Be all that you can be (jn the Army?!)

I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do. ~Edward Everett Hale

This trip hasn’t been for me. Sure, I’ve gotten some amazing memories and moments of deep emotional revelation out of it, but my goal for this trip has and will continue to be what I can do to share the Love selflessly and wholeheartedly. A volunteer who just began this week remarked on the way home, “I hope I am helping. I feel that I am, but it’s hard to know if us being at the orphanage is really making a difference.” It’s a natural thought, and something that I’ve pondered a lot while I’ve been here.

What this wonderful woman has not seen is what happens when we, as volunteers, leave. For the last three weeks a group of about 15 Spaniards have been volunteering with the disabled group at the orphanage. I was originally signed up to help with the disabled, but the orphanage said they wouldn’t need my help in that area because the Spaniards had it covered. And boy were they right! They pushed those children and young adults around, cared for them like they were their own, and loved on each and every child they came into contact with. The kids surrounded them as they sang wonderful songs from their hearts and many, whom I never knew could walk, got up out of their wheelchairs and danced.

The Spaniards went home late last week, and seeing the disabled children without them this week showed me that we are in fact making a difference as volunteers. Most of the kids no longer had smiles on their faces, many were acting out, and the overall feel of the disabled group was that of sorrow. How it breaks my heart that I’m sure they’re wondering what happened to their new close and loving friends!

We are making a difference. We may not see it, but it’s there. Whether it’s giving a brief break to the nurse who is in the middle of a 12 hour shift or rocking a less than 24 hour baby as he cries competitively amongst the 38 other newborns, we’re making a difference. Maybe I’m typing this solely to convince myself, as it’s hard to remember that I can make any sort of dent in the some of the saddest of circumstances.

My hope is that I am coming across as a Spaniard. Because this isn’t about me, but about giving all that I have and 10% more to a cause that is so important. My prayer is that I can help plant the seed of hope in things greater. After all, that’s what faith is: hoping in the unseen.