Crying for Justice

I have so many unfinished blogs and half written updates and newsletters. It's been such a busy time and we hope everyone understands. But I just feel the need to capture the feelings in my heart this morning

Last week I was home with our babies while Ron worked in Tondo. I received a harrowing text from him that a little boy who regularly joins our kids clubs and kids church died.
His name was Alexa. He was 6 years old.
A family member cleaned his ear with rusty metal and he died with tetanus.

I cried and cried with sadness and with anger at the injustice. So many injustices in that place. A built up cry to God at the many injustices we have seen recently.
God loves justice. He loves to make wrong- right. He delights in filling hopelessness with hope.

Oh God pour your beautiful justice on Tondo.

Most weeks there is some kind of tragedy within the community and we watch as people we love go through pain upon pain. Sometimes we can help. Sometimes we cannot.
I always have that sick to my to my stomach feeling when people come to ask to "borrow the nice choir outfits". It means someone has died and has no clothes to wear inside the casket. We have given away too many choir dresses and barongs (Filipino styled shirts) to dress friends who's life came to an end far too early.

Amidst the darkest of the dark situations there are people from within the communities RISING UP with a love for Jesus and a heart to see change in their own community. Community leaders come to us and share their ideas, even dreams and visions of the future. Young people that used to say their hope was to be a "good scavenger" growing into amazing men and woman who are realizing the HOPE AND FUTURE Jesus wants them to have.

Just the other day we experienced them minister to us once again. We both were really heavy hearted and burdened. As we began leaders training the young leaders began by sharing their testimonies with one and other. We laughed with them. We cried with them. We thanked God for them. They each spoke strength and encouragement to our very souls. They declared to each other stories of what Jesus had done in their lives. We saw Jesus in them. What an amazing privilege to have watched these young children develop into young adults who love God and their community.

The last few weeks have been difficult. We have felt real attacks of the enemy on the ministry as well as our family. Believing God is about to do something new and that His light is about to make something change in the spiritual atmosphere of the place. The enemy is god of this world-- of poverty and all the strongholds that come with it, BUT greater is HE who is IN US (AND IN HS CHILDREN IN THE COMMUNITY) than he who is in the world. As more on the dump site give their lives to Jesus and show true fruit in their lives- MORE HOPE- MORE JOY and MORE CRIES FOR JUSTICE ARE BORN- chipping away at the despair and hopelessness that the father of lies would try to bind people in.

Please would you pray for our team as we prepare to do a gospel outreach outside in the community- in the middle of the open dump site. The youth have prepared drama and music presentations, we will do a film showing and share the good news.The young man named Jerric who was supposed to be shot dead by a Tondo gang and got his leg amputated has written a rap about his testimony and how God even used the shooting to give him a second life in Christ is performing.

 Would you pray for him and the other from the Tondo/Navotas community who are involved. It is a massive thing for them to stand in the middle of that place and declare the goodness of Jesus. Would you pray that God would move in a special way.

We are not the answer. Jesus Is.

The never ending pot of spaghetti

                                                                Today I ate 3 times.

                                         Today these children ate once. They ate pag pag.

Pag Pag literally means to "shake the dirt off"

-To shake dirt, maggots and stuff from the food you are about to eat....

Pag Pag is left over food, recycled and eaten again. It's some body else's waste food.Some one else's garbage.

It costs around 5p a bag and is the staple of many of the children we work with.

Food. Something so simple.

Ron reminded me of an incident that happened way back when we had just started the kids club at the dump site.
We brought PVA glue in to do an art activity. The room erupted with excited screams.I guessed the children were happy to be doing crafts again.The enthused sea of big brown eyes locked onto the glue and waited with anticipation as we opened it.

"Gatas, Gatas"  (MILK_ MILK)

Oh no! They thought it was milk!! I felt so awful. That moment was a trigger for us to feel the urgency to start some kind of  feeding programme. There was only one issue.We had no funds to start one, but still we felt like it was something God was asking us to step out in faith and just do.We were reminded of when God asked Moses "what do you have in your hand"? In other words- what did he have?Moses old rod might not have seemed like much to anyone else, but when he obeyed God and stepped out in faith- God done mighty things through it.
So we asked ourselves what we could do? What did we have?
At that time we had enough to buy a big box of crackers and some powdered orange juice. So we would buy them and take them to kids club each Saturday. Every week chaos broke out as we tried to make the snacks fit around all the children. Quite often we would have to half them in 2 just so everyone could at least get something!

Many of the children we work with eat one small meal a day. It would usually consist of rice covered in soya sauce or maybe come with a small dried fish on the side. For some of the children its just normal to go without any food for 2-3days. One of the shocking things I learned was that infants grew so hungry they would even been seen eating mud and cockroaches. It broke our hearts, how much more did it break the heart of the God who created them? We began to pray with urgency about developing the feeding. After a few weeks of crackers, we were able to then serve chocolate rice- then soup- the porridge with a little chicken- then full meals of rice, meat and vegetables.

I will never forget the first time we saw food multiply.

It was our first year at the dump site and we decided to throw a party. We expected around 200 children. Games were planned and a big pot of spaghetti and bread cooked. We arrived early to set up to find hundreds of children waiting at the gates of the old warehouse that we now call church. What could we do? We didn't have enough food to feed them all and we couldn't turn them away either.

We had food for 200. The head count came to 600 plus!

So we prayed.

The wonderful mummy volunteers from the dump site community began to dish out the spaghetti. They were a little panicked to say the least! In all honestly so were we, but we trusted God would help us out. He did.

The pot of spaghetti that was meant  to feed 200, fed every child a good sized portion with enough left for staff and volunteers. I know some people reading this may say "phft! what a load of nonsense" but I am telling you the truth. I believe God multiplied that big pot of spaghetti to fill all the hungry bellies. Why wouldn't He?

I believe he has multiplied food on many an occasion. There have been times that we have had more children than food and yet they have been fed. Coincidence? I don't think so. I think God loves them so much they he didn't want them to go away still feeling hungry. Why has He not multiplied food at every feeding session? Why sometimes do we get to the end of the long line of faces and have to tell them there is no more? I don't know. It is the worst feeling to tell hungry children there is no more food.

My heart fills with thanks to Jesus as I can  write that the Kalayaan Community Ministries team are now able to feed on average 1570 full meals every week. This does not include all the extra "mirendas" (snacks of bread and extras) that are served at various activities.All glory to God and we thank him for providing through the kindness of our partners.
But you know, it's still not enough and I hope that doesn't sound ungrateful. But when you are eye to eye with beautiful children that are so hungry that some of them sniff glue to try and kill the hunger- the truth is no matter how many you have fed that day- it has not been enough.
Our amazing feeding team are all mothers from the Tondo and Navotas Community and we are so blessed by the way they prepare healthy meals. They live within the communities that they also serve and they know that the children rarely eat fruit and veg and so they cook what will be filling and what is also good for the children.
This is a typical meal of what is served:
Rice, meat, veg, fruit and clean water.

This meal of pork, veg, rice, watermelon and water cost P11 (17pence)

Recently a mother came to us and told us that if it were not for our feeding her children would hardly ever eat.That particular week her children had not eaten for 3 days. This is not me over dramatizing or trying to make you sad enough to give. I'm sad to say this is just a fact.

Thank you so so much to everyone who faithfully partners with us to make the feeding programs possible.If you feel you could sponsor more meals or just want more info please mail kalayaancommunityministries@hotmail.com

(above are some of the feeding team- warrior mams from the dump site area who faithfully buy ingredients, cook serve and clean up at every feeding session. They see it as a ministry, and that is exactly what it is.Yes the food is vital- completely, but we also want the children to know with every plate of food given that we care, but more importantly Jesus cares.
We love these women and the others who are dedicated to helping their own community)

The RICHEST of the POOR

I have been thinking about the term "the poorest of the poor". Many organizations use it to describe the people group they work with. I have used it a lot. But I think that sometimes the term "the RICHEST of the poor" is a better term.

When we first got here we knew God was "calling us" to the poor. We feel he asked us to go to the poor, specifically Tondo. This is where we believe He sent us. We began going there everyday and "the poor" who before were a mass people group on a leaflet, a story on the news and pictures on the internet became real to us. We began working with them. What I really mean by that is we began knowing them. We saw there lives. We listened to their stories. Over time we got to really know them and as we knew them- we loved them.
They are no longer just the poorest of the poor. They are our friends. Our Filipino family. We love them.
Among them we found that although poor- they were rich! Really rich!
Rich because when they should be hopeless- they had hope. I have watched our friends who live on the dump site go through desperate situations upon desperate situations. They should have given up, but  I have watched them overcome. I have watched them as they sang thanks to Jesus as tears rolled down their faces.
Rich because when everything is against them and they need to literally fight daily for survival- they smile. Often heavyhearted- sometime clinging to life, but also clinging to their joy.
Poor on earth. Rich in Christ.
Rich in love.

When I think of when we came I was so naive. I thought we were coming to help them. I thought we were coming to teach them something. I thought we were coming to minister Gods love to them. In actual fact what has happened on many occasions is they have loved us, helped us, ministered to us. We have learned and continue to learn so much from "the poor". I could sit down and write stories upon stories of how many individuals have taught us something. Something about loving God, loving others. Something about what it means to really worship. Something about what is really important. Something about sacrifice. Something about compassion. So many many somethings.....

I just feel so very privileged- not only to work with the richest of the poor, but to know them. I hope I could write in a way that would honour them. I hope maybe through the ramblings of my heart that you could learn something from the RICHEST OF THE POOR too.

Kikoys smile always makes me smile!

15 and in prison.

Today we found out one of our youth has been put in prison. He grew up in our children's programme and is a lovely boy. Very involved, full of fun and once excited about Jesus. Last month he got involved with a gang for the first time.
Tonight he is in a prison cell with men who are awaiting trial for all sorts of crimes.
He is 15 years old.

It's 10.30pm right now and the rain is beating wildly on the roof. It sounds like a typhoon. Windows banging, doors rattling and thunder clanging.
My baby boy woke up with a short burst high pitch cry. I suppose the noises of a storm are ones he has never heard before. I held his chubby warm body against mine. His perfectly smoothly rounded cheeks pressed to mine. Within moments he was fast asleep again.
A few seconds later my darling boy Josiah sat bolt upright in the bed. He grabbed my hand and put it over his ears then after a cuddle he returned at peace to dream world.

While comforting my babies through the noises of the storm all I could think about was the mother of the boy who was put in the prison. Her heart must be torn and broken as she listens to the rain batter down on the tin roof of the upper level of temporary housing. As the rain continues to fall hard I wonder if right now  rain of tears are falling fast down her face as she thinks of her sons first night in prison.. She usually has such a beautiful smile- but not tonight.

I'm so sad to think how she must have held her only son through many a rain storm at the dump site  when he was little. I feel so heavy hearted for her as a mum. Her baby boy once safe in her arms now in the hands of police that left him bruised from a beating. Her mind must be tormented at she wrestles with the things that may happen in that prison cell.

We know this family well and have worked with them since we first arrived in the Philippines. They are good parents. The father works so hard as a Pedi cab driver to provide the most he can for his children. He is a gentleman. The mother really cares for her children and has a determination to see them do well in school and in life. They have raised their son well. I know they will be  asking themselves what else they could have done. The Father told Ron as he cried that he was crying because his son had not listened to his instruction. As his youth leaders we are also searching our hearts. What else could we have done? He only got into the gang a few weeks ago. What is we had been back one month earlier from Scotland. Maybe.....

I haven't mentioned any names or gone into detail because I don't want to embarrass the family but God knows this young boy. He knows all about the crime whether guilty or innocent and cares. He knows exactly what has happened and what will happen to him. He knows who you will be talking about if you pray for him even without a name to base your prayers on, so please would you pray for him and his parents.
Thank you.

*according to Philippine law is  illegal for a minor to be put in jail with adults. Police have said they are only holding him until The department of social welfare and development take over the case- It is still against the law.

IT'S NOT FAIR

Today was our first full day back at the dump site since returning from Scotland. The purpose of this quick blog is not really to give an update, but so I won't forget the feelings of today.As we we began walking toward the community I turned to Ron and asked him how he felt.

"It's not fair"

A strange or simplistic reply you might think. You see- Its NOT fair.

THE INJUSTICE OF POVERTY IS NOT FAIR.

ITS NOT RIGHT.

As we walked today and as I write now I feel a fiery stirring up inside my heart.I believe God put it there. It's kind of an anger- stirred to ACT-stirred to DO something kid of anger. Motivated by seeing such squaller. Compelled by knowing such special people who live in such squaller. Knowing that this is not God's plan for them.
As we spent time with some of the families we love and are privileged to help I had the following words repeating in my mind;
For every family we help there are hundreds we have not yet reached. For every familiar face that came to say thank you, there are faces who look across the mire of the place as if to say- you haven't  done anything for me yet.
It's nice to say- its about that one- one person - one family- one at a time. That is true, but when you bend knee to knee on the dirt with another starving child or put your arms round a mother who just cant bear the load of so many problems, the thought that you may have helped someone else does not make one bit of difference. I think God allows us to feel this pain because it's a needy reminder of how useless we are without him. So useless without Him.

Today I met a little boy I have never seen before. His name is Vince and I guessed he is about 1. I haven't taken a picture because his tiny frame was naked. He was covered in bites and wounds with that all too common expression of hunger and neglect. The whole time I was holding him all I could think of was our healthy so loved baby boys.
I couldn't wait to squeezy hug them and thank God that they were not living like Vince.

Vince is just another one of many I had never met before.  Another one who needs love.Another one who needs hope. Another one who needs pratical help. Another one who needs the caring Jesus to take him from the dunghill, lift him from the ashes and create a beautiful hope and future.

We just want to say thank you to each person who continues to partner with us and the team to sustain the work here. Only God knows what the future holds for this community-Relocation for the people or not. All we know is we are meant to be here for now. Not because we are the best qualified.Not because we have a fancy organisation.Not because we are the most spiritual or any other grand reason- but because Jesus loves these people and given us a heart to love them. So desperate to see many more lives changed on earth and into eternity.

The time I had Dengue Fever

I remember visiting a particular ward in a Filipino hospital and asking what everyone was there for. The people all looked so weak, hooked up to drips and seemed disorientated. The nurse said they had Dengue fever. That was the first time I heard of it.

The second time was when a mother at the dump site brought her 6 year old son to church. She said he had a fever. 3 days later  he was dead. He had dengue fever.

Dengue ,also known as "break bone fever" is transmitted from several species of mosquitoes. Some make the comparison to Malaria. During rainy season (June-August) in the Philippines the number of cases increase. The community at the dump site where we are based are at high risk because they are surrounded by stagnant water so much and that's where the mosquitoes breed.

One day after working with the children at the dump site I felt a bit "off". The children are so sweet and like to share and now and again even share their sicknesses with us! But this felt a bit different to me. I had a painful sensation behind my eyes. My muscles and joints were aching and it felt like I was getting the flu. I thought like other things we have picked up there it would clear up on its own.Then I developed a weird looking rash. Kind of like a measles rash that didn't really disappear when you pressed it. I felt rough! I could not stop vomiting and felt weak.  My gums began to bleed.

Off to the hospital we went. Yep- it was dengue!

Ron told me afterwards he was really scared.

After paperwork the doctor put me on intravenous re hydration. They said I was dehydrated and my blood platelet count was dangerously low. If it did not improve I was to get a blood transfusion. Lots of people were praying and I think my poor mama was worried sick at the other side of the world. Long story short, I began to improve and was let out of hospital within a week. I felt really useless for a good few weeks after. I just had no energy. But all was well and that was the end of that. My immune system was able to fight it, but many of the children on the dump site are already weak and undernourished. Their story does not always end like mine....

Every year since we started working in that community we have seen children die from Dengue.

Most parents cant even afford the transport to a hospital never mind the doctors fee.

Imagine you have one child sick, but if you sacrifice a day of work picking trash at the dump site, the rest of your children wont eat that night. What a choice eh?

One year we received the shocking news that 20 children living near the waterside had died from dengue.

20 children.

There is no vaccine against dengue so it's all about prevention. One way we can help is by providing mosquito nets for families.

It costs £1.50 for a single net and £4 for a family sized net.

Many of the families on the dump site earn between 70p- £2 for a whole days work.

In the UK a will pay £1.50 for a can of coca cola

This year we are hoping to provide at least 500 families with a mosquito net. Can you help?
For more info on this please visit:

https://www.facebook.com/KalayaanMinistries

Thank you.

There's a language called "Christianese"!

2 more weeks and we will be leaving Scotland to move back to the Philippines. I think I have forgotten most of my Filipino- Tagalog! There has been no need to speak it so I have got out the practice of using it and therefor I think I have lost a lot of the words!
 When something isn't in use or you fall out the habit-it's easier to forget and therefore lose it for a while. I was thinking how we can lose the passion of thankfulness. That overwhelming boiling up where I just have to thank Jesus with all of my being for what He has saved me from.
Sure, I can sing that I'm thankful to Jesus, read about it or even nod my head in agreement when a Pastor speak about it, but I was feeling like I had lost the awe and wonder of it the other day. So I started thinking about what I have really been saved from.
I have been saved from hell. A word we don't hear much these days expect from as an expression of annoyance. You don't even hear it mentioned in some many churches these days. I have been saved from eternal pain and continual agony. I have been saved from having to listen to constant wailing and saved from so much more. Because of Jesus I have a future in heaven. I can have an abundant life on earth because He saved me. I never deserved to be saved. I don't deserve it. There's no special reason I am saved apart from the free and unmerited favor of God. GRACE.

Selah.

Pause and think about that a minute.

Speechless.

If I could recall everyday in a living way what I have been saved from I would have more love for the One who saved me.

There's a language I don't want to speak and it's called "Christianese"

-A communicable language within the Christian subculture with words and phrases created, redefined, and / or patened that applies only to the Christian sphere of influence.
I suppose you could sum it up as a dialect amongst Christians. It's derived from well know Christian sayings that were founded in truth but that if not careful can at times become empty words. Sometimes this language can creep up in your tongue without knowing it. I don't want to speak it. But I do want to speak real, living words about the goodness of God. I want to always sing from my heart and not just my mouth.

Imagine Jesus, the son of God chose to go through horrific pain and endured many a sad heart for me?
For me?
A girl who sometimes forgets to thank him!
For me?
A girl who does not always make him priority!
For me?
A girl who sins and makes thousands of mistakes!

YES! IT WAS FOR ME!!!

Imagine God would give his very son for us? It's easy to let the words trip off our mouths but really....

I have 2 sons. 2 amazing boys. When they were born I discovered a part in my heart that I never knew was there. It was a new kind of love. An overwhelming, passionate, ready to protect kind of love. If you are a parent reading this you know. We hate seeing our babies ( young or old) get hurt in any way. I cannot stand it when my sons have to feel even the slightest discomfort or pain- a "skint knee", a cold, a bump, an upset tummy, a bruise. Mummy and Daddy's just want to make things better.

How did God feel when He watched his only son get battered? His skin burst and bruised. Bumps and knocks to his beautiful head. Stripped naked to feel the cold and the icy stares of a crowd hated him.
Hated him for what?
All He ever done was good.

How could Mary's heart take it? It must have been broken to pieces. A mothers heart torn in grief. I wonder if she cried in agony as she watched her son go through torture. Yes, she knew He would rise again and that this was destiny, but I wonder how she felt as a mother. I wonder if as Jesus hung on the cross did she have flashbacks to him as a baby. Once perfectly smooth skin, now torn open with wounds and cuts. Precious blood dripping from his body.

"Thank you" doesn't really seem to cut it does it? No wonder Jesus asks for us to love Him with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength. Our whole lives.  Doesn't he deserve that?
He deserved so much more and we will never repay Him but we can still try.....

 

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life"

Dont worry: Put a box on your head and bang a drum!

How strange to think that the last time I signed into blog land I was a Mama of one and now I am a Mama to two amazing sons! Overwhelmed that God would entrust us with such beautiful gifts. Truly our children are kisses from heaven.

Brothers Josiah and Eli

Isn't it crazy how we could miss the gifts of today by worrying about problems that may or may not happen in the future?! The other day I began thinking about our return to Manila and the fact that we have to find somewhere new to live when we get there. Travelling all that way with 2 babies and then arriving and having no house to go to could be a bit hectic! As a mummy I'm just desperate to get our boys settled and into some kind of routine when we get back to the Philippines, but this is easier said than done without an actual home to go to. I haven't been upset thinking about it because I know God has always looked after us and He will continue to do so, but the situation was on my mind more than it probably should have been. As I was thinking about it, I looked across the living room and found our bare foot toddler with a box on his head and playing his own makeshift drum. There he was without a care in the world singing his wee heart out and banging a basin with wooden spoons!

What a reminder to enjoy the moment- count the blessings of today and not worry about the future!

A couple of weeks ago a friend who moved away from the Philippines to the Middle East posted the following on her face book page;
"HOME IS WHERE MY FAMILY IS"

Today I have thought about this over and over and find myself nodding in complete agreement. Home is where my husband and boys are. It really is and I'm so thankful that wherever we are on the globe- I am at home.

I am one very blessed woman! Thank you Jesus!

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things..." Matthew 25:24

There are some things we just can't control.

As my laptop  struggles to balance on my pregnant belly I am reminded I am 8 days overdue.If I had a pound for every time someone has said "oh , you are still here" or " you must be fed up waiting" I would have collected a substantial sum this week! It's funny though, because although I am so ready to meet our baby and excited, I have been feeling really content about just having these last few days with Josiah. He hasn't been feeling well all week and in a way I am glad I haven't had the baby yet as it means our son has had our full attention while he's been unsettled.I know that at some point baby Domingo number 2 will come when it is the right time! I mean, he can't stay in there forever!


taken by my hubby

"To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:

 A time to be born, And a time to die"Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

 

I have been thinking about this verse all week and it spoke to me about how in a world where we try and control so much there are just some things that we have no control over. There are some things that we just can't plan. In a society where we are obsessed with order, preparation and aiming to have things done within our schedule, I find it quite freeing to be confronted with the fact that there are still things in my life I have no power at all over- like giving birth. I know that God has an appointed time for our baby to be born and he won't come a moment before or after that time!

 

Earlier on in the week my sister and I were chatting about the passing away of our step-dad. She was with him when he took his final breaths and was saying what a horrible thing it was to watch him die but that it was also such a sacred moment.

Sacred I said- how so?

She explained how he breathed out and then in and then out..... and that was it. God has appointed that very breath to be his last. In that very last breath out God has chosen to call him home to heaven. God decided that time and no one could have changed it. My sister was right- it was sacred.

 

The bible says there is a season for everything. I have learned this week that instead of fretting on when something may happen- just to let it be- let HIM be- and enjoy the fact that there are some things we just can't control!

Salt or Vinegar?

Our lovely boy has definitely hit toddler hood! He's gone from being my wee baby to being this little guy who has his own personality and knows exactly what he wants. New challenges. New fun! I love it. It amazes me how much he is learning to understand the world around him. His speech has really come on since we arrived in Scotland and he tries to copy most words. We were doing grocery shopping the other day and I wasn't aware I was talking out loud. Browsing through the cereal isle Josiahs voice came from the grocery cart "oh that's cheap!" I must have spoken it and he was copying! It really made me giggle.
Then I got to thinking just how his mind is like a sponge and his tongue ready to imitate. I'm now so aware that he is watching and listening to me all the time. He is learning from me and the people around him. He is learning words, tone and expression. I suddenly felt very transparent before him and before God.

Imagine that I am responsible for being an example to this precious little man. Our children are watching us and learning- both good and bad. What an awesome responsibility to show an example worthy of the saviour we claim to live for eh?!

I thought about how that morning I was feeling so exhausted. I'm feeling really well with only a few days to go to the birth of our next baby, but just tired. I thought of what Josiah may have heard and seen? Did I use a tone of impatience to anyone? Have I been rolling my eyes? Could I have chosen my words more wisely in a situation?

That evening I was praying about the use of our speech and how we each have a choice to use our words, tone, expression to build up our homes or create a negative atmosphere. This verse really challenged me;

"Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one." Collosians 4:16

I was thinking how sometimes our ways of communication can be more like vinegar than salt! A moan over something not worth moaning about- an impatient sigh at being kept waiting- an under the breath mutter in response to something that makes us mad. I read somewhere that salt refers to value as apparently the Romans used to give their soldiers an allowance of salt. Do the words we speak always carry value? Salt adds flavour. Do our words?

I'm thankful for the reminders from the Holy Spirit that convict and remind that we have a choice to use our words to bless or to curse- to build up or pull down.What a challenging verse though eh? Let our speech always be with grace!! Do I always speak to people the way I would want Josiah to speak to me? I know I still have a long way to go! How about you?