Compassion Family: Too Small to Ignore

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Too Small to Ignore - Chapter 2

BUILDING CASTLES IN THE CLOUDS

When I finished reading this chapter, my first thought was...."child advocacy begins in my own home, with my own children".

What conviction this chapter brought to me as a parent. It's not that I don't care about my own children, but when I think about child advocacy, images of my daughters don't pop into my head. Instead, I imagine the children living in extreme poverty all over the world.

Nurturing a child's sense of personal worth and therefore hope and dreams for a wonderful future is perhaps the most important responsibility of every grownup in a child's life. ~p. 36

I love how Wess outlines three ways to approach the task of nurturing our children's dreams:

1. Go to them. Enter their world.

The openness and sincerity of a child is amazing when you find ways to tear down the social barriers of parent/child, big/little, old/young, strong/weak, and right/wrong that usually dominate the relationship. ~p. 46

2. Bring them into your world.

Being befriended by the greatest man I knew shaped my character, made me feel valued, and let me dream big dreams. ~p. 48

3. Merge the two worlds. Along the way, and day by day.

We go far beyond the responsibility and role of guardian; in fact, we are no longer aware when we "playfully" enter their world or "deliberately" included them in ours. Instead, we genuinely like being with each other. This is child discipleship at its best. ~p. 50

I have so much to learn, and I'm thankful you are all here with me. Your comments are challenging me to think more deeply and pray more fervently. Now I'm off to find a spider with my girls, then perhaps we'll come in and bake some zucchini bread together.

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What was significant to you about this chapter?

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Teena · 714 weeks ago

thank you so much for posting this ....

not been reading.... my boys are sick. Its been a hard week.

praying for you. Love the pic.

hugs,
Teena

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Rebecca · 714 weeks ago

"Formed in the image of almighty God, this child is already equipped with gifts to bring into the world. What happens in the next moments, hours, days, and years determines whether the God-given potential will be realized or lost to us all" p.36

I think this is one of my favorite chapters in the book...and it puts into words what I am passionate about. I think the reality of what W.S. talks about in this chapter really hit me a few months after I started working with special needs children. They are so easily overlooked and underestimated, but God has given them so many gifts and so much potential that is waiting to be realized. After getting to know them and loving them, I begin to realize all the amazing and wonderful things they have to give, and to teach me. (to be continued...)

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Rebecca · 714 weeks ago

(Sorry, I am talking to much, had to do another comment cause it wouldn't all fit)

I think the things that squish the dreams and goals of children may be more obvious for those children living in poverty, but like you said, we must advocate for all children, because satan is sneaky and would love to take that potential and squash it for children in all living situations. And prayer is an important part of it too.

With that said, if you want to come looking for spiders at my house it will take you about 8 seconds flat to find one.

1 reply · active 714 weeks ago

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fiddlejill 88p · 714 weeks ago

You're definitely not talking too much!

Everything you said is so true. Prayer is a HUGE part of it!!

We never did find a spider, but we did bake the zucchini bread....and then we went and bought a venus fly trap and now we are trying to catch flies.

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Jim · 713 weeks ago

I once again felt convicted by this book. First, on page 35, I like the statement that "a child may be born into poverty, but poverty is never born in a child." This is a great reminder that no child is doomed to poverty.....as long as we speak up for them. With God's help, and we being His hands and feet, any child can get an opportunity to get out of poverty....poverty is not what defines them! I also liked the statement on page 43: "Kids want more than entertainment; they want the chance to make a difference." This convicted me to think of more ways to help get my own children involved in my advocacy work with Compassion. We talked and came up with some cool ideas of them making videos to post on our new Facebook page to help spread the word about sponsorship........more to come on that!

2 replies · active 713 weeks ago

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fiddlejill 88p · 713 weeks ago

I love that line about kids wanting to make a difference. I am so inspired by kids who are truly out there making a difference in this world. Have you read the book Take Your Best Shotby Austin Gutwein? I think it's great to expose our own kids to these kids - to give them encouragement and inspiration. Another one that comes to mind is Isabel Jones and her ministry Shoes for Kids....her parents work for Compassion and she is currently in the DR with them on her first delivery mission. Her parents have delivered thousands of pairs of shoes all over the world, but this is her fist time delivering them!

Matthew 25:31-46
Don't be a goat! Sponsor a child today.
<a href="http://www.compassion.com/jillfoley
www.compassion.com/jillfoley<br />
---

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Jim · 713 weeks ago

I haven't read Your Best Shot......but I will certainly check it out! Thanks for the tip.

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Michelle · 713 weeks ago

pg. 40: "He had the amazing ability to allow a six-year-old boy to tag along for whatever he was doing and to make me feel he couldn't possibly do his work without me." This is SO opposite from the way I grew up........ To this day, I feel like nothing I do is good enough. Unless I do something perfect, I don't measure up. And I NEVER do anything perfect...... :(

I cannot imagine how it would feel to be a kid who was appreciated and made to feel valued. I've tried to break the cycle with my own son, but I am totally aware that I don't measure up to Wes's Father. I can only hope that I've made strides with Zach.......... and that he will improve with his children..... and somewhere down the line the children will feel cherished even if they aren't "perfect....." That they will know that their efforts matter. That they have worth.

1 reply · active 713 weeks ago

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fiddlejill 88p · 713 weeks ago

I definitely struggle with being this kind of parent.....my personal prayer life is growing with this reading of this book!

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Michelle · 713 weeks ago

pg. 44: "Adults in a relatively primitive society could more easily keep a childlike spirit that allowed them to laugh, dance, and play in the midst of their work."

Something else I "lost" along the way: the ability to enjoy work and to "play." I envy the adults that Wes described in this book. When I was growing up............ work was serious business. Never did "fun" enter into it...... To this day I don't have a "Mary Poppin's" attitude toward housework or any work. I've tried....... but I just can't grasp the ability.

I think I said in a previous post that I SO wish I had read this book BEFORE having my son. There are so many words of wisdom in it........... I think I'll go take a break and see if my son wants to construct a castle in the clouds with me..... :o)

2 replies · active 712 weeks ago

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fiddlejill 88p · 713 weeks ago

My girls encourage me to "play" as I work....if we are doing housework we sometimes play Cinderella. Other times we choose characters from other stories (Narnia is coming to mind) and we just pretend we are other people as we clean house together. My oldest daughter likes to point out to me that I'm having fun. She'll say, "Isn't it fun to play while you work?" And she's right....it is! The work still gets done and we have some laughs along the way.

Matthew 25:31-46
Don't be a goat! Sponsor a child today.
<a href="http://www.compassion.com/jillfoley
www.compassion.com/jillfoley<br />
---

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Michelle Rausch · 712 weeks ago

Zach had a favorite working game that we did manage to play when he was 8 or so.... He had me be the evil stepmother (hmph!) and he was Cinderella. Yep. My son was Cinderelly!!! But he'd wash the floor on his hands and knees and talk to his pretend mouse friends ........ and (try) to do dishes and such while insisting I sat in a comfy chair. He got the most gleeful when I would point out spots he missed or things he did wrong........ but I had to use an Evil Stepmother voice. Imagine my embarrassment when I discovered the landlord right outside the kitchen door once as I "royally" told my kid he was missing spots!!!!! Especially as the poor kid had dressed in his raggedyest clothing and looked like a dirty waif. :o) However, he STILL remembers that to this day and laughs at how much he loved playing that. Every now and then we'd switch and he'd order me (like on bathroom days when I really needed to be the one cleaning)........ but he actually liked playing the belabored one!! At least we never got to the part of the story where he would have had to dress up and attend a ball................. lol

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Thursday, August 4, 2011

Too Small to Ignore - Chapter 2

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