Lindsey France's Blog
hold my hand / Apr 1, 10:47 AM
If you’ve heard anything at all about my Mission Year experience, you have undoubtedly heard about Gloria, Zaria, and ZJ, the three bundles of joy who live downstairs. They are constant sources of laughter, awe, frustration, and shock. It has been such a beautiful experience to watch them grow in the last seven months. Zaria has the wit of a sixteen year old. She is always vying to be the center of attention. She’ll do just about whatever it takes and she often entertains us by singing, dancing, or preaching. Gloria is inquisitive, funny, and beautiful. Last night, she curled up with me in a big chair and whispered secrets into my ear. She asked questions that were incredibly difficult to answer and got really excited when I told her that when she went to sleep, Sarah and I are in the room right above her sleeping too.
Then we have ZJ. When we arrived in Chicago, ZJ spoke only in baby babble. Over the last few months, it has been incredible to see his vocabulary expanding by the minute. One evening this week, I was walking down our block after work and I was delighted to see that the family was just getting home. I hadn’t seen them since I left for break. When he saw me, ZJ ran up to me, jumped up and down and said, “Hey Lindsey!!”
My heart stopped. No really, it did. He had never said my name before. This was a monumental moment.
I didn’t think anything could be more precious. That was until last night. Now that he can say my name, ZJ can get me to follow him just about anywhere. His favorite phrase last night (well, except for “sit down!”) was “C’mon Lindsey!” At one point, I was sitting down and he crawled up into my lap. “Hold my hand, Lindsey!”
Oh my. What beautiful words. After explaining to him that he was the only boy whose hand I would hold (remember, Mission Year has a no dating policy…), I held BOTH of his hands and planted a big kiss on his cheek.
I love those kids so much.
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