Loving the Kids!

Another day of summer programming under my belt and I'm thrilled to see where the summer takes me and my new tiny friends. Today we talked about Jesus calming the storm-- I had them stomping their feet, patting their knees, rubbing their hands together, and snapping their fingers while I read the story. They made a pretty convincing storm, and when the child I pulled aside to play Jesus lifted up his hands and called for peace, they all got quiet and took in the miracle.

Kids are just so funny. There's always something to giggle about from their perspective, always something to jump up and down about, something to look forward to. I'm catching more and more glimpses of why Christ calls us to be child-like-- there are just so many things kids get that we adults have lost somewhere along the way. They get forgiveness-- these kids go from being upset with one another to holding hands with the same one they were arguing with in a matter of 15 minutes. They get joy-- they're constantly excited about something (and it's little things too, like going to the park or the pool, or getting to eat popcorn and watch a movie all at the same time.) They get perseverance-- so many of these children come from homes that leave me wanting to throw up my hands just thinking about them; yet they come to the church everyday with smiles, and jokes, and positive attitudes.

There are so many things these children understand, so many things I am still learning from them.

One again, I'm so thankful to be here and to be experiencing all of the many blessings that have come with my stay here. Here are some pictures of just a few of those blessings:


Singing songs in the chapel.


More song-singing (we even tried to throw some sign-langauge in the mix.)


Some of the gang.


More of them (Meredith, I bet you are eating these children up right now!)