Ages 0-99

I told Rich the other day I'm really going to miss the children we work with.

There's a raw relationship you have with these kids as they are uninhibited, and as we are pulled to our wits end much of the time, their emotions run wild and so we jump right through the normal stages of adult relationships and go right to the "storm" stage that inevitably brings you closer in the end.

When I first started I asked a girl who was PCSing for the states, "what will you miss most?" and she replied "the kids." I thought this was a bit funny at first, as the kids can also be the reason you want to drop everything and walk out many times. They don't listen, they fight, they cry, scream, and doing everything in their power to emotionally, if not physically, hurt those around them sometimes.

Now after spending time with these kids ages 7-12, they have grown on me, and as I pray God will preserve them from much of the corruption many have already been succumbed to, my heart too, has connected to them in a way that it only can with kids.

As we grow up we learn to hold back our emotions, while as children they have yet to learn how to do so. And so as I repeat the lessons we all must live by, I see the same characteristics in these little people, as in people of all ages. "You must love those you don't FEEL like loving," as biblicaly commanded, yet though without the ability to give that exact explanation, it still leaves our circumstances in better condition than when we fight back full of anger.

These kids retaliate with anger while originally just seeking affirmation, while often is the case in our world of chaos today. As we grow, we learn how to handle what comes our way, but still have the same innate desires and needs as all people, young and old.

I'm so thankful for these precious little ones we were able to help impact while they also have impacted my life, and helped me see the lessons necessary to teach that are still pertinent to us until the day we die.