12.9.18 Post-Its

It seems like every Sunday we have a standoff here with Aliza and HArold towering over the rest of us. She shoes up in her heels and Harold is just getting to be that tall and we all look up to them. IT's been a bit of hard pill to swallow for Greg he is our big dad after all. So this Sunday when I had time to take the picture of Greg, Alia and HArold I figured I'd document one of the older crew too. 

These big kids pulled off a special mission later that day. Earlier in the week they had been concerned for a friend who was showing symptoms of possibly committing suicide. Another group of friends were pondering their sexual readiness and the girls were aghast at both situations. I suggested they reach out to both girls and encourage them on from the right now. I suggested that maybe a locker covered in positive thoughts would help them know they were loved and cared about by someone other than a boy...so they did that for the depressed friend. The response was positive. So we mused what if they did the whole school? What would that be like?

Well Aliza spoke with a teacher who supplied her with a huge stack of post-it notes and the locker assignments for everyone at school. We then googled positive comments ang started writing. The kids secured keys and the principal's ok after church and went to the school. 300+ post-it notes and a few hours later they came home worn out mentally from the exercise. However, they were happy. The result this week has been surprise from peers that someone "secret" would know and comment on them personally. Harold is busting to tell and has been approached by a few. A sweet janitor friend complimented the girls  saying "if he knew who tried to make school a little better this week he would tell them that's cool."
There's a lot of bad out there. A lot of darkness. I'm thankful these kiddos are willing to push back and be lights. I'm so thankful they have each other. This was a big job! I love being a mom to groups of kids. Sharing the journey truly makes it more fun!