About three weeks ago, my life and my family’s life was enlarged. We received a call from friends who had received a call from friends (tracking with me?) that an 8 1/2 month pregnant woman, from Rwanda and her 6 year old son, were in need of a place to live. They were homeless. Not knowing anyone else in our area, they called me. Now, this is not entirely new for our family. At different times we have had teenage boys, college aged girls, a military family of 4, live in our home. A number of years ago we converted our basement into an efficiency apartment, so we’re kind of set up for this and our friends know this about us. Of course, at this point, our college kid lives in the apartment, but knowing the desperate need of this family, we made a quick family decision, shuffled things around and moved this growing family in.
I could share hours and hours of stories and lessons I’ve been learning having this woman in my home. I can sum up most of it by just saying,
Having her here has enriched and blessed my life in ways that words cannot express.
Because of the expediency of which we brought her into our home and the fact she was scheduled to have her baby just two weeks later, I quickly put a call (and text, and facebook message) out to all of my friends sharing her story and inviting them to a baby shower.
I had very little time to prepare let alone decorate for a baby shower, so I knew I needed to be quickly creative.
One way I’ve discovered over the years that works in a pinch, to find a color palette.
When you know what colors you want to use, a quick look around the house and a few fresh flowers later, you can pull together a simple and elegant party.
I wanted to honor her heritage since she was so far from home. I googled the Rwandan flag. I got lucky. Canary yellow, green apple and sky blue~perfect colors for a BOY baby shower!
I gathered antique, green glass bottles my husband had found in a house renovation job.
I found a bunch of flowers in greens and yellows and filled vintage containers that I’ve collected over the years.
And I took card stock in my themed colors and snipped and created mini Rwandan flags to hang on my bare wooden tree and a flag garland.
My community turned out! They each brought a gift and a dish to share. I’ve been blown away by the generosity of all of the women who pitched in to help this mama feel welcomed and loved.
