Rollercoaster

The place I am in life right now is much like a rollercoaster. In fact, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. I have waited in line since January to board this particular ride of working with children in our group home. I had heard that it would be a scary ride, but worth it. And now that I am on it, I know it is exactly the right rollercoaster for me. However, there are moments when I want to scream, "Let me off!" Working with these children is having ups, downs, loops, and so on...and not just for me. The children, the moms, the after-school tutors, our administrator, and everyone else involved, in my personal opinion, are working in survival mode. Emotions swing from high to low. Some great highs include the 4 hour afternoon when everyone does their homework and plays calmly; when the children all spend the rest time in their rooms quietly; when we pray together before we start the afternoon routine; when no one runs away; when we're able to calmly discuss a problem with a child and resolve it (oh wait, that has not happened yet). Some of the lows include 4 children running away in one day; a two hour screaming tantrum by our 7 year old; fighting among brothers; screaming; disobedience and absolutely no respect for authority. And the loops-I guess that would be all the chaos of life plus the fact that we're dealing with post-institutionalized children with empty love tanks and a low level of trust.
Oh please pray for peace.
Pray for us to love these children unconditionally.
Pray for them to learn to respect authority.
Pray for small miracles of obedience.
Pray for endurance.
Pray for courage to do the right thing when it is so hard.
Pray for opportunities to speak the truth in love.
Pray for us to have fun together.
Pray that I would operate out of the truth and not out of my emotions (which seem to range from joy to despair to rage to fear to confusion to hope).
Pray for love tanks to be filled up.
Pray for trust to develop.
Pray for us to stick to decisions of discipline though it's easier not to do anything.
Pray for catch up educationally and that we would know how to help.
Keep praying for peace.