A note from Lisa…

Thank you so much for everything y’all did while I was ACH. One day I was walking around the campus with Ms. Cindy and the rest of the girls and I saw that y’all’s motto is “restoring the identity of children” and I feel like you guys really try y’alls best to do that. – Lisa

When you came to Amarillo Children’s Home a short nine months ago, we didn’t know how long we would get to be a part of your life or exactly what lay before us to face together.

We watched you arrive and could read some of the struggles of your fourteen years in the way you held yourself, the way you looked down instead of into our eyes, the way you hid behind your ever-present hat, uncomfortable in your own skin. We learned more during the first days you lived with us through how you responded to the other kids. You threw stones at someone who didn’t want to play the same game as you. You hissed and spit at another who looked at you. You looked for creative ways to enact vengeance for any perceived slight.

You believed yourself worthy only of being discarded and cast aside, so you rejected others in hopes of avoiding rejection.

We listened as you said horrible things about yourself when you could not accomplish that which you felt you should be able to achieve, what your peers could achieve. We were there when you gave up quickly – you were certain you would fail anyway.

We were not surprised or shocked, horrified or put off. You, precious girl, desperately needed your identity and value restored. We poured positive statements of love, acceptance and encouragement over you, and we celebrated you as you are. We told you of your importance and treated you as valuable, and you began to believe it. We taught you to encourage yourself, to replace negative statements with positive ones, to see the beauty of who you are as a creation of God apart from your accomplishments or capabilities, to silence your inner bully.

We fed you scripture and truth, and you ate it up, hungry for more of a God who loves you.

We broke down challenges and helped you to figure out how to persevere, to overcome, to grow. You learned to keep trying, and you accomplished more than you ever imagined. You were excited to discover what you could do if you didn’t give up.

Our time together was short, but it was wide and full. We pray and trust you will remember these things – that the seeds which were planted and grew will produce more and more fruit.

We love you, always.