Some else's kids

        I once head someone say, "There is no such thing as someone else's children. When they are in my arms, they're my child."  

      I work with children every day, all day. I see the good and the bad, I've changed more dirty diapers than I count, have wiped more snotty noses and have cleaned more accidents off the floor than can be counted. I've acted as peace maker hundreds of times and have disciplined many a tantrum laden child. But at the end of the day when I am lying in bed, it is not those things that I remember. Rather, it is the memory of that sleepy child waking up from nap and crawling into my lap- of his sweaty head tucked beneath my chin while I rubbed his back. I think not of the screaming tantrums but of those rare moments when they just want to be held; of that child running to show me the mud pie he made, or the picture she drew for me. I smile as I remember the funny conversations I overheard and laugh when I remember the way they tobogganed down the dirt hill because the snow was gone, but they still wanted to go sledding. 

       I am with these kids more than even their own parents are during the week. I am the one (or rather, one of the people) who gets to train these kids- to teach them- to love on them all day-to calm their fears, quiet their tears and comfort them when they're hurt. From the moment I walk through that door each day, to the minute I walk out, these are not someone else's kids, they're mine. No matter how tired or frustrated I am at the end of the day, or how dirty and gross I have gotten, I will never regret working with children. I may not have a college degree or child development credits, but to me, my job is just as important as that of a college graduate's. And while I may not make as much money as they do, there is nothing in the world that I would rather do than this!  I get dirty, I get tired and worn out (I have a whole new level of empathy for mom's! lol),  I laugh and cry with these kids; I pour my heart into them and at the end of the day I get to go home knowing I made a difference in their lives; in the lives of "my adoptive children." <3

"For the glory of God!"