Shhhhhh......don't tell....but I don't believe in Magic!

     If you asked any student at my Elementary School where I worked the last 5 years, "What did Nurse Jenny always give you to feel better?"  The majority would say, "Magic Crackers"!    (I will reveal what the secret ingredient that made them "magic" was here in a minute.)  What I learned very quickly when I first became school nurse was that each and every child needed someone to listen and take them seriously.   So my goal for each of my little patients was to give them validation.  I listened, I assess, I ask questions then I would give them my prescription.....which could be anywhere from a hug, band aid, ice pack, Tylenol or a Magic Cracker!  Sometimes the complaint would be legitimate....sometimes it would be a reason to get out of class.  Either way....there was a reason behind it.  They sometimes didn't get enough sleep, got in a fight with a friend, had a rough morning getting out the door (like we do at my home on many days) or forgot to do their homework..... so I treated them with respect.  Because after all...no matter what our age....isn't that what we want?  Someone to listen to us.  Someone to understand.  Someone to care.  Someone to make us feel safe.  Someone to make us feel loved. 

     So after 5 years of having the tremendous pleasure of loving and helping the students at my school I have stepped down so I can go serve in the same way to the families in the Dominican Republic.  I will have a whole new kind of challenges to help with but I plan on using the same prescriptions on them.....I will validate their complaints....assess how I can help....I will listen....I will understand....I will care and help to make them feel safe.  I will definitely make them feel loved. 

     Now to reveal for the first time in public my "secret ingredient" I added to my "Magic Crackers" ..............was PRAYER.  I would pray that they would fill the students with God's love....God's mercy.....God's healing. 

     One of my favorite quotes I had taped next to my desk was... "Live in such a way that those who know you but don't know God will come to know God because they know you." 

     So now unlike doing this quietly and to myself in a public school system.....I can tell the families in the DR how much God loves them.  I can help HEAL them by the power of HIS REDEMPTION, MERCY and GRACE. 

     And for both my kiddos here at my school and for my future families I will continue to PRAY that they will know that they ALWAYS have someone that listens, understands, loves and wants them to feel safe.......  that is their HEAVENLY FATHER waiting for them to TRUST IN HIM for all their needs.