To anyone who is a parent… I applaud you!
To my own mom and dad, I hate to tell you, but you were wrong. You always said that you only disciplined me because you loved me but that I would never understand that until I had kids of my own. I’m afraid that understanding has far preceded my own children.
Being a surrogate parent of sorts to 45 kids has the tendency to break you quite quickly and teach you to do things you swore you would never do. I always envisioned myself being a “cool” parent and being able to treat my kids more as friends than children, but after only 4 months here at Haven of Hope, I have been made well aware of the fact that children need boundaries and discipline whether it is “cool” or not. This week I have had to deal with one of our oldest boys in a way I never thought I would have to. In addition to disciplining him as his teacher because of disrespect and disobedience in the classroom, I have had to carry out that discipline after school as his mother. It’s terrible. It makes me want to cry. It breaks my heart to punish a boy that I love like my own who has a great heart and an even better smile, but I know it is in his best interest to teach him these lessons now rather than later in life when the consequences will be far greater than extra chores or isolation from his friends!
While I may very well have failed Parenting 101 miserably during the first term, I have high hopes for a passing grade the second time around! In the end, I stand in great appreciation to all you parents out there who struggle with your children day in and day out. Your unconditional care is the closest thing to Christ-like love that we can see in this fallen world. If you are lucky though, your children may have the privilege of seeing how much you loved them one day, even prior to having kids of their own!
Our beautiful child this week is Maabena. She is 5 years old and in Kindergarten. While she is an extremely petite little girl, she plays just as hard as the rest of them and is even growing accustomed to our beastly puppies! She is quite a joy. Please pray for her throughout the week that she would grow strong in the Lord and be a small girl of great courage!
To my own mom and dad, I hate to tell you, but you were wrong. You always said that you only disciplined me because you loved me but that I would never understand that until I had kids of my own. I’m afraid that understanding has far preceded my own children.
Being a surrogate parent of sorts to 45 kids has the tendency to break you quite quickly and teach you to do things you swore you would never do. I always envisioned myself being a “cool” parent and being able to treat my kids more as friends than children, but after only 4 months here at Haven of Hope, I have been made well aware of the fact that children need boundaries and discipline whether it is “cool” or not. This week I have had to deal with one of our oldest boys in a way I never thought I would have to. In addition to disciplining him as his teacher because of disrespect and disobedience in the classroom, I have had to carry out that discipline after school as his mother. It’s terrible. It makes me want to cry. It breaks my heart to punish a boy that I love like my own who has a great heart and an even better smile, but I know it is in his best interest to teach him these lessons now rather than later in life when the consequences will be far greater than extra chores or isolation from his friends!
While I may very well have failed Parenting 101 miserably during the first term, I have high hopes for a passing grade the second time around! In the end, I stand in great appreciation to all you parents out there who struggle with your children day in and day out. Your unconditional care is the closest thing to Christ-like love that we can see in this fallen world. If you are lucky though, your children may have the privilege of seeing how much you loved them one day, even prior to having kids of their own!
Our beautiful child this week is Maabena. She is 5 years old and in Kindergarten. While she is an extremely petite little girl, she plays just as hard as the rest of them and is even growing accustomed to our beastly puppies! She is quite a joy. Please pray for her throughout the week that she would grow strong in the Lord and be a small girl of great courage!Love,
Lindsay
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