Shhhh…It's a Surprise!
Ahhhhh...Our Caitie girl! If you know her then you know the words we share about her will always fall short, but I'm gonna give it a go anyhow.
Caitie has a true servants heart. Galatians 5:13-14 (ESV) says For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." and she does that and does it so well. You don't see her on social media much because she doesn't just love having her picture taken and we try and respect that and she has no desire to have her own accounts. Hopefully she will be okay with the pictures posted here. She also prefers to be more of a "behind the scenes girl".
Since our first discussion about Kenya, Caitie has been a driving force and a huge part of getting us here and growing to where we are today. She is simply amazing and does whatever needs to be done. When we needed help sorting and packing for our move she was a packing queen. When we needed help with keeping track of medications for the kids she jumped right in and made it her responsibility. Now she gives medication to 15 children daily, lots of them twice a day and anyone else who is sick or feeling unwell, including our staff. She helps her sisters with their hair and anything else they need. She never lets me leave the house without a braid or something being done to my hair, usually she's the one making me sit down so she can fix my mess. She's an amazing admin, even though she doesn't love admin work...have we ever mentioned that running a school is a lot of work? She does A LOT of typing and printing for the school. Oh and she can put together and print church bulletins in about 10 minutes because sometimes we forget until Sunday morning. 😂 If someone needs something printed they know that Caitie is the one to see. Somehow she manages to keep her cool longer than most. Maybe growing up with so many siblings has something to do with that.
Caitie has such a sweet, sweet heart. She often (almost always) thinks of others first. Several times now she has sent items back with visitors that she crochets to friends and family in the states. If someone we know is having a baby and we have visitors coming around that time she's quick to find a pattern and start making a blanket. 4 of the Byses are gluten free (including Caitie) and she always makes sure we have safe food to eat and she often bakes sweet treats for us since we can't buy anything pre-made. She doesn't mind putting in the long hours that this work often requires which is such a blessing. Lexi, our sweet girl with microcephaly and cerebral palsy sleeps in Caitie's bed each night because Caitie is her favorite 💜. Caitie makes sure Lexi is all tucked in and should Lexi wake up in the middle of the night Caitie knows how to get her back to sleep quickly. At almost 21 her whole life is about serving and caring for others.
All of this to ask for your help. On April 25th she turns 21 and we'd love to be able to SURPRISE her with some special gifts. We created an Amazon wish list for her with things that we think she would love. These are things that I know she wouldn't ask for because she knows our access to items and money is limited. The past few years for her birthday she has gotten lots of chocolate, which she loves, but let's face it, she eats it quickly 😂. Some of the items on the wish list are needs, the sole of her Chacos have torn a bit (still wearable) and it is the only pair of shoes she wears. She basically lives in t-shirts and maxi skirts, but most of her shirts are ready to be replaced. If you would like to bless her and help us surprise her it would be a huge blessing to all of us. We love and appreciate Caitie SO much and want her to feel that on her birthday.
*Full disclosure is that I do not know if these things will make it to us before her birthday. We had visitors planned for the beginning of April, but they have hit a few "snags" because they were supposed to fly through Canada. However, David (our ministry president) can ship (by boat) us these things along with other items needing to get here or it may be possible for another group to bring them. I have a back up plan if the gifts aren't able to be here on April 25th. Also if you would like to private message or email me a birthday message for her I will gladly print those off for her to have and read on her actual birthday.
I could say many more great things about her and what a beautiful heart she has and it still wouldn't be enough. God really blessed us with her and her huge heart for others.
