I cant help but notice how prevelant it is today for parents to treat their children like projects, trophies, or, sadly, burdens. This story is shared especially for those people, as it sends chills up my spine and tears to my eyes to see such opportunities missed.
The little guy on my shoulder above is my grandson. At 4 years old, living with my single son, and the product of a meth-addicted mother, he already had 2 strikes against him. He was whiney, moody, angry, and insecure, and completely unwelcome at the homes of my other children, as he did not play well with his cousins. He was a constant disciplinary problem at preschool, and I was haunted by the thought that the authorities would soon be invading my family. On top of all this, he had withdrawn completely from most of reality and deeply into the world of Minecraft, which made his father and his grandmother pick on him for being so obsessed. Words cannot express how brokenhearted I was for this little guy.
THEN, through some circumstances that everyone would deem most unfortunate on the surface, GOD "arranged" for me to become his primary companion, key defender, and, ultimately, best friend over the next 3 years. In that time, I learned that he had developed a phenomenal knowledge of the workings of Minecraft, along with a tremendous vocabulary from watching Minecraft videos on youtube.
Using that as the foundation for building a relationship (and his self-esteem), we spent many hours of tablet time talking, cuddling, and loving each other. I have to admit that I received some sinister pleasure bucking dad and grandma when they objected to such a waste of time *-). My buddy would beam as I announced " we WILL be playing Minecraft for the next 4 hours !"
Within a year, my children began to notice a distinct difference in him, and today, he is self-confident, happy kid who plays video and computer games with his dad, along with being in advanced reading and math (THANK YOU, LORD ). I guess the point of my writing this at all is to encourage parents and grandparents to look upon little people as just that, little PEOPLE, with real feelings, interests, desires, and vast potential.