DON'T BE WEARY IN WELL DOING!
Saturday, May 14, 2005
Today I got a call from two of the boys who were incarcerated at the Boys Ranch. Both of these young men didn't go home after being released because they both wanted to change their lives.
One of them is from San Antonio, he is nineteen now, has been out for about seven months. He is doing fairly well, still getting into some trouble with traffic tickets, minor in possession of alcohol, things that could of course be avoided, but all in all, he is working full time, paying for a vehicle, paying insurance, he has an apt, is paying rent and utilities, so he is learning and growing. The hard part is I have to remember Rome wasn't built in a day.
The other young man is twenty now, he is from Houston and he too has been in some trouble. But he is paying rent, working and learning the hard way. I know we learn our best lessons from our mistakes, so I have alot of mercy, I just continue to pray for them and hope they will find their way and become successful and not give up. I always remind them it's not how you start but how you finish that's important.
The thing that I have learned from working with these kids is it takes unconditional love, but also you have to remember they are manipulators, you have to be firm. But more than anything, I have come to be even more thankful for my own children. I thank God for them, for the wisdom God gave me to raise them because they did not come with a step by step manual, you learn as you go. At times I felt inadequate to be raising another human being but by the Grace of God they turned out pretty well, I give Him all the credit because I have some awesome kids!!! I'm sure many of you can relate!!!
One of them is from San Antonio, he is nineteen now, has been out for about seven months. He is doing fairly well, still getting into some trouble with traffic tickets, minor in possession of alcohol, things that could of course be avoided, but all in all, he is working full time, paying for a vehicle, paying insurance, he has an apt, is paying rent and utilities, so he is learning and growing. The hard part is I have to remember Rome wasn't built in a day.
The other young man is twenty now, he is from Houston and he too has been in some trouble. But he is paying rent, working and learning the hard way. I know we learn our best lessons from our mistakes, so I have alot of mercy, I just continue to pray for them and hope they will find their way and become successful and not give up. I always remind them it's not how you start but how you finish that's important.
The thing that I have learned from working with these kids is it takes unconditional love, but also you have to remember they are manipulators, you have to be firm. But more than anything, I have come to be even more thankful for my own children. I thank God for them, for the wisdom God gave me to raise them because they did not come with a step by step manual, you learn as you go. At times I felt inadequate to be raising another human being but by the Grace of God they turned out pretty well, I give Him all the credit because I have some awesome kids!!! I'm sure many of you can relate!!!
posted by Live, Love, Laugh | 8:15 PM
2 Comments:
Yes--raising kids takes a lot of prayer. I wore out one Bible--it fell apart--and I had to buy a new one. I found the most difficult years were the ones between 17-19.
One of my daughters felt that everyone who is 19 is crazy. Maybe with young people today that is true, but it wasn't the case in my generation. It seems to be a completely different world.
My son was a corrections officer for a short time before joining the police force and he said the inmates were master manipulators.
He didn't like to generalize but he said it was very hard not too and unsafe. Of course he was dealing with older individuals so I'm sure the situation was a bit different.
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