The Boy Who Changed Everything.

Once upon a time, 

a girl named Allison went on a trek around the world. 

She joined up with 49 other people as they made their way through 4 continents,

loving and serving the locals and one another.

As they made their way through southern Africa, 

her heart rejoiced. 

There's something about Africa that just makes you come alive...

 But as they began the eighth month of the journey in the tiny nation of Swaziland, 

she was weary. 

Allison could feel the hopelessness of the whole country and it weighed heavily on her heart. 

But then one day, 

she met a boy. 

A teeny tiny baby boy named Michael, who changed everything for her.

For as long as I can remember, 

 I've wanted to be a mother. 

As I child I had many dolls and all of the accessories for each of them. 

My mom has a picture of me when I was about 2 or 3,

walking around with a baby doll stuck under my shirt pretending to be pregnant. 

I've never known a time when I didn't love babies. 

But this baby was very, very different. 

The moment I looked into his deep brown eyes, my heart was sealed to his. 

I didn't just love this child. 

I wanted to give the sun and the moon to him. 

I wanted to bring him home with me and have him with me forever. 

I very seriously considered dropping out of my journey and staying in Swazi with him. 

I talked to the staff to see if it were possible to adopt him. 

It wasn't. It's not. 

Since the day I left him, 

I've thought of him constantly. 

I pray for him, I sometimes pretend he's here with me. 

I think about maybe someday going back to that orphanage on the mountain and staying there with him, just so I can officially call him mine...

Today I stumbled across a recent picture of him and I couldn't stop the tears. 

My sweet baby is now a charming little toddler. 

I seriously couldn't love him more. 

Once upon a time, 

there was a little boy named Michael. 

His momma left him swaddled in blankets at an orphanage on top of a mountain. 

He needed someone to love him and snuggle him. 

Then one day, 

a girl came to the orphanage. 

A girl who was broken and sad and tired. 

She needed someone to love her, too.

She picked up the bundle of blankets and she saw him smiling back at her. 

Michael became the ray of light she needed. 

He was the only thing that gave her hope. 

He was the boy who changed everything...