After a year of being house parents and finding out that we
would be expecting our first gringa
child, our lives demanded change.
Taking care of ten girls under ten years old, while living at an
institutional home with no boundaries between us, staff, eighty other children
and our pet cockroaches, was lovely, but taking care of ten girls while
expecting another one was simply no longer doable. Today, I (Becca) am 32 weeks pregnant and very aware
of how pregnant I am. The past few
months, my bump has gotten bigger while my ability to take care of children all
day has gotten smaller. I feel
like it is necessary to send our friends, family, and supporters an update of
how Baby Nash has led us to some life changes.
Living space: One of our first big changes was moving out of
the children’s home. We found a
nice apartment about a five minute drive from the home. Creating physical boundaries in our
lives between us and the home has been a healthy experience and will be
important for raising our daughter like a more typical family (We don’t need
normal, but a little bit more normalcy is healthy for us right now). Though it might seem crazy, having our
own place for the first time in two years feels luxurious and we can’t get over
it. No one knocks on our door
right before going to sleep or before waking up, no one stomps on our aluminum
roof, and well, it’s much easier to keep clean. Our marriage is my favorite thing in the world, and it just
got better because I get to talk to my husband without interruption,
unimaginable exhaustion, or pressure to do anything else. We will be better spouses and parents
for our little gringita with this
simple change and have no regrets.
Different roles:
Because of Baby Nash and some secondary reasons, we have transitioned into
different roles. We are 100%
committed to the house parent model at our home and will be using our different
skills to develop this program further.
When we started as house parents, we were the guinea pigs to see how it
worked within our home. After
being cute guinea pigs, we realized that the home needs extra support to
develop infrastructure, training resources, and funds to make house parenting
sustainable. For these reasons,
Brook has taken on a more administrative role within our organization, focusing
on all external relations. I have
taken on a support role for other house parents, acting as a “respite parent,”
a fancy term for babysitter, who specializes in sitting with children in
trouble, picking out lice, passing out mangos, and helping with homework
time. I prefer the term “house tia,” because I feel like I am an aunt
to all the children at this point.
I will also be helping Brook find grants, develop training resources,
and work on social media projects, that focus on growing our house parenting
program. After our gringita comes, we shall see how to be a
good mom and a good house
tia to our other children. I know
God’s plans are good and in the upcoming months, we will be learning how to do
our little family within the context of our huge family.
The girls: Since transitioning, the home has also undergone its
own changes. It has been our dream
to divide up age groups and put sibling together. With our transition and the transition of other house
parents, we had the opportunity to do that. All the girls under 13 are in a group of mixed ages and are
mostly with their sisters. They
now have different house moms, both of which are Guatemalan, and are doing
well. It is more family-like in
its design because the older girls can help with the younger ones and sisters
actually are in the same room. I
still help out with both groups of girls daily and can see the positive impact
these changes are having on the girls and how much more sustainable this structure
is for the house moms. Instead of
having ten girls who cannot tie their own shoes yet and who have energy to fly
a rocket to the moon (or, in the case of the older group of girls, enough
attitude to make the Spice Girls arch their eyebrows), there is now a beautiful
balance in the groups.
---
Overall, this baby bump of mine has brought change in our
lives and the children’s home. We
are excited about the positive changes this is bringing for everybody involved
and how we can contribute to developing the house-parenting program in the
future. We are committed to loving
and serving these kids in the best ways we can, while also honoring the Lord in
taking care of the marriage and life inside of me he has gifted us with. Thanks for your continued prayers,
support and love! – The Nashes
P.S. You can also read more about Story International, the organization we work with, in the newest newsletter here: http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=a4b6762c069a8f191ac310429&id=59acabb66b
snapped by one of our Guatemalan house parents in the children's home
the house parenting program is growing! Photo Cred: Sophia Acosta
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