But I have to be honest [as I always am] and say that I was not overly thrilled about going and leaving 4 of the 6 Shorties behind to fend for themselves [Molly was with me]. It was tough packing and leaving. I felt very guilty and it is hard to enjoy yourself if you feel guilty [some of you are sayin' "Right on sister!"] so the entire ride there I tried to psych myself up for what was in store. God had other plans and none of them involved what I thought was the right thing for me.
I was a group bus driver for the week [because we all know how well I drive so the prayin' started as we pulled onto Mountain Street on Monday morning] so when it came to signing up for the type of work I wanted to do I didn't have much of a choice. I put down flexible but in my mind [which is twisted and warped] I was screaming, "NO CHILDREN!! I am a teacher!!! I teach Sunday school! I have 4 of my own! NO!!. I wanted to paint [I paint as well as I drive] or do construction. Bahahahahahaha!!! [Why am I laughing? Funny you should ask.] Guess who got children? Yeah, me. So there you go - don't go tellin' God what you want or don't want because it's not about us. He placed me there for a reason.....
Our group had to drive almost an hour to get to our work site. We met at a small church that was located in a mobile home park, inside a mobile home. Here we met Pastor Grover Peppers [he told us we could call him Dr. Pepper but we decided that Sargent Pepper sounded way cooler :]. His plans for us were to invite the community children to play at the church and then spread the word about the revival that is currently going on this week. Our first order of business was to break into small groups of one adult and several kids and canvas the neighborhood to knock on doors to invite students. We [well Satan wanted us too anyway] hit a brick wall because the primary language spoken in this neighborhood was Spanish. We found ourselves not quite reaching the intended goal because of the language barrier. Suddenly, one of the older youth in the group said, "I know a little Spanish. Let me try." Boy didn't know a little Spanish - he knew quite a bit. He knew enough to carry on a conversation with several mothers at the houses we stopped at and these children were able to join us all week. [What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31 ~ said while sticking tongue out at Satan.] The first day, Tuesday, we had about 15 kids there....but the rest of the week? They were lined up, waiting for us when we arrived.
What an immense blessing to work with the kids because we had the opportunity to walk past almost every house in the neighborhood. Some of the conditions were deplorable at best. It broke my heart for these innocent children who cannot help their circumstances. And it made me feel ashamed for ever thinking that I didn't have enough. I have more than my fair share and then some. One girl told us she'd not eaten in several days...many wore the same clothes all week...and many had never jumped rope or made a beaded bracelet. As an adult in the group, I took some time to observe the youth in action. WOW!! Matthew 25: 34 - 41 was lived out this week by the youth and the adults in this group:
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
We also had the opportunity to clean up a soccer field, repair the soccer goals, and the cut the grass for these children. My heart was filled with joy as we watched an impromptu soccer match on the last day we were there. So, thanks be to God for encouraging me to use my talents instead of allowing me to do my own thing.
The other part of this amazing week was being able to spend it with my Molly. What a wonderfully awesome young lady she is becoming. [Ummm....duh...I mean, really, look at how wonderfully awesome I am. No, really, stop laughing....] She was super excited about going because she loves meeting new people and of course, she loves, loves, loves her friends. She has some truly faithful and grounded Christian friends. [Which is such a blessing to Craig and me ~ raising a teen is hard enough these days without worrying about who they are hanging out with when they are not at home. We don't worry.] However, she did deal with some "drama" in her MFuge group [a mix of students from several different churches] with a few immature people. I don't go into a lot of detail ,to protect her privacy, but I will say that the moment you know your child gets their feelings hurt many of us want to punch someone [the person causing the hurt] right in the kisser [I've got a mean right hook...just sayin'] but instead, I prayed. I prayed a lot. For a peaceful end to her week. For peace and understanding for her. For wisdom and faith for those making the choices that affected her. And for her. [I pray for her, all the time, anyway, so that conversation with God was nothing new] I watched her laugh it off. I watched her friends protecting her and surrounding her with love. I watched her praise Him in the storm. She is wise beyond her years. [She said this is exactly the reason she chooses not to date anyone - boys are stupid]
I was introduced to many new things this week: HNIC [don't ask - please], the cupid game, landmines, the look up game [which is so fun to play], Pteradactyl [the game - not the prehistoric bird thingy], the curbs in Greenville ['cause I hit every one of them in the bus], and awkward moments. Awkward moments are just what it says: Awkward. For instance, we were walking up the hill to find drink and this kid randomly jumps in front of me, like a ninja, and stops. "That awkward moment when a random kid does a ninja jump in front of me and stops" or "That awkward moment when you on the potty but out of toilet paper" and the list goes on....
There are so many things to share about MFuge and I will continue to blog about them. Again, this was a week filled to max with God ~ what more could you ask for?
As always, life as a Short is awesome :)
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