Today is my daughter's 16th birthday. That means I have been a school counselor for 18 years! Wow, I love my job. I learn something new about human nature every day, and the older I get the more I realize you can't put anyone in a mold. Every child is different than every other child. It's what makes living life so fun and interesting.
I remember well the day we brought her home- she was 3 days old and her birthmom had just signed her over to us, to legally be her parents. While we were so excited about the warm spot in the middle of winter, we also know it was probably the coldest winter her birthmom had ever had. We feel so blessed to have been able to raise Julia- we are not quite finished, but we are well past the halfway mark! She has been such an easy child to raise. She has a pleasant personality and a sweet disposition.
OK, so is my post about my daughter or about my 18 years as a school counselor? Well, both I guess. My thoughts keep switching back and forth. Does that ever happen to you?
I am thankful for my other two daughters as well. They each have their unique personalities. I gave birth to my youngest, and our middle is a foster daughter who came to live with us almost a year ago. Maybe I will share about my first year as a foster mom at the end of March.
So, back to school counseling for 18 years. I love that every child that I meet is so different, and by now I've met hundreds of kids! It's a privilege to help these kids along their path, if only for 3 or 4 short years. I know their parents struggle with parenting at times, because I know I sure do. I doubt my abilities to help them across the finish line more than ever. As they are becoming more independent, self-sufficient, and use their own thinking skills, rather than relying on mine, I know my parenting job is going to end in the near future.
For all kids, mine and other people's, I wish for them to go out and make an impact on everyone around them, with everyone they meet, and to use their skills to do a job they absolutely love and will flourish in.
