This week for my blog I want to talk about our 2 girls that are here. Now we can't give out their names or too many personal details, so I'm going to give them pseudo names: Nellie and Raquel. They are both young teenage girls and are working towards getting their GED during their time here. They've both been here a little over a month and a half, and I have loved watching them have real moments of desire and interest in Jesus and His story and scriptures.
Raquel is the more extroverted one, she likes to be around the staff and will take any amount of free time to play games with us: Rummikub and War have been the big ones. I taught her to play ERS (my favorite) and try not to get too competitive against her.... is this how being a parent feels? Do I have to sacrifice my pride in winning to let my kid win every time? Let's just say I haven't lost ERS just yet. :) The Lord has been gracious to Raquel and given her a family that is supportive and drives 1.5 hours weekly to see her during visitation hours every Saturday. She's extroverted but you have to really give great efforts to get her talking. She's got a stone face when she's not interacting with anyone, but there's not much that brings me more joy than breaking a smile on her face. I've learned interacting with her means patience and not worrying which reaction I'll get from her. Her baby girl is due July 17th. The issue here is that I'm leaving July 5th, so I told her we're going to work together to make this baby come before I leave. Walks and more walks she says is how this will happen, we're doing this!
Nellie is much more introverted. She's an artsy one- loves to read and write poetry. She's got these cute headbands she wears over her forehead. She's a tiny little thing and beautiful. Nellie informed us at dinner last night that she's a great rapper. Who knew?? Raquel plays the piano, and Nellie raps, it's my goal to get them to perform for me before I'm out of here! I may have to break out the guitar in return. Nellie has battled real pain in her past // abuse and the death of a brother. She won't talk about any of it, and has good days, and real bad days where she closes herself off from us all. She goes into her world of a book and has moments where she's completely not compliant with anything at the Vine. At Nellie's appointment last week we learned her baby girl is not growing like she should. Her placenta is not attached like it's suppose to be, and her baby is not getting the blood flow and nutrition to the degree she needs. She's due in September but the doctors were not hopeful. My heart aches for Nellie. I've been overjoyed to watch her takes notes on 1 Corinthians 13 at church and come home and study the passage of love even further on her own time (this is a big deal!). I've watched her take interest in all things Christ. I fear that if bad news is coming-- if her baby girl doesn't make it that she won't be able to untangle the pain of this experience with the truth of Christ she's learned here. I'm afraid she will abandon any progress in Christ she has made.
Prayer Needs
*I ask that you join me feverishly in prayer for her baby girl-- Jewel. Pray that the Lord fills her with His own strength, this is better than anything a placenta could transfer to her. Our God is a God of miracles and we pray He showers us with one now! Pray that Nellie comes to know her Lord as a gracious God, a giver of all things good, but a God who is Sovereign and knows and plans things in a way our minds cannot even begin to grasp. I pray Romans 8:28 over our sweet girl, that she can come to know our God as one who brings good from the deepest and darkest of pains here on this earth. Please join with me in prayer!
*I ask you continue to pray for The Living Vine from a marketing and PR perspective. Pray that we become known in our community and in the surrounding states as a place where girls can come and feel safe and known and hear the Word of the Lord spoken over them daily. We pray girls come and trust us. We pray churches trust and help fuel us.
*Pray for the girls who are set to come stay with us within the next week and a half that they come and are willing to abide by our program, that the Lord will do a great work in their life and the life of their babies.
*Pray for me in guidance for my future after my senior year, that the Lord would make clear to me if this is an open door to continue to walk through post-summer.
*Pray over one of the thrift shops- Blessingdales - that supports the Vine monetarily. They've been trying to move locations for a long time to a new and better facility and complication after complication has risen and is making the much needed transition continue to be delayed.
In other news, these girls came to visit this past week for a couple days, and we had a blast playing the tourist role on my off hours:
I got to see this beauty of a sunset up on the beach in South Carolina. Man, I love the trees here in Savannah, but I'm missing those open Texas skies big time.
Love you guys, I'm praying the peace of the Lord for you and the glory of God from you. Thanks for your continued support!
|| Nicole Bartley ||
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