun and I joined a small group through our church and made several new and lasting friendships with some really wonderful people that we have grown to love so much. One of these dear couples is from El Salvador, naturalized into the USA, and are bilingual. My friend Kriscia works for Delta at Heartsfield Jackson and is often pulled to translate and interpret for Spanish speaking passengers.
YESTERDAY:
Kriscia was pulled from her post for a special Spanish speaking job. A Mom and baby were passing through ATL and had a 4 hour layover. They were from Peru and spoke no English. This Mom was traveling to the States for her almost 12 month old baby to receive a Forever Smile surgery and they were being funded by none other than Operation Smile!!! As Kriscia sat with this overwhelmed and terrified Mom the whole story unfolded. This precious baby was not loved unconditionally by the community around them and this precious Mama was going to whatever lengths she could to give hime the best, most normal life possible. Thus her trip to the USA. She was scared to hand her baby over to the surgeons, scared that no one here spoke her language, scared that his surgery wouldn't be successful - she was exactly where every cleft parent finds themselves. Terrified of the unknowns of everything about having a cleft affected child. BUT there was Kriscia. I have no doubt in my mind that God fully orchestrated this meeting and a significant layover so that Kriscia would be the one who sat with this woman. She told this sweet Mama all about our story, about Carter, his surgery, and his life since. She showed her pictures from my Facebook page and encouraged this sweet Mama that all would be well for her son. She reassured her that the hospital would have someone who could translate everything for her, encouraged this Mama's heart that her son would one day be a happy, healthy little boy like Carter, and promised to pray for them as they continued on their journey towards his Forever Smile.
We are simply amazed at the goodness of God today! Isn't that so like God? He cared enough about this woman and her baby to align all of those moments for her, to meet her exactly where she was, and turn her worried filled heart into a peace filled one. When people ask us why we share our story so publicly, THIS is our why! How amazing to see all of this come full circle and to know that God is using Carter's story to love the hearts of people we will never meet and that they will be blessed and encouraged because of it.
On Carter's 1st birthday, we decided to do a fund raiser for Operation Smile in lieu of gifts - he didn't need anything and we couldn't think of a better way to celebrate his first year of life, than by giving the gift of a forever smile to someone else. We were blown away with so many generous donations and we exceeded our fundraising goal by 4 times the amount we had set out to raise!
A year ago, Shaun and I joined a small group through our church and made several new and lasting friendships with some really wonderful people that we have grown to love so much. One of these dear couples is from El Salvador, naturalized into the USA, and are bilingual. My friend Kriscia works for Delta at Heartsfield Jackson and is often pulled to translate and interpret for Spanish speaking passengers.
YESTERDAY:
Kriscia was pulled from her post for a special Spanish speaking job. A Mom and baby were passing through ATL and had a 4 hour layover. They were from Peru and spoke no English. This Mom was traveling to the States for her almost 12 month old baby to receive a Forever Smile surgery and they were being funded by none other than Operation Smile!!! As Kriscia sat with this overwhelmed and terrified Mom the whole story unfolded. This precious baby was not loved unconditionally by the community around them and this precious Mama was going to whatever lengths she could to give hime the best, most normal life possible. Thus her trip to the USA. She was scared to hand her baby over to the surgeons, scared that no one here spoke her language, scared that his surgery wouldn't be successful - she was exactly where every cleft parent finds themselves. Terrified of the unknowns of everything about having a cleft affected child. BUT there was Kriscia. I have no doubt in my mind that God fully orchestrated this meeting and a significant layover so that Kriscia would be the one who sat with this woman. She told this sweet Mama all about our story, about Carter, his surgery, and his life since. She showed her pictures from my Facebook page and encouraged this sweet Mama that all would be well for her son. She reassured her that the hospital would have someone who could translate everything for her, encouraged this Mama's heart that her son would one day be a happy, healthy little boy like Carter, and promised to pray for them as they continued on their journey towards his Forever Smile.
We are simply amazed at the goodness of God today! Isn't that so like God? He cared enough about this woman and her baby to align all of those moments for her, to meet her exactly where she was, and turn her worried filled heart into a peace filled one. When people ask us why we share our story so publicly, THIS is our why! How amazing to see all of this come full circle and to know that God is using Carter's story to love the hearts of people we will never meet and that they will be blessed and encouraged because of it.
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