HELLO RIGHT ROAD KIDS, FRIENDS, AND FAMILIES!

Welcome to my very first — EVER — blog!

As we have been preparing all of this for you over the last three years — this website and all of its wonderful resources and information, the long-awaited Right Road For Kids!™ DVD series, the Right Road online store and all of its uplifting products and resources, everything “Right Road” — something has kept popping into my mind as I have been thinking about writing this first-ever blog to you. If you are familiar with Oprah’s magazine, you have probably read her inspiring final page in each issue entitled “What I Know For Sure.” THAT is what has been popping into my mind over and over! Here’s what I know for sure…

ALL * THINGS * ARE * POSSIBLE!

Over the last 19 years since founding Right Road Kids!™ (known as The Dream Fund Outreach for many, many years), I have heard questions from kids asking, “But Paula, how can I possibly even think of going to college when my mom and dad can be deported any day for not being ‘legal’?” Or, how can I study and get good grades when I have to take care of my three brothers and sisters when I get home from school every day?” I have heard stories that make my heart literally ache… A teacher recently told me that one of her 4th grade boys was tied to a tree at home and beaten — just because. And kids at another school may not be able to get desperately-needed donated eye glasses because their parents may not have a social security number to include on the needed paperwork.

Here is why such stories are even that much more significant to my heart than ever before…

This last year — 2010 to right now at this moment — has been the the most difficult year of my life. In many ways, I am grateful for every second, every moment of it all, but the workload and the physical, emotional, and mental toll that the workload and what God has put on my heart for kids has at times, been beyond what words can express. I am not complaining one iota. Sometimes dreams are so big and so challenging that they seem… IMpossible. But I think that’s part of it. Tom Hanks’ character in the movie “A League of Their Own” says something like, “If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.” Achieving immense, meaningful things can take literally everything we’ve got inside at times. And I believe it is the perseverance, use of talents, faith, determination, and simply “knowing” that it’s right and good and MUST be done — and then just DOING it — that separates the people and the world-changing projects that will and won’t ultimately succeed or come to fruition.

Throughout my life, I have heard people say, and I have always believed, that it is what we learn from and do with challenging situations that becomes a HUGE part of the ultimate success. As many of you know, I have been working with kids for 19 years now. It is my life’s calling, my passion. I look into kids’ eyes, and I can feel their hopes and fears, their dreams and insecurities. Yet going through a bazillion challenges this last year (that often simply come with dreams, callings, and growth), has helped me see challenges facing today’s children and youth in a whole new light, with a whole new — renewed — understanding. And I have taken every second of challenge into my heart, knowing that having gone through each twist and turn will somehow allow me to reach and help even more children just for having gone through the difficult moments and experiences. They have made me stronger. I have learned SO much. And I am more determined than ever to help kids know that they are special, amazing, talented, and loved.

To all of the children in this whole vast world (of course including my precious son Micah)… Thank you for fueling the fire of love, peace, hope, faith, joy, and perseverance in my heart and soul. Work hard and never give up on your dreams! YOU ARE SPECIAL just because you are YOU!

To each and every member of the Right Road team… You have made Right Road possible. You have taught me the value and importance of teamwork in a way that has humbled and amazed me. You are gifts to my life, to children, and to the world. I treasure you all.

To each and every one of you reading this, whether you are 5 or 105 or anywhere in between, if you are feeling confused, scared, overwhelmed, unappreciated… know that there is only ONE of YOU in the whole wide world. THAT is how special, how meaningful, how important your life is and your dreams are. Know that all the things in your heart, everything that you dream… EVERYTHING is POSSIBLE. It doesn’t mean that things will always be easy or that life will always be carefree. I believe it means that when we take everything that is inside of us and truly live our lives using them for good, ANYTHING we dream can come true. Imagine a world where we are all living on our Right Roads!

Here’s another thing I know for sure… Working joyfully daily — even through what may seem like insurmountable challenges — fulfilling the dreams God has put on our hearts, finding the good, right way to make them real, and making the world a better place just by being “you” every day… I believe THAT is happiness — and a life’s journey on the Right Road!

I wish you each an amazing journey! If there is any way that Right Road Kids!™ and I can be of help to you and your children on your journey, even if just in a small way, we would be honored. Everything that is available to you on this website has been a labor of love on so many peoples’ parts for kids, teachers, and families everywhere. I believe in everything presented and available here with all my heart and soul, and on behalf of the whole Right Road team, we all hope that everything Right Road will be an amazing blessing for you and your children and students.

With all of my love and heartfelt wishes to each of you today and always,
Paula 🙂