Reflection Sunday: Week 4

    Okay folks, sorry I have been late on these posts, but the job has been getting a bit hectic.  I have been writing these posts at home, then cutting and pasting them to my blog page.  I hope to get the Internet in my home soon, but until then, the postings may be late.

     This past week has been an up-and-down journey, just like the last week.  As I reflect on this past week, I think about the word "home."  This word "home" has different meanings to many poeple.  In Websters Dictionary, home is defined as;

1 : one's place of residence : domicile : house



2 : the social unit formed by a family living together


3 : a familiar or usual setting : congenial environment : the focus of one's domestic attention


4 : a place of origin : one's own country.

     "Home" to me is all of the above rolled into one.  My home is simply anywhere I feel loved and safe and cared for.  With this personal definition of the word"home," I feel that I am "at home" here in Reading, England with people who care for me, who know me, and with whom I feel safe.  I also have another home in Pittsburgh, PA with those of whom I love and feel safe around and care for.  How lucky I feel that I have two homes -- one in the United States and one in England.  But it does not stop there!!!  No folks, I have another home.  This home is not of this world, but of heaven with my Father.  At this home, I will feel all that I have mentioned above and much, much more.  How blessed and wonderful I am to have THREE homes in my life -- so far. So why the focus on the word "home?"

     You see, I am working with children who do not have "homes" where they feel loved or safe or cared for.  By the time children get to my department, they are looking for a long-term placement away from one or both parents.  Their families are split apart and they are in very unfamiliar places.  They have no sense of belonging to a family unit.  As their social worker, I want to give these children a sense of "belonging" by staying with them until they are adopted into a family who loves them, or they are accepted by their foster families for a long-term placement.  These children have had several social workers in their lives and they cannot relate to anyone with regularity.  I would like to be that person with whom they are comfortable around until they have a family or "home" to call their own. 

     Growing up in a family of six, I know what it is like to get lost in the shuffle of things.  I am sure my siblings felt the same at some time during their times in our house.  How can one not feel that way in a large family?  But I was fortunate to know that I was loved -- at least some of time when I wasn't getting punished -- and cared for and safe.  It is very sad to see the distance in these children's eyes when they meet me.  However, I have one advantage going for me with these children.  I have a different accent and they know that I am "different" from all the other people from Reading or elsewhere in the UK.  The look at me as though they can understand what it feels like to be different and in strange surroundings.  When I finally get to talk to these children 1:1, they ask me many questions about what it's like to live in the United States.  When I tell them, I get to ask them what it's like to be in a different household or placement?  It is through this similarity of being "different" that they find comfort, ease, and a sense of safety.  How ironic is this?

    I have talked to all my children about God and who they think God is?  Most of them know that God is "God of all the universe;" however, most do not know that God is always with them and that He can protect them in times of trouble.  None of them know "how to pray."  Although this makes me sad, it also makes me excited that I may be able to show these children who Our Father is.  All but one of my children (16 in all) would like for me to tell them more about God and/or show them how to pray.  Since God is the One who brought me to the UK, it is through God that I will show these children love, care and safety, and find their "home" in Him.  This way, when I am out of their lives, they will be able to turn to the One who can help them the most.  So ladies and gents, on this Sunday, my reflection on the word "home" brings me a question I pose to you:  WHERE IS YOUR "HOME" AND WHO IS THERE WAITING FOR YOU? 

From my HOME to your HOME, have a safe week.