When Maomai was just a tiny baby, her mama had a dream. In that dream, she recounts, I saw a person, who told me I should be quiet and pray; that salvation shall come. Yesterday, as I held her and felt my arms getting tired from the weight of her body, free from tumors and tubes, I knew that the salvation Pelagie had dreamed about had come. Not just for Maomai, but also for her mama.
She should have abandoned her baby, given her up for lost when that mass started to take over Maomai's face. Her culture told her that her child was worthless, a burden, better off dead, and for such a long time we were so afraid that her culture would win. We fought back our frustrations while we tried in vain to rouse a sleeping Pelagie for nighttime feedings. We watched in dismay as she retreated into herself, unwilling even to change her baby's diapers, and we thought we had lost again. Lost to a fatalistic system with roots far deeper than we can understand. Lost to a darkness that we so often feel so powerless to overcome.

In a place where we lose so often, where the darkness feels like it's everywhere, it's no wonder that I stood there with that fat little baby in my arms and I cried. I cried because hope is real, because love is real, because salvation, at least for this tiny family, is so very real. As real as the little baby who laid in my arms, staring up at me while I cried and laughed and danced with her mama.
And Pelagie, understanding my tears, came close to my side. In a rare moment of tenderness, she threaded her arm gently around my waist and kissed me on the cheek.
Thank you, she said, looking up at me with the same quiet expression as the one on her daughter's face. Thank you.
Thank you for your blog, it reminds me of the reality of life and love and God's plan of redemption is not our plan.