Relationships Reflection

  Ministers, P. Lanette & T’challa Pinkard

I met Lanette back in 1996 when I started working for a major communication company.  We became fast-friends because of our passionate love for God.  Our sisterhood has grown even more after her marriage to her husband, T’challa.  Our families have tightly knitted themselves together throughout the years.  They have been constant sources of spiritual encouragement and emotional support for me.

My mother and son, Sallie & Zech

I lean heavily on my mother for guidance, encouragement, and support.  She knows me better than most and even myself at times.  She is an educator, child-care provider/foster parent, and the world’s greatest mom ever!

My son inspires me the most.  In him I see my value and worth—he needs me, therefore I cannot fail.  I am empowered when I see the seeds that I have planted begin to blossom in his behavior, language, and character—it is rewarding to see the fruit of my labor.  It is because of him that I embark upon my Master’s degree in Early Childhood Studies today!

 British Poet, John Donne once said, "No man is an island" (BrainyQuotes, 2011).  I used to say when I was young that I didn't need anyone, and that I wished I could just live in the world by myself.  My mother always responded that I could never do that, and that I would always need someone.  I think that in a general sense, we all need someone--the grocer needs the farmer, the entreprenuer needs the client, etc.

In a deeper sense, we all need relationships to confirm, validate, measure, regulate, and to recognize ourself.  My list of friendships, acquaintances, and associates has decreased a great deal from the time I was a teenager.  The purpose being that my relationships have helped me to define who I am; knowing my truest identity and fullest purpose in life allows me to fine tune the relationships that now continue to guide my journey and govern my existence.

The above stated relationships are positive factors that contribute encouragement and direction to my life's journey.  The one keeps my spiritual and emotional state of being entact, while the other keeps me focused on the meaning of and purpose for which I live.

The best thing about these relationships that I have shared is that in some way I am able to reciprocate something positive and rewarding to those that give to me.  I may not give them exactly what they give to me, but they are none the less refreshed by what THEY find to be relationally rewarding to them from our partnership.

Scripture tells us in Proverbs 11:25 that those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.  I am refreshed by my mother's guidance to raise children, she is refreshed by my empowerment to her to live her life to the fullest.  I am refreshed by my god-sister and her husband's constant encouragement to live an integriteous life, the are refreshed by my sincere love and appreciation of their spiritual endeavors.   I am refreshed by my son's trust in me to love and protect him, he is refreshed by my love and affirmation.

These are the types of relationships that drive me to the course in providing and demonstrating effective early childhood education to children and educators alike.  Every moment, a teachable moment.