Where Children Fly: Building Character with Inspirational Parenting

By Ann Stewart-Porter

Were you the one I saw at the mall with the T-shirt WHO ARE THESE KIDS AND WHY ARE THEY CALLING ME DADDY?! Youre a dad or mom or a cross juggler or a grandparent or a teacher. Youre looking at this book because you love a child or it just popped up. I wrote this book because I love children. I also wrote Where Children Fly because I wanted to be parentally inspiring. Everyone says parenting is so important, but many of us just pray we dont go insane trying to potty train or get through the teenage hormones. We hardly consider what we do as inspirational.
So much of what we do in loving children is out of what we were given, not what we really want them to be. Parenting is a very overwhelming, demanding work of the heart. We finally feel weve got the knack of changing their diaper when those cute little mood swings begin. We manage to get them to school and we find the issues changing whether we are ready or not. After all, are we really all that grown up ourselves?! Once in a while, we look back (to the way we were raised) or around (to our peers raising children) and then up with a silent serious plea the heavens have heard before. God, help me!
You think you want a smart, cute, rich, funny kind of child, but all those things are, well, just opinions as a general rule. Weve got beauty pagentry, SAT, rock stars and others to decipher our perspectives. Theres really a great deal more to those of us who want children with respectable manners, compassion, vision, and parental pride. I see you looking at me saying, I cant even get them to pick up their toys and Im suppose to create the next amazing humanitarian? Before you walk away, consider the possibility. Not long ago my husband and I were at a local eatery. In walked an elderly woman in an old brown coat, followed by four stair-step brothers, maybe age ten to sixteen. They found a table. One helped Grandma with her coat and cane. An older one brought her a plate. As they flanked her sides and talked, I noticed the youngest one took a bite, then, without missing a beat, leaned over and cut her meat in bite size pieces. We never saw a parent, just Grandma and her grandsons. I assumed, because even if they werent sons, they were GRAND indeed.
I wanted to tell them how proud I was of them, but my tears would have scared them silly. It was, I am certain, quite a natural thing for them to do. I want to see generations of this kind of precious afterglow and so I have come to this writing I call INSPIRATIONAL PARENTING. Inspiration comes first by example. I know that seems obvious but believe me, I counsel many a child who lost their way because there was no example. Im not writing Where Children Fly as a course from my archives of perfection or from my trials and experiments. I began to think about how inspiring God speaks of me and how it sets my standard for successful living. I realized that maybe we had forgotten that just to live is holy, to breathe is divinity, to inspire is to create eternal beauty.
I hope this book will inspire you. If you have, by godly destiny, been placed in the life of a child, it is because you can make a difference in their life. Its not about teaching children to do as much as it is teaching them to be. God is a 24/7 inspirationally available parent.
Armed and amazing is my call to you who are weary. Thinking of all this inspiration makes you wonder if Ive lost my mind and wasted your time. I dont want to scare you, but the best parents are real people who inspire others by the life they lead. They are not always the richest or poorest, the well or ill, the educated or not. They are people who open their hearts wide and grow out of bounds.
I love children. I love their stories. I love to see them believe their Dad turned on the sun and Mom can make any boo-boo better with a single kiss. We forget how powerful inspiration can be. We tend to think in the ordinary, practical and t

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 28, 2008
• ISBN: 9781465329714

Ann Stewart-Porter

Ann Stewart Porter is an author, speaker, and Christian Counselor with Serenity Life. She lives with her husband of 41 years, Daniel, in her beloved mountains of Colorado. From there, she serves others with her JoySong. Look for Ann’s other books online: Where Children Fly (Inspirational Parenting) What Went Away (Processing Our Grief) Have You No Scar? (The Magnificent Intimacy)

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Copyright © 2008 by Ann Stewart-Porter.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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Contents

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

A NOTE ON PARENT PAGES/GUIDEBOOK STORIES

DREAM CATCHERS

BLESSING MINISTRY

HOLDING HANDS

I STILL LOVE YOU

THANKS FOR TELLING ME

DO WE GOTTA RUN?

BLOOD AND TEARS

I’M NOT BEAUTIFUL ANYMORE

THE BOXER MISSIONARY

SPEED LEMON

BOYS AND MUD HOLES

NOTHING TO READ

HE’S SLEEPING

THE CAT RESCUE

FATHER KNOWS BEST

THE LAUGHING GOD

HE SCARES ME SOMETIMES

HEART PIECES

LICKETY CAT

DADDY’S A FIREFIGHTER

ONE LEG IN, ONE LEG OUT

I BE ’ACHEL

WATCH OUT FOR TREE KNIVES

TURN THE RABBIT AROUND

JUST PLAYING HIDE AND SEEK

CATCH A STAR

PLAY IT AGAIN

STINKBUGS

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW?

WILL YOU RIDE THE BUS?

DYLAN’S FLY

DEDICATION

May 2007

I dedicate this book to

my favorite adult child, Daniel Paul Porter

To my favorite Parents: Dr. James & Dr. Gaynelle Stewart

To my favorite Children: Rachel, Suzanne and Matthew

To my favorite Grands: Dylan, Nathan, Natalie,

and their Dad, Joshua Sarters

I am immeasurably blessed and covered with grace

just to have each of you in my life.

Because your love flows endlessly, I fly higher.

You are my cherished blessing above all blessings.

Most gratefully, I thank my God and Savior,

Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit

Because of you, I live eternally inspired!

A Book for anyone who loves children.

A Book for parental inspiration.

A Book of roots and wings.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

On any journey, there is never just one footprint. I am full of cartwheel thanksgiving for all those who walk with me. Thank you…

My Husband, Daniel—for all the times you went fishing so I could write, for sleeping with a faint light and a wife who had to finish the page. Your uncomparable love, encouragement and spoken vision have birthed so many stories. I’m glad we share the same vision!

My Parents, James and Gaynell Stewart—for my first inspiration and stories, for the consistent work of the heart that made me feel it was my calling to tell the world something important.

My Siblings, Sharon, Rebekah, Stephen, Sarah and Martha—for all the times you made me write the next best verse and convinced me I had a way with words.

My Daughter, Suzanne and Son-in-Love, Joshua Sarters—for faith dancing with us along the journey and for always believing the best is yet to be.

Diane Newton—for endless days of typing, listening, rewriting, encouraging and sharing my dream as though it were your own.

Jesus—for putting my heart into words and the reality into my inspiration.

Reader—for the opportunity to share the wealth of my life.

INTRODUCTION

Staci grabs my face with both of her tiny hands. She smiles and seems to think I’m more important than I am. For that dense moment, we are engaged in the ominous whisper of love. I think back to the day she was born. A friend called to tell me she was born… and she’s Down Syndrome she added. After getting the name of the hospital, the friend said, They don’t want anyone to come.

I had barely said goodbye to my own angel, Rachel, just a month to the day away. Jack and Irene were in our first Marriage Workshop almost seven years earlier. Quiet with a gentle spirit, cunning humor and youthful seriousness, they had been long-time friends. I called their home and left a message: Hey, you always told us we were the perfect parents for Rachel. Well, you’re perfect for Staci. God just took our angel so He could let yours come in.

Within minutes, they called back and asked us to come show them how to do this. As we drove to the hospital, we recalled the day our Rachel was diagnosed. We remembered the words She’ll never see or hear or walk or talk. She’ll remain as a three-month old infant all of her life. We give her two to four years. We learned about seizures and a whole new world. When she died after twenty-five years, it seemed so short.

As we hugged our friends and shared their joys and fears, we told them the truth. We told them there would be secrets from God specifically to them nobody could understand. Now, I stop in ever so often to see how Staci and her wonderful parents are doing. I am inspired. Jack, a gifted computer guru has an amazing website with Staci’s life in living color. Irene is doing the proud Mom things. They walk the walk with other parents in hopes of raising awareness. They’ve recognized their gift. They live inspirationally.

Parenting is hard no matter how a child comes to you. My son-in-love and daughter with twins plus one seem like super heroes. Often, parenting is less than inspirational. We’re so busy trying not to go insane, we hardly think of inspiring anything. But our little ones, they are inspired. Dads walk out the door and turn on the sun. Mothers kiss the most boo-boos away in under a minute. Research consistently points to parents being the most important influence in their child’s life. Maybe it’s too intimidating to think of ourselves as teachers who inspire, but it is so.

I wrote this book because I miss the inspiration of parenting today. I want the look of wander to stay in my child’s eye long after I am gone. It has always amazed me that God inspires me. He tells me I was loved before the foundations of the world. He says He knits us in the womb. He says He watches over me, sends angels to minister to me. He tells me if someone hurts me, it would be better that they have a stone tied to them and they be thrown in the sea. He tells me I am destined for divinity, purpose, His good pleasure, and His glory. And that’s just my beginning. I am a child of God. He has great love for children. He wants to inspire children and I believe that’s why He continues to send us children. We need inspiration. The world is grasping for that moment that inspires us to dream, to love, to serve.

Where Children Fly is a collection of inspiration. It is a book about the roots and the wings, the necessaries and the common, the temporal and the eternal. While nature and definition make parenting the most unique and difficult work on the universe, it is also the life force of the eternal and changes all of us.

I believe stories are powerful and I believe stories are everywhere a child may be. While you are hoping to be a parent who instills the amazing things you want to see in your flesh and blood, it seems there are more days than not when you are so drained, you don’t even care.

You need to know that does not change that fact that what you do is not ordinary. There is certainly an every day to what you do, but it is beyond ordinary. Think about that when you are tired of blowing noses and picking up cheerios, arguing with your teenager and wishing you could go away for a long trip.

Get this book out and read a chapter or two. Be inspired. Practice inspiration and understand the old words: Home is where your story begins.

A NOTE ON PARENT PAGES/GUIDEBOOK STORIES

Dear Reader,

While I love a good book on parenting, I tend to forget more often than I remember. I want to practice what I am learning. That is why I’ve included "Parent and Guidebook pages at the end of each chapter. This makes you able to note what you can keep or add to inspirational parenting. It also makes this a good study book for parent groups. Guidebook stories are the first suggestions. Adding historical characters, family who exhibits that trait or relevant super heroes will create valuable seeding.

Sharing your stories with others will bring more abundant inspiration to all of us. So, don’t be afraid