102 new outfits

Today I went to Pothy's. You think a shopping trip at Wal-Mart druing the holiday season is crazy; you haven't seen anything yet. Pothy's is a huge clothing store. The price range is large so poor people and upper class people can shop there. I think everyone in Chennai shops there acctually. I went with three ladies from the mission and the office worker so he could translate and pay for us. We had to buy 102 outfits for the children at the orphanage next to our home. These will be Christmas gifts for each of them. It was a lot of fun to know that we would be able to afford a new outfit for each child. The ladies had a great time passing Moriah around as I picked out the clothes. Which brings up another chaotic factor to the shopping trip. Indian people get really excited about seeing an American baby. I cannot do anything with her in public without a large crowd surrounding me and wanting to hold her and see her. Ultimately the only way we were ever going to get the shopping done was to pretend that she was an Indian baby. Grace wrapped her in the balnket and rocked her in a chair while I shopped. Unless Moriah's little arm popped out, nobody could tell she was my baby.
I found myself wanting to do more than just anoutfit for these kids. I would like to buy games and toys and jewelry for the girls. I realize though that these kids are very thankful to receive necessary items. I ran into a problem because they did not have enough in one price range so some of the older kids got slightly nicer outfits. I asked Deviraj if this would cause tension. He said, "No mam, these kids do not see what other kids have. They are only excited for what they receive." I think it is amazing the wonderful spirit these kids must have to survive what they have and to still be happy for such a small gift.