Rejoice In Hope

For everything there is a season...tis the season for training!

Monday through Friday this week is my CALM training for the Methodist Home. It has been really good so far. I've learned a TON about de-escalating crises. Every children's home in Georgia is required to have a program for crisis intervention and physical restraint, and ours is CALM (its an acronym for Crisis something something something...I forget). The past two days have been "theory" classes; learning the ideas on paper. Tomorrow and Friday are the "physical" days. This means learning how to properly restrain a child without hurting them or allowing them to hurt anyone else. It's a last resort situation for any crisis, but I'm really really hoping I never have to use the things I learn outside of the class room.

Honestly, I'm kind of nervous about it. Going into an arm hold at a 45 degree angle and setting a child down safely...kids have dyed at other institutions for the way they were restrained. If you turn their head you could slowly cut off their oxygen supply and kill them or just traumatize them permanently. Most of the kids we work with already have PTSD from the things they've experienced in their past; they're basically little war veterans. Sometimes when I see it, the trigger from their past, I just want to hold the kid and tell them their past doesn't define their future and they are loved unconditionally. Unfortunately, their past often does define their future and they are stuck in a rut of never wanting to grow up or never facing their fears. It's sad, but it's my job to give them hope.

I saw a few kids in the dining hall today and they asked when I was going back to their cottages. I love that. The kid who said I reminded him of Adele continues to call me Adele when he sees me, and the girls hug me when they see me. I think I need their hugs just as much as they need mine.

Walker got off earlier than he thought he would today, so we got to have dinner together and watch a Red Box movie. It was really nice :) Well, the pizza was delicious, the movie was mediocre, but the company was excellent.


Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. -Romans 12:12