That's a wrap! (for the Children at Risk School!)

Well everyone, I leave for Costa Rica next Tuesday. I'm really excited. But before I leave I have heaps of laundry to do, things to pack up, and beautiful friends to bid farewell. I'm not so excited about any of those things. Especially the farewell part. But before I get to any of that, I think it's time for a quick debrief. What did I learn and where am I headed? What I learned here really impacted where I (think) am headed. One of the most important concepts that I learned was the Child in the Middle Principle. Let's have a quick refresher. Way back in week one, my speaker Jana Moats presented this idea. Child in the Middle simply means that children are the most important blessings in our lives. Our focus should be on children. If you have children, your world revolves around them. This means that we do the best for the child. That children deserve the very best. And what is the very best for children? A family. A good, strong, supportive, Godly family is the very best thing we can offer a child. Nothing else compares. And nothing else can replace the love of a Godly mother and father. And nothing should have to try to replace it. Another very important concept that I learned was go big or go home. You have to be in for the long haul. Short term doesn't cut it. A child needs consistancy and commitment. If I want to get involved I have to stick it out. Do more. My second week's speaker, Steve Bartel, has been working with street kids in Bogota, Colombia for over twenty-five years. Wow. I'm only nineteen. Twenty-five years is a long time. And he is still going. That is commitment and that is why his ministry is successful. If I want a successful ministry I have to be in it to win it no matter how long it takes. Yikes. Finally, one of the last most impacting concepts I learned was in the weeks of Christy Scott and Leslie Freeman. They emphasized the importance of a healthy childhood and how ages zero-six influence the rest of a person's life. The hurts that we experience as adults are rooted in the lies we were told when we were between ages zero and six. Isn't that incredible? The challenge is to instill truth into kids at an early age. We are charged with telling children when they are young the truth about who they are, what the world is like, who God is, and how much they are loved. They need to hear truth. They need to feel loved, encouraged, and capable. It will change their lives. I hope to change lives. I will be an awesome mom someday. I will tell my children their value and teach them about God. And that is the truth. 

This school has messed with my thinking. Messed with my thinking for the better, that is. Coming here, I had a lot of presuppositions. I was not aware of that fact until this school challenged my thinking. I think I came here thinking about how I was going to change the world. How I was going to impact thousands of people. How I was going to open an orphanage in some miserably remote location. How I would only be successful if someone wrote books about my life. I don't think that way now. I will change the world, but only as an instrument of God. I will impact a few people's lives but in a big way. I will help those with an orphan spirit-- but I will do it outside of a government institution. I will be successful, even if no one writes a book about my life and no one remembers me when I am gone. My actions will echo. And that is how I think now. 

So, is there anything I didn't learn in this school?! Any unanswered questions? I think the biggest thing I'm left with is, where do I go from here? If there is so much need, where in the world do I start?! There's so much to do! It's rather overwhelming. But off I go to Jaco, Costa Rica. Off to initiate change and make a difference. I plan to fight injustice. For me, Costa Rica step one. So one last question: What is your first step?

Quote of choice: Isaiah 58:10-11a, "And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, 

then your light will rise in the darkness, 

and your night will become like the noonday. 

The LORD will guide you always"