Why every kid in the world needs a loving parent

Over this past week, there is a slight, small spark that has exploded in me. It was there before but it seems to keep burning a little brighter and a little bigger and a little warmer. I sat in a Holocaust Conference last week with seven 8th grade students who were excited. They were hearing an author speak and two Holocaust survivors share. So much change for their sweet, mostly innocent minds. I love watching their eyes when important people are in front of them. There's a light there. It's sad we don't often foster those lights, we tell them to shut them off. I can't anymore. I just can't. Not for most of these kids... because as the year progresses, their lights turn electricity on in large rooms and makes a conversation with a friend a little more enjoyable and makes a classroom discussion interesting. What turns them off? I began to talk to them about going to Washington, DC. That city burns a flame in me because of it's rich history and my experiences there.... cue background story :) You're welcome. 

(This is told as I remember it... it's probably biased and not completely accurate.) When I entered middle school, I was not a popular kid. I was more of a popular mess. I was smart but not smart enough. In 2nd grade, I had a teacher I will never forget. She told me she thought I could read on a 5th grade reading level. Thus, I am a reader, a loving- throw your whole life and escape into a reality that probably doesn't exist reader. Seriously. BUT I had apparently been a reader before. My parents bought my sister and I TONS of books. We had a very large book shelf in the playroom and it was full of books... books that taught us character traits, Winnie- the- Pooh, small insects with funny names, Berenstein Bears, encyclopedias, etc.. They were ours to devour. And devour I did... I pulled them all off the shelf and reorganized (thus developing a slight case of OCD as well :) ). I read, I taught my sister (or more bossed her around), and took roll call with our invisible class and whoever was at our house. We played our hearts out. We read, we taught, and we learned. Most of the time, I was the teacher, because again, I was bossy. There it is. Confessed. 

Just imagine though... imagine that I was more of a Matilda character with a love for reading who had no books! Sounds devastating and horrible to me at the moment. While my teacher encouraged my enthusiasm for reading, I really have to credit my parents with a love for reading. They bought books. They read to and with me and Trista. We read Winnie-the-Pooh and the Pebble Hunt so much with my dad that the book just fell apart over time. We were able to imagine and build things and create things because we had the ability to read and we had something to read. Fast-forward to middle school. At the beginning of the year, all 6th grade students took a math test. Turns out that the two highest scoring students (myself and another boy) were not in the Gifted program and had both been turned down previously due to test scores. (We'll show you Gifted and Talented programs!!!) Needless to say, we were both in Gifted classes shortly after. Our classes were pull out classes that served as additions to our regular classes. Now fast forward to me as a 7th and 8th grade student (still an awkward middle schooler)... I went on a trip out of the city/drive-thru of little Cave Spring and even the vast metropolis of Rome (okay, that was over the top) to travel all around Georgia with 2 bus loads of middle school students AND I went to DC on a bus trip with my gifted program. I do not remember my parents  ever mentioning costs. My sister and I went on tons of trips in middle school and high school and I don't ever remember my parents saying anything. We did lots of chorus stuff and cheerleading and church stuff... we weren't cheap kids by any means. (Sorry Mom and Dad!) I'm sure they did talk about it but we had no clue. We went and I'm sure we begged for spending money, early allowances, and extra money from the grandparents. (I've blocked that out of my memory apparently.) My parents sent us and were nervous but saw every trip and group and everything as a new opportunity. They also used these types of things to teach us the importance of sticking to our word, following through, and commitment. Thank you again loving parents! 

When I see the light in my students' eyes at school, I often see a flicker. It goes in and out... depending on the day. They have a million things going through their brain. Like every middle schooler on the planet, I felt I was a victim to the earth and therefore had the weight of the world on my shoulders, when in all reality, it was pretty easy. Although it may have stretched our family, I didn't really know. I just knew what I wanted (bratty middle schoolers). And this leads me to my final point... I had loving parents. I had a mom and dad who worked their butts off to have Christmas, to give us huge sleep overs for our birthdays, to let us go on trips, to buy me a name brand pair of jeans, to get a new dress for homecoming and Prom, and I could go on and on for at least 25 blogs of just things they gave us or helped us with or lessons I learned from them (and continue to learn). It was never that my parents did those things or bought those things for us because they were earning our love... they did it out of love, even if it meant they had to sacrifice something else they may have wanted. Love was the motivator. Sometimes my kids at school have flickering unloved eyes and it makes me so heartbroken for them. I want them to experience life to the fullest, without a care, like I was able to. My exposure to the US and the world goes back to the love my parents had to let me go and become independent as an early, awkward teenager. 

I urge you to ignite flames in the next generation, as a parent, a small group leader, a teacher, a pastor, a mentor, or just a human being. Stop turning the lights off. Turn the light on and don't leave them... what experiences do they need to grow and know how to love? We have lots at Mack and I'm thrilled to be a part of it... pray for on-switches and no wet matches. Love you. -Melissa

AND Mom and Daddy-- I literally could not thank you enough for not letting my light flicker for long. Thank you for being a spark that left the light on. Thank you for making it brighter by helping pay for college and being my biggest fans... and thank you for still encouraging my dreams. I will stand behind the fact that I want to send some of my school kids home to stay with you. Love you both lots and lots.