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Post by davidm on Jan 21, 2011 1:09:23 GMT -5
I love your story about reading to the little boy! You've created something special for him to remember from his childhood. I hope you continue reading to him now and then. I wonder if the Amish in your neck of the woods are like the Amish in my neck of the woods (Lancaster County, PA) It's interesting you say that Lori Jean. For these children, and even many adults, the simplest acts of kindness really registers. And it is interesting because if someone really needs help they're among the first there. When a neighbors' house burnt down they, along with 2 Baptist churches built a whole new house for them at their own expense. Many of them are from PA, and go back on vacations and some holidays.
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Post by davidm on Jan 21, 2011 1:31:41 GMT -5
Since I grew up in a very abusive family where love was foreign to me, all the positive reactions to this simple act of reading a very short story to a little boy made me feel "So this is what a family of love is suppose to be." That's a very nice story, David. Sometimes I've read that people who grow up in a hostile environment turn out to be hostile themselves. You're the positive proof that this just isn't true. I grew up in a loving, close knit family so I can't really say how I would be now if it hadn't been like that. But the way you acted with that kid says a lot about you. Hi Alex. I think what it really is, is what many perceive to be hostile is really just us going to extreme measures to protect ourselves from ever being abused again. But some do turn and treat their kids the way they were treated, and I always thought, "Don't they want better for their own kids then what they had?" For me, I had the help of many Christian friends from 3 churches. They helped keep me from falling too deep into that mindset. I'm still self protective. One thing, I don't like being surrounded, But when one of these little children come up and hug me and tell me he/she loves me, they are more of a blessing to me then I am to them. When I hear that there is someone who is "just mean" I say, "No, they're probably abused. That meanness is a wall of a self-imposed prison." We're created to want fellowship with other human beings, but the abused person is too afraid to become vulnerable/nice and so risk living through it all over again. Finally, I would say, it really gives me joy to see a child smile when I read a story to him/her. And if I'm a guest at one of their home for a meal after church, to sit down and play one of those silly children's games with them. And when you let the child win, their exuberance becomes infectious.
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