So I obviously can't share too much because I want to honor Harley's privacy. In the midst of a busy ministry schedule and working on reading all the books and writing papers for Doctoral work, I found out that Harley went to a place where he did not quite have permission to do so. (Don't worry he wasn't in major trouble!) When I asked him why he went where he went he said, "I just wanted to think about you." Harley left school and went to where he and I spent time on our first pre-placement visit. Now, I don't know if he is just a incredible manipulator or not, but he sure does know how to pull at your heart strings! What I am discovering is that we are BOTH very impatient for Harley to be in his permanent "forever family" home!
I have to figure out how to change his name from Harley to Aaron Christian Griffith. This is the name he chose and it means "Mountain of Strength and Follower of Christ (or Little Christs)". I think he chose some great names.
So, since I am going to be his dad, it is at the point where I am going to check in with him every day via SKYPE - a great tool that closes the distance between folks! So, int the meantime, I am praying for patience and wisdom in the midst of a busy schedule.
Until "the artist formerly known as Harley" - Aaron Christian Griffith comes home, We will keep you posted!
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Weekend with Harley
I thought I would give an update on my visit with Harley kind of in a chronological order with just a few of the "highlights":
Thursday - I arrived in Wichita and drove about an hour to Harley's location. I went to TFI, which is where Harley's case workers are located and finally got to put some names with faces. The ladies there obviously have Harley's best interests in mind. After meeting and chatting, I met Harley's foster mom who is truly an incredible woman for what she does for Foster kids. I settled into a cabin where Kim's friend Shannon graciously let us stay for the weekend. (Thank you very much Shannon!) As a Youth and Family Pastor, of course, money is tight so this was a GREAT gift. If you are going to Kansas, I recommend the cabins highly! They were clean and awesome. I love the smell of cedar! After settling in, we decided to surprise Harley at his school as it was near the end of the day. For the first time, it hit Harley as to how tall I am! From that point, I took Harley into town (20 miles away, LOL) and we had dinner at Pizza Hut. Did I mention the boy LOVES pasta! We made a quick run to Wal-Mart for a few things and then settled into the cabin for the night.
Friday - (Kansas kids in this area have a longer school day Mon. - Fri., but are out on Friday) Friday morning, we had breakfast at Hunt Brothers Pizza (which is a local hang out spot, pizza joint and gas station)! Ah, small town Kansas! We then went into town and went to the public library where I showed Harley some things about Georgia, Stone Mountain, The Orchard, etc. He played a few educational games on the computer, we rented a couple of videos to watch and as a result Harley is now a HUGE "Lord of the Rings" fan! Good thing I have the movies at home AND I have all the Chronicles of Narnia series for him to read! We walked around town for a bit had lunch at a really cool coffee shop where I "made him" eat some salad and fruit with his sandwich but we also played checkers and hung out for a while. We picked him up a "play army machine gun" at Wal-Mart, played in the snow a little and then started watching "Lord of The Rings - Fellowship of The Ring", paused the movie, got some pizza from Hunt Brothers and then finished watching the end of the movie. Harley then got ready for bed, but could not sleep so we had some awesome conversations about his past and his future.
Saturday - We had breakfast at Harley's Foster Mother's house and then ran back into town where we ran some errands with Kim, Harley, myself and the two other foster boys where I got a "Grand Tour" of the town and some history lessons. After some errands and the tour, we went bowling at the bowling alley in Ark City (Short for Arkansas City) and we "interrupted" a bowling tournament. This is the kind of town where people still play the National Anthem even before their event - I LOVE it! After bowling, we went to a Mexican Restaurant. I should mention that we also picked up the next two movies in The Lord of The Rings Trilogy and watched the second one.
Sunday - We all went to Church at Kim's Church and it was definitely different from The Orchard! Harley will not only have culture shock moving from Kansas to Georgia, but will also have Church shock. After Church, we went back to Kim's where we had lunch. Next, I helped Harley with some of his homework and then we had a snowball fight. (Outside, of course!) Then we settled down for The Super Bowl, where, Harley just had to sit next to me as he did the whole weekend. It could be safe to say that Harley and I "bonded"! Harley, usually not able to sleep, actually fell asleep on the floor during the Super Bowl. He is a difficult one to wake up, so I already see one of my challenges. He wanted to stay at the cabin with me again, but we felt like he needed to be in his own bed and be back in a routine before school Monday.
Monday - Obviously, Harley is back in school so I decided to "sneak in" (with the schools permission) and "spy" on Harley to see how he is in school. For the most part, he actually does really well. He, like most kids his age, will sometimes push the limits for boundaries. He had one minor negative interaction with one of the "Teachers Aides" and he did not see me sitting in the back of the classroom. (I was pretty stealthy!) The good new is that Harley is pretty teachable and this gave me an opportunity to "teach him" - which he received very well! I then had lunch with him, read "The Giving Tree" with me - a book he chose and then I had to say "So long". I told him I was not saying, "Good-Bye" as that sounded to permanent. So, he hugged me "So long" and promised that he would try to stay focused for the rest of the afternoon. I am about to call him as he will be getting out of school in just a bit.
Harley actually initiated several hugs throughout the weekend and of course, being the "Youth Pastor" who has always had his guard up, I was not sure what to do at first. It was one of those quick, "What do I do Lord?" and since too long of a delay may have sent the wrong message, I just went with the flow. Several times during the weekend Harley said, "I love you." Of course, that will just melt your heart.
So, our hopeful game plan is to now have Harley do his pre-placement visit with me in Georgia around March 17 - 20. Prayers are appreciated!
Thursday - I arrived in Wichita and drove about an hour to Harley's location. I went to TFI, which is where Harley's case workers are located and finally got to put some names with faces. The ladies there obviously have Harley's best interests in mind. After meeting and chatting, I met Harley's foster mom who is truly an incredible woman for what she does for Foster kids. I settled into a cabin where Kim's friend Shannon graciously let us stay for the weekend. (Thank you very much Shannon!) As a Youth and Family Pastor, of course, money is tight so this was a GREAT gift. If you are going to Kansas, I recommend the cabins highly! They were clean and awesome. I love the smell of cedar! After settling in, we decided to surprise Harley at his school as it was near the end of the day. For the first time, it hit Harley as to how tall I am! From that point, I took Harley into town (20 miles away, LOL) and we had dinner at Pizza Hut. Did I mention the boy LOVES pasta! We made a quick run to Wal-Mart for a few things and then settled into the cabin for the night.
Friday - (Kansas kids in this area have a longer school day Mon. - Fri., but are out on Friday) Friday morning, we had breakfast at Hunt Brothers Pizza (which is a local hang out spot, pizza joint and gas station)! Ah, small town Kansas! We then went into town and went to the public library where I showed Harley some things about Georgia, Stone Mountain, The Orchard, etc. He played a few educational games on the computer, we rented a couple of videos to watch and as a result Harley is now a HUGE "Lord of the Rings" fan! Good thing I have the movies at home AND I have all the Chronicles of Narnia series for him to read! We walked around town for a bit had lunch at a really cool coffee shop where I "made him" eat some salad and fruit with his sandwich but we also played checkers and hung out for a while. We picked him up a "play army machine gun" at Wal-Mart, played in the snow a little and then started watching "Lord of The Rings - Fellowship of The Ring", paused the movie, got some pizza from Hunt Brothers and then finished watching the end of the movie. Harley then got ready for bed, but could not sleep so we had some awesome conversations about his past and his future.
Saturday - We had breakfast at Harley's Foster Mother's house and then ran back into town where we ran some errands with Kim, Harley, myself and the two other foster boys where I got a "Grand Tour" of the town and some history lessons. After some errands and the tour, we went bowling at the bowling alley in Ark City (Short for Arkansas City) and we "interrupted" a bowling tournament. This is the kind of town where people still play the National Anthem even before their event - I LOVE it! After bowling, we went to a Mexican Restaurant. I should mention that we also picked up the next two movies in The Lord of The Rings Trilogy and watched the second one.
Sunday - We all went to Church at Kim's Church and it was definitely different from The Orchard! Harley will not only have culture shock moving from Kansas to Georgia, but will also have Church shock. After Church, we went back to Kim's where we had lunch. Next, I helped Harley with some of his homework and then we had a snowball fight. (Outside, of course!) Then we settled down for The Super Bowl, where, Harley just had to sit next to me as he did the whole weekend. It could be safe to say that Harley and I "bonded"! Harley, usually not able to sleep, actually fell asleep on the floor during the Super Bowl. He is a difficult one to wake up, so I already see one of my challenges. He wanted to stay at the cabin with me again, but we felt like he needed to be in his own bed and be back in a routine before school Monday.
Monday - Obviously, Harley is back in school so I decided to "sneak in" (with the schools permission) and "spy" on Harley to see how he is in school. For the most part, he actually does really well. He, like most kids his age, will sometimes push the limits for boundaries. He had one minor negative interaction with one of the "Teachers Aides" and he did not see me sitting in the back of the classroom. (I was pretty stealthy!) The good new is that Harley is pretty teachable and this gave me an opportunity to "teach him" - which he received very well! I then had lunch with him, read "The Giving Tree" with me - a book he chose and then I had to say "So long". I told him I was not saying, "Good-Bye" as that sounded to permanent. So, he hugged me "So long" and promised that he would try to stay focused for the rest of the afternoon. I am about to call him as he will be getting out of school in just a bit.
Harley actually initiated several hugs throughout the weekend and of course, being the "Youth Pastor" who has always had his guard up, I was not sure what to do at first. It was one of those quick, "What do I do Lord?" and since too long of a delay may have sent the wrong message, I just went with the flow. Several times during the weekend Harley said, "I love you." Of course, that will just melt your heart.
So, our hopeful game plan is to now have Harley do his pre-placement visit with me in Georgia around March 17 - 20. Prayers are appreciated!
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