A Beautiful Mosaic

I had never seen bags that size under my own eyes.  The complete exhaustion that was so utter in fact that it left me sleepless when I laid my head down for that long-awaited 5pm nap on Friday came after our January "Super-Shift," which is the delightful time once a month when we work our full shift + the shift our alternate usually works.  We get a few preceding days off before this starts to "amp up" for the experience, which always seems a little backwards.  These are great shifts in that they give you long stretches of time with the girls to really establish relationships, structure, etc., but because of the 24/7 nature of our work, they are also completely exhausting to the whole self...especially when they include extraordinary circumstances.  This was one such shift.  We welcomed a sibling set of 4 sisters the night we went on shift and spent two full days trying to in addition to assimilate them into our home, get their school enrollments ...

my prayer today for you, for me, for the girls at Barton.

I was making a quick trip to the public library with one of our older girls to check out an ACT-prep book and ended up having to wait for a few brief minutes as she perused another aisle of interest.  The tiny "new book" rack caught my eye.  I quickly picked up a memoir that looked somewhat interesting since I have developed a strange fascination with this genre over the years, and I checked it out.  Little did I know what the book was until I got home...or how much the story had to say to me. It was "A Stolen Life" by Jaycee Dugard.  Maybe you remember her.  The girl that was rescued from living in the tent community in her kidnappers' backyard for 18 years.  Definitely not a book I recommend to very many as she holds back no stops in telling her story and it can be incredibly graphic in the first half.  However, I believe I was meant to read this book, and I am really glad I did. Jaycee's life and childhood were literally snatched awa...

Experiential lessons learned lately that have turned into daily reminders for myself: Take  interest and joy  in the child. We recenly had a girl tell us upon our return from time off that she needed us to read and explain a letter to her.  The letter had very positive news in it.  We read it together and rejoiced greatly together over the news, having a big rah-rah fest.  Later, we found out she had already read and had the letter explained to her days before.  Evidently, it was important to her to share that moment with us and have someone take the same interest and joy in her life.  It's easy for me to forget how important this is. Refuse to condemn potential in light of behavior . A girl who is more comfortable with being bad than being good can finally find peace with doing right.  A girl who pushes you away every time you try to care can indeed learn how to form relationships and bonds.  A girl who acts out may be look...

It has been most recently that I have been able to define and pen what seems to be the task at hand for Michael and I right now in Arkansas.  In other words, here are the reasons we are here.  Here is what keeps us motivated and moving day to day and in the end, provides the pathway to fulfillment in this work: It is my most important task right now to help girls who do not even believe in the existence of love to see and experience love so that they can begin to fathom the heart of God. It is also a vital task to allow those who have had no time to be a child to experience childhood anew...to provide the freedom, space, and inspiration to embrace the innocence of play, glee, and simplicity. They are daily tasks to provide a sense family or belonging, to process life, to encourage hearts, to listen to stories, to teach new skills, and to be careful to live in all ways to the glory of God. Pray for us in these tasks...that God will continue to...

As a snapshot into our busy and blessed first holiday season with the girls, I thought I'd share a song (fortunately, only the lyrics will be communicated via blog): On the 1st day of Christmas, we shared an entertaining evening with the rest of the campus at the annual Christmas Party and Talent Show.  We ate yummy holiday food, sang Christmas carols, were reminded of the real reason for our celebration, and of course, shared our amazing "talents" with one another.  Two of our young girls sang Silent Night - 3 full verses a capella!  Another of our girls did a Christmas Rap and organized a Christmas dance with a few other girls.  It was a fun night!  The damper to the evening was when we said good-bye to my previously posted about "my girl" who left us to live with a relative; it was a hard good-bye indeed! On the 2nd day of Christmas, we decorated our tree!  Not much was left in the decorating department by the previous houseparents, so we let the girls...

Check out this Song (Click on this Link) (Matt Hammitt - All of Me) These words have touched me deeply lately in ways not even intended by the artist.  I feel like this is my prayer right now...and my heart in relation to God amidst various griefs: the slow process of letting go of our life in Salina, the letting go of one of our girls who I grew to love deeply and was very attached to, the mixed feelings or attitude I have sometimes about living up to my calling when I am tired - when I am disenchanted - when I feel "done..."  I am thankful for these words.  God is going to have all of me, and in turn, so will others.

2011 Recollections A year of blessing.  A year of challenge.  A year of love.  A year of change.  A year of decisions.  A year of trust.  A year of brokenness.  A year of redemption.  A year of education.   What a year it has been!  We began this year with a prayer...a desire to do what the Lord wanted with the burden He had impressed on both of our hearts.  And with that prayer began the adventure that shaped the rest of our year.  The closing of a wonderful, cherished chapter of our lives and the opening of a new one.  The good-byes.  The transition.  The greeting.  Of an entirely new world.  New roles.  New surroundings.  New culture.  New lessons.  But same focus.  Same center.  Same unifying love.  Of Christ.  End of the Year Realizations I've been doing it again.  Trying.  Striving.  Working.  Soul work...instead of Soul Rest.  I h...