12 Feb Grateful Hearts: Giving Thanks to What’s Important
In keeping with the month of love, our children wanted to take the opportunity to share the things they love the most, and more importantly, reflect upon the love of God in their lives.
Last weekend, in both Kitalale and Kikuyu, our children and staff gathered to express their love, gratitude and respect in the form of gratitude hearts. Sweet moments were shared where the older children shared snippets of things they are grateful for, while the younger ones shared what they love the most.
In order to capture these moments, the children drew hearts and coloured them in with their favorite colours and patterns. The excitement and expressions on their faces as they participated in the project was priceless. The children drew a huge heart sign at the center of the paper then coloured it to their preference. Each child also drew small hearts around it and then wrote something they were thankful for. We had a wide range of heartwarming stories.
The range of colours and patterns used which painted a picture of their gratitude was amazing. They really have a flair for creativity.
All of the children made an effort to share their feelings and put pen to paper to write about them. In fact, some of the children, like Meshack from our Kitalale home worked so hard to describe his gratitude using the little English vocabulary he knows. We are so proud!
Gratitude Highlights in Kitalale
In Kitalale, Gloria, Irene, Rebecca and Abraham led the children in the exercise. They were incredibly humbled by their heartwarming words and proud that each of them tried to either write or express their gratitude in words.
Here are some of the gratitude highlights from our Kitalale home:
- Joy said she was so grateful for a home full of loving uncles, aunties and family of many sisters and brothers
- Esther said she is grateful for the opportunity to play all sorts of games she wants
- Sammy Chesiro expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to play soccer, a game he loves so much
- Aaron was grateful to have been assisted to start keeping pigeon pets which is so dear to his heart. On weekends, Aaron wakes up and goes straight to the pigeon house to feed and play with them before he starts other day chores
- Sarah Chelimo expressed her gratitude for church members from the local church they attend. She said she has made friends with some girls her age at the church something which makes her look forward to Sundays
- Praise Chesomek was thankful for the help from Aunties and Uncles with School work whenever she needed them
- Meshack was grateful for the worn out vehicle tires which they push around as toys. He loves anything to do with mechanics and can often be found imitating drivers, pilots and mechanics
Grateful Hearts in Kikuyu
In our Kikuyu home, Uncle Sam, and our Aunties, Elizabeth, Damaris and Cecilia, helped the children express, draw and write about what they are thankful for. The children loved getting creative and colourful.
We couldn’t wait to share some of the gratitude highlights from Kikuyu:
- Amos Oliech expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to nurture his talents like singing and dancing. He also thanked God for His love and all the blessings upon everyone at the home
- Elijah was grateful for always having yummy food
- Rose was appreciative of the many Aunties and Uncles who care for them at the home
- Esther Moraa was thankful for the gift of life and friends at school
- Josephine was grateful for the help she receives from everybody around the home
- Michael was thankful for the love received by the many brothers and sisters at the home
- Mercy was grateful for the opportunity to advance her passion in cooking by helping her get enrolled in one of the best training colleges in Kenya.
One thing that came up time and time again was being part of a large loving family. That has always been one of our principles at both of our homes; offering a safe and loving place for our children to call home, with brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles. We encourage our children to express what they’re passionate about and do activities that they enjoy, so hearing many of them give thanks to their activities, brothers and sisters, education and friends is heartwarming.
The day ended with all of the children coming together to celebrate their gratitude. It was such a fun day for all! We’re looking forward to displaying all of the gratitude posters in our homes as a constant reminder to be thankful to God for what He has given us.
So much fun was had by all…
