Encouragement

Is it normal childhood fear or something more? Marie* was afraid of many things. Being away from her parents, going to school, sleeping by herself, failing a test, or answering a question in class. Some would call her a shy, nervous child, which could be a part of it, but Marie’s ‘shyness’ was limiting her daily life, making it a constant challenge for her parents. She would take hours to fall asleep because of ‘too many scary thoughts’; she would have a stomach ache in the morning before school, unable to eat breakfast. She was often irritable and irrational in...

By: Steven James    

A missionary couple called my mother one day when I was a child. “We need to travel the next two weeks, visiting churches and raising financial support. Could you possibly keep our kids?” So for two weeks, Judy and Jimmy joined our family. Mother had an idea. “Let’s celebrate a different holiday every day. These children have never seen how we celebrate here because they live in a different culture. We’ll make decorations and cook special foods.” Decades later, I look back on those weeks and smile. New Year’s Eve with homemade confetti, St. Patrick’s Day clover hunt, on and...