By Savannah Knepp – Daycare Supervisor
Children’s Haven daycare is tucked in a corner of New Horizon’s Oasis Park. Monday through Friday, the daycare workers are ready at 7:30 AM to welcome the children, make them breakfast, and get them geared up for another day of daycare.
Something that makes our daycare unique is its size. We are small—two houses next to each other with a playground in between. The workers at each house care for between three and eight children daily. Because of the small size of the daycare, each child in our care is known well and gets individualized love and attention. The workers know which child will always ask for the blue plate at lunchtime and which child calls the lizards that we see darting around outside “alligators.”
We cared for a set of twins whose mom was part of New Horizon’s Re-Entry program. Caring for them at the daycare allowed their mom to work part-time and learn other life skills as a part of the Re-Entry program. I often chuckled about how different the twins were. The one would have been perfectly content to be snuggled all day, while the other liked to explore and find new things to play with. The one liked his bottle hot, and the other didn’t care. Without even looking, we could easily know which twin was crying or laughing because their voices were so different. Even though we got to know these two children well, we only caught a glimpse of the innumerable ways that God made this set of twins to be their unique persons. All the children in our care are filled with personality and are known and loved completely by God.
Our daycare is not just about physical care but also about spiritual growth. Every afternoon, before the children go down for their naps, we spend time singing, reading Bible stories, and praying. I often pray that as they grow, they will come to understand the depth of God’s love for them. Daycare work can often feel mundane. It’s a lot of changing diapers, reading the same stories again and again, and reminding children that eating Play-Doh is not a good idea. But in the midst of all that, there are countless ways to show these children God’s love. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this work and to be a channel of God’s love to these tiny little humans with their big emotions, varying interests, and strong opinions that are entrusted into our care for hours each week.
