Most of the girls have returned from their holidays. There are tears from some and some are happy to be back. I must say that after visiting some of the girls in their villages, I feel I have a bit more insight into their lives and how much this place is helping them and it also spurs me onto how much difference I can make in these kids lives. It is sad to see kids saying goodbye to family, knowing they will only get to go back to their village in a years time. No matter how tough situations are, home is still home. I am loving my return home hugs and letting them cry on my shoulder if they need to. It doesn't take long though and the smiles return.
One thing I think is lacking all round is encouragement. There is a lot of trying to bring kids up to a standard and therefore a lot of telling what they are not doing and not much praising for what they are doing. I think it is the same for the staff. I am making a point of looking for the positive and starting to encourage more. It has also made me look at my own family and I realise I do the same thing with my kids. Not enough praise, it's so easy to see and point out what they are doing wrong and forget to point out the good things. It's something for us all to work on. I have seen amazing responses from staff and kids when I praise them, they actually don't know how to cope with it.
We had a tough day the other day just thinking over options for what we do and how we plan for next year. Will we still be here, planning versus faith. It's just the not knowing that can be hard. Not knowing year to year if we will be here or not. I would love God to put aside his last minute answers and just give us a bit of an idea. I know he has it sorted but I wouldn't mind him just letting us in on the plan a bit :)
We have no baby stuff, this does not worry me so much but I don't want to get stuff here only to find we are on our way back to NZ. So I am thinking porta cot will be the way to go and clothes. That should be about all we need . Other stuff is really just surplus and hey, we could always have baby in bed with us (shock, horror) Sometimes you just have to work with what you have and it may not be the usual way you do things.
So it's things like that that have been running around our heads. I am not stressed by it but I would like to make some decisions. If only money grew on trees then there would be no hassles, visa issues would be solved, flights taken care of etc etc. But for now, I have resolved that I will give my all to where I am now and the time I have here, however long that may be. I could sit and worry about what the future holds and ruin the here and now or just get on with things. I love it here, even when there are ups and downs. There are precious kids here who need love and anything I can offer, my own kids included.
One thing I think is lacking all round is encouragement. There is a lot of trying to bring kids up to a standard and therefore a lot of telling what they are not doing and not much praising for what they are doing. I think it is the same for the staff. I am making a point of looking for the positive and starting to encourage more. It has also made me look at my own family and I realise I do the same thing with my kids. Not enough praise, it's so easy to see and point out what they are doing wrong and forget to point out the good things. It's something for us all to work on. I have seen amazing responses from staff and kids when I praise them, they actually don't know how to cope with it.
We had a tough day the other day just thinking over options for what we do and how we plan for next year. Will we still be here, planning versus faith. It's just the not knowing that can be hard. Not knowing year to year if we will be here or not. I would love God to put aside his last minute answers and just give us a bit of an idea. I know he has it sorted but I wouldn't mind him just letting us in on the plan a bit :)
We have no baby stuff, this does not worry me so much but I don't want to get stuff here only to find we are on our way back to NZ. So I am thinking porta cot will be the way to go and clothes. That should be about all we need . Other stuff is really just surplus and hey, we could always have baby in bed with us (shock, horror) Sometimes you just have to work with what you have and it may not be the usual way you do things.
So it's things like that that have been running around our heads. I am not stressed by it but I would like to make some decisions. If only money grew on trees then there would be no hassles, visa issues would be solved, flights taken care of etc etc. But for now, I have resolved that I will give my all to where I am now and the time I have here, however long that may be. I could sit and worry about what the future holds and ruin the here and now or just get on with things. I love it here, even when there are ups and downs. There are precious kids here who need love and anything I can offer, my own kids included.
I needed to read this post today :) Thank you for the reminder to encourage more and to give my all to where I am now!
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