Monday Monday

          This Monday we got up at 6:00 in the morning to throw the last of our belongings into our van and say good-bye to my family in Greensboro, NC.  We left around 7:15 and headed back to Falcon.  Two things struck me about our week off.  The first is that it felt longer.  We normally leave town tuesday or Wednesday, but last Monday when we finally got off our hall we went straight to Greensboro.  That was nice.  The second thing is that Cherie mentioned to me at least two times that she missed the boys.  We have missed the boys before, but this was the first time that we talked about it.  Normally we are so burnt out that we sleep for the first day and rest enough that we are almost ready to go back to work come the Monday houseparent meeting.  This week, we were just as tired and emotionally drained, but something has changed.  We call them ours now.  They ask to spend more time with us.


         
         We have been at Falcon for over a year now.  The second school year will start in a few weeks.  Summer was definitely a break in and of itself.  Over the past year we have learned a lot about how to parent teenagers.  It was an adjustment coming from being a Youth Pastor where I never had to discipline anyone outside of asking them to quiet down.  Now Cherie and I get the full force of disciplining because love demands it, only to be thanked with slammed doors, profanity, and endless debate that is only satisfied with victory.  We have gotten used to explaining that privacy is a privilege adults get. That good rules are for protection, and you will never live or work where you agree with all of them.  That if you know the consequence, you chose it by breaking the rule.  We are just giving you what you chose.  Most importantly, love does what is best for someone, even if that makes them hate you.

           The turn over rate at Falcon is tremendous.  This Monday at staff meeting we gathered around yet anotherone of our coworkers who was leaving.  She had been here about a year.  Less than a month ago we lost one of our associate houseparents.  Cherie told me of another set of houseparents who are leaving in the next few weeks.  Some just walk into our supervisor's office and tell him they are leaving.  Their belongings are already packed.  He has a few hours to find someone to cover the hall before they are gone.  Those that stay longer, a group we are slowly joining, were called here by God.  There have been times when Cherie and I both wanted to leave.  The question always comes up: "Where does God want us to go?"  The answer is always "Nowhere, at least not yet."  If I did not have that to fall back on, I would have left within three months.  Falcon is a great place to work.  We have some of the best bosses available.  We don't have to stress about rent, or utilities, or shopping for food.  Our stress is parenting kids that want to make you believe they don't want parents because they know you will be gone soon.  To them, it's always better to drive you off than get abandoned by another loved one.  God has allowed us to stay long enough to realize that being a parent to these kids is one of the most rewarding things imaginable.  We get to show kids who have never been loved well what love should look like.  We get to teach kids who have never heard the Gospel that God loves them.

          A few weeks ago, after we lost another set of associate houseparents, I took three of the boys outside to weed the garden. They asked when Cherie and I were leaving.  I told them we had no plans, and unless God tells us to go we are not going anywhere.  After a few moments of silence they asked us to hang out with them more.  At night sometimes, when most of the boys are in bed, the last one or two will come into the office to talk about nothing in particular.  It's moments like that when you know God is using you.  Those times make all the hard moments worth it.