I am wearing pajamas at work today.
When I became a CEO, that was not a sentence I ever thought I would write.
They are very “appropriate” pajamas for work…if that is possible. Basically, they are fuzzy pink sweatpants, a t-shirt, and a fuzzy “bedjacket” my sister gave me. Still, I think it is quite reasonable to ask me, “Why?”
At Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch, everything is all about, and always will be about, the kids. Whatever the Ranch does in His name, whenever we pursue our mission, “to help at-risk children and their families succeed in the name of Christ,” it is because of His all-encompassing love of children.
So, I am wearing pajamas at work today.
Most of the children who come to our care have not had the regular, silly, child experiences that happen in daycare or pre-school. Their engagement with school, for most of their lives, has been a tertiary experience separate from their daily focus on survival. Most of the children have not seen adults in their lives be kind, let alone playful. They have a well-learned belief that people in authority are not to be trusted. In the most simple of examples of what these children have been through, their chaotic lives meant they did not take part in “pajama days” when they were little mites.
This has been a week of encouragement at the Ranch. We wore hats, t-shirts with encouraging messages, funky shoes, and superhero clothes. We put up banners and created journals and smiled. Each day, we tied the fun to the idea that all of us, adults and children alike, come together to support, encourage, laugh, and help the children heal. It may not be what you expect to see at a Christian Psychiatric Treatment Facility, but these are kids who deserve to have a chance to be kids.
So, I am wearing pajamas at work today.
Please keep the staff and children of Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch in your prayers.
In His love,
Joy Ryan, President/CEO
Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch
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