Encouragement

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:11

We are thankful to be back home in the tropical metro - a balmy 16 degrees today! It feels so warm compared to the open and blowing plains of central MN (which are nothing compared to what those hearty folks in ND endure!). During the long, cold winters here I often think about our three adoption journeys to Colombia, and realize that I would have enjoyed living there permanently.

After a nearly two week break to visit family for the holidays, we have resumed our routine and it feels good. It feels really good. It was so nice to take a break and enjoy our first full Christmas and New Years holidays with extended family, but it is so nice to be home. For the first time in two years, I feel like we returned home from a trip more encouraged, empowered, and prepared to dive back into the daily grind of therapeutic parenting.

Transitions and the excitement of the holidays are hard for kids in general, but for kids who have experienced extreme and prolonged trauma, transitions and excitement can be so anxiety provoking that it leads to maladaptive acting out behaviors. Thankfully we were prepared for some of these and they weren't too severe in nature overall. These experiences allowed us to glimpse some wounded places in our children's hearts. To me, this was like a gift - an opportunity to see a need that I trust God in His sufficiency will meet. It was an opportunity to see where I can show God's love and compassion to hurting hearts through my own parenting. Instead of finding some of those acting out behaviors frustrating (which they can often be), it was precious to be able to recognize the behavior for what it was (revealing a wounded heart) and to be thankful for the opportunity to parent these children.

It is my prayer today that I work toward encouraging and building each of my children up in God's Word.