I was laying under the stars on the porch the other day reminiscing and thinking about my life and about the day I arrived in the Philippines. I remember thinking how I would have three months here and now I only have three weeks left.

November twenty-seventh was the day I arrived in the Philippines. My team and I were told we would be staying at a children's home. Upon arriving we set our bags in the rooms we would be staying in and went downstairs to eat dinner.

We entered the dining room and the tables were filled with some of the most beautiful children I have ever seen (I guess you can tell I'm bias (; ) We all picked a table to sit at and we exchanged names with the kids, a bit overwhelming not quite sure how I was going to ever be able to remember all their names.

After eating we took our dishes to the kitchen where one of the ladies took them from us and said "Ill be the one" (they know how to do hospitality here right for sure) jet lagged we headed to our beds and fell asleep to roosters crowing and dogs barking.

Somewhere between then and now I fell in love with these kids.

I know each and every one of their names. My team and I now walk into the dining room and the kids fight over what table we will sit at. I spend my days walking kids to school, pushing them on swings, playing tag, talking, laughing, having dance parties, and giving lots of hugs to them.

I try to let myself believe that leaving here won't be hard, its what I signed up for right? But the reality is it will be the hardest goodbye on this trip yet. I wake up and eat breakfast with these kids and hear them in the hallway before I fall asleep every night.

I love them each and every one and I know that God has great things for each one of their lives and I am thankful for the fact that I got to be apart of their life even for as little as three months can be in the span of a lifetime.

My time with them has been made up of little moments, moments that I will never forgot, because those moments impacted me and taught me so much.

A part of my heart will always be here with these kids.

In Christ,

Cayla