Monday morning, September fourth, our kids will begin again.
All five children remaining in our charge report excellent summers filled with friends and family and sugar and activity galore. Nary a soul complained that summer 2017 was lame.
Troy and I have appropriately congratulated ourselves on a plan made and executed that resulted in such pleased children. The only parenting mistake I have made this summer was to eat a large portion of the candy they brought home from their USA trips.
SourPatchKids, Whoppers, and TootsieRolls are all still delicious, if you're wondering.
I have since repented and then went to buy and replace each item menopause and stress forced me to consume.
This is the beginning of their seventh school year in the little Heartline Academy School House.
On Labor Day of 2011 we stood in a circle and prayed God would honor the work of the teachers and students that entered to teach and to learn. He has proven faithful year after year. Our kids love learning. (I mean, within normal limits and not with 100% consistency.)
Of course, parenting is a lot of questioning if you are seeing all the signs and catching all the possible meanings and communicating well --- and then going back and trying to re-connect when you misstep or eat all the candy.
Seven individual personalities -- and each one so different. Our brains buzz with all the variables involved in meeting each of them where they are. Because of that we still enter into each new year feeling nervous for our kids and wanting their brains to be challenged in positive ways that help them grow into loving, kind, and productive adults. That said, our prayers continue as children numbers three through five enter into their high school years and children numbers six and seven take on the tasks of the fourth and fifth grades.
The only graduate of Heartline Academy has gone on to higher education and parenting. The little school that could has turned out to be a great place of learning and launching and I expect that the next group of launches will bear fruit as well.
Their teacher Stefanie Raleigh landed in Haiti a week ago, she is high energy and ready to go. We feel like we won the teaching-profession lottery with her and thank God she chose to come in spite of a ginormous cut in pay and lifestyle. Love does very crazy things, am I right?
I have not written much in months. I have joy and pain and stories to share for sure, I'm really hoping to get some time to put it all down for the sake of sharing and remembering myself.
Here in Port au Prince, the losses around us are great. The work of open hearted communication can be draining. I often catch myself listening to stories and thinking, "That's probably not true", and that makes me sad. I would rather just believe people are truthful than switch over to being a non-stop skeptic. The truth is, this is a sad and heavy place. That is about all I need to know.
Until energy and attitude allow for writing a more thorough update, we hope and pray that you and yours are also ready to head into something new and hopeful ... a school year or a new thing that will bring renewal to your souls.
Pax,
Tara for us all
All five children remaining in our charge report excellent summers filled with friends and family and sugar and activity galore. Nary a soul complained that summer 2017 was lame.
Troy and I have appropriately congratulated ourselves on a plan made and executed that resulted in such pleased children. The only parenting mistake I have made this summer was to eat a large portion of the candy they brought home from their USA trips.
SourPatchKids, Whoppers, and TootsieRolls are all still delicious, if you're wondering.
I have since repented and then went to buy and replace each item menopause and stress forced me to consume.
This is the beginning of their seventh school year in the little Heartline Academy School House.
On Labor Day of 2011 we stood in a circle and prayed God would honor the work of the teachers and students that entered to teach and to learn. He has proven faithful year after year. Our kids love learning. (I mean, within normal limits and not with 100% consistency.)
Of course, parenting is a lot of questioning if you are seeing all the signs and catching all the possible meanings and communicating well --- and then going back and trying to re-connect when you misstep or eat all the candy.
Seven individual personalities -- and each one so different. Our brains buzz with all the variables involved in meeting each of them where they are. Because of that we still enter into each new year feeling nervous for our kids and wanting their brains to be challenged in positive ways that help them grow into loving, kind, and productive adults. That said, our prayers continue as children numbers three through five enter into their high school years and children numbers six and seven take on the tasks of the fourth and fifth grades.
The only graduate of Heartline Academy has gone on to higher education and parenting. The little school that could has turned out to be a great place of learning and launching and I expect that the next group of launches will bear fruit as well.
Their teacher Stefanie Raleigh landed in Haiti a week ago, she is high energy and ready to go. We feel like we won the teaching-profession lottery with her and thank God she chose to come in spite of a ginormous cut in pay and lifestyle. Love does very crazy things, am I right?
I have not written much in months. I have joy and pain and stories to share for sure, I'm really hoping to get some time to put it all down for the sake of sharing and remembering myself.
Here in Port au Prince, the losses around us are great. The work of open hearted communication can be draining. I often catch myself listening to stories and thinking, "That's probably not true", and that makes me sad. I would rather just believe people are truthful than switch over to being a non-stop skeptic. The truth is, this is a sad and heavy place. That is about all I need to know.
Until energy and attitude allow for writing a more thorough update, we hope and pray that you and yours are also ready to head into something new and hopeful ... a school year or a new thing that will bring renewal to your souls.
Pax,
Tara for us all
