Caring Heart: When They Fear You

This meditation reflects the fact that children live in their reality not ours. Just because someone or something is safe doesn't mean that the child will feel safe.  We have to be alert and be understanding.  This fear reaction is so common an event when raising formerly abused children that this meditation is in the "Milestones" section of my book.

Her Eyes Showed Fear

Oh God, help me.  I saw fear in her eyes today.  Fear of me.  She has absolutely nothing to fear from me, and yet something in my voice, something in my movements, something in the events, made her fear me.  I could see it in her eyes.  How can I prove to her that she is safe now?  How can I convince her that she will never again be beaten or mistreated?  That my arms and hands will only hold her in love and comfort her, never, ever be a source of pain to her.  Help me to shape my face, my body, and my voice, in such a way that she senses the safety she so badly needs.  Help her feel the calm and security that is hers.  

Excerpted from "The Caring Heart Speaks: Meditations for foster, kinship, and adoptive parents" by Gail Underwood Parker     Artwork by Anna Parker David from the book cover.