Gardener

Planting, watering and the growth of it all…

I discovered something wonderful about myself a few weeks ago.  I realised while working in the garden clearing out a bed for some new plants in our massive garden, that I enjoy weeding out weeds and the bigger the weed the more satisfying… but the pleasure of planting something new is even greater.  Of course, this has led me to a whole new world of gardening interest and looking at plants and vegetables.  My Pinterest page is full of what to plant when in South Africa.

I was laughing out loud with my youngest two the other day as we sat weeding the garden that my life has become this… digging in the dirt with two little lives.  I realised in the moment though that I was happy and at peace.  Building lives has become so important to me.  Seeing these little one's heal has become the desire of my heart.

When I was a young mommy at home with Moriah-Jane and Daniel, I had so much other stuff going on.  The kids were in ministry from birth.  Poor little Jess was born on the Tuesday and in church on the Sunday.  I never really stopped…  I was on a mission… my family was on it with me.

… now I am on my second round of parenting young children, but these children all have special needs. My home has become the mission field.

As I sat at the hospital yesterday meditating on this shift while I was waiting for an appointment to decide the best next step with one of the girl’s ears, I decided to count how many days I had spent in hospitals this year so far.  It turns out that 33 days have been spent in hospitals, clinics and court… and most of those days are spent waiting,

It dawned on me that this new season of working with these children was never going to be easy.  Working with children that have been abused and then especially before the age of 7 is extremely challenging work.  We had no idea of how challenging it would be when we started.

My work is changing... I still do training... but that too has shifted...

This has opened a whole new opportunity of work.  Which I liken in this blog a whole new piece of the garden that needs to be worked.  The need for ‘Therapeutic Foster Homes’ has become what we believe is a mandate in South Africa if we want to help children heal from trauma.  Holger and I are busy pioneering one and all the learning that goes with that.  This means lots of learning and a lot of applying what we have learnt over the years.

The “system” our home is in is a difficult one… I liken it in my mind to a big messy neglected garden… there are some beautiful plants and things that work, but overall, it is overburdened and needing some weeding… the children we care for remain vulnerable and at risk… they are still not out of harm’s way!  We need to advocate for them a lot and at this point we have been unable to do it alone and are very grateful for the support we currently have, to help take the cause of each of our children forward to get them to a safer place.  Please keep this in prayer.  The battle is far from over.

I am a budding gardener at home in my real physical garden, which I am very grateful for and in the community “Garden” where we live... it is in the knowing now what is needing to be weeded out, what is to be planted and what must just be left to grow.  We are working out the dream as it emerges

and formulating a strategy with others for the best interest of the foster child in my home, in our community and in our country.