As I pulled up to my last order of the day today, I dreaded getting out of my truck, and wish I had just gone home instead of working overtime. This house is in one of the worst areas in Riverside, on one the worst street in the neighborhood, and the house was super sketchy. Then I was greeted at the gate by a sweet little girl. She had a huge smile and was a ball of energy running all around. As I was working she followed me everywhere I went, asking me all kinds of questions and telling me all about herself. She insisted that I knew that she was 5 years old and that her name is little Jo. She was just the cutest little girl.
Her Grandma (who I thought was her mom) told me about how she has full custody of her granddaughter and had adopted her. You could tell by her body language that it wasn’t under good circumstances. Little Jo called her grandma mommy and not grandma, so I’m assuming her mom isn’t in the picture. Then she began to tell me that her granddaughter only weighed 1 pound when she was born, that she actually had a twin who died at birth, and that she wasn’t expected to live. Little Joe spent the first 3 months of her life in the ICU hooked up to all kinds of tubes. The doctors told her Grandma that if she lived, that she would have scoliosis so bad that she would never walk and that she would have down syndrome. Now I am even more amazed at this little girl. Here is this sweet, running, jumping, smiling little girl who is nothing shy of a miracle. I took a little bit of extra time to talk with her and bounce a ball back and forth with her. I was just amazed at the gift of life as I was playing and talking with her
As I was working inside the house little Jo just followed me around talking up a storm. As sweet as this little girl was, the things she was telling me were making my heart break. She was telling me how her brother told her not to be afraid of the cockroaches all over the house and that she is scared to get bitten by one. She asked if I wanted to hear a story and told me about how her grandpa had recently died. She talked about how she can protect herself if she needs too. Just story after story of horrible things she has seen at such a young age. I had to keep changing the topic to something that would make her smile because I couldn’t take it. This little girl is lucky to be alive, yet her short life had been so painful and she has been through so much already. It just breaks my heart.
Please pray for little Jo and her grandparents. The house they just moved into is a wreck. It is owned by a slumlord who wont make any repairs but it is all they can afford. There is no furniture, the house is in need of lots of repairs, and the cockroach infestation is so bad that they are living in an old motorhome in the driveway. Pray that little Jo can remain strong but retain the innocence of a child. Pray that as she gets older she doesn’t remember the things she seen as a child. Pray that the owner of the home helps this family. Pray that their financial situation gets better so that they don’t have to struggle to have the necessities of life. Pray that little Jo would flourish under the care of her grandparents. Pray that little Joe meets Jesus at a young age and sees her life as the gift from God that it is. Pray she sees her life as God’s grace. Please please please pray for little Jo.
awakenosleeper 