Thursday, March 8, 2012

A Week In The Life: Wednesday

All mornings have their bright spots...for those of you thinking that I'm pointing out the obvious, no, I'm not referring to the sun.

Most days, the good days, start with a small cluster of oh-so-special children that race towards my roommate and I as we near the school. They usually wait at one of a few different points along the road so they can be the first to greet us, and also receive a few extra minutes of undivided (albeit rather sleepy) attention. On this particular morning, I also achieved some level of enlightenment in addition to my morning hug.

Passion and I were holding a fairly one-sided conversation (mostly her side, that is) when we reached the stretch of road that is lined by bushes bearing small red berries, which are an extremely popular morning snack for our kids. On previous mornings, I had politely declined a sample. But this morning, Passion had prepared a most convincing argument.

"Miss Courtney, these give you energy. And they help you do karate so you can be a ninja," she said. And then I responded with two words that I'm sure many adults have used before me, and will use for countless years to come. "Oh really??" I asked with an amused smirk.

According to my young ninja prodigy, this tidbit of information was nagged from another boy in our school, Nissi, who always practices his expert karate skills in the yard after watching Jackie Chan movies. She told me that he told her that these berries were the key to his seemingly natural abilities. I was assured that they will provide me with a similar success story. So we looked for the dark pink ones, which are the best ones of course, and I took a small leap of faith. I was rewarded with a bite of what is essentially sour Styrofoam. What bizarre things, these ninja berries.

I am saddened to admit that I was not immediately visited by this fabled ninja berry magic. However, I couldn't resist telling Passion the following morning that I barely got any sleep at all, because I was so busy doing karate all night. "I toooooollld you Miss Courtney," she said, like she had just gotten proof of Santa Claus by waking up to presents, an empty plate minus a few missed crumbs, and a half-eaten carrot. Lord, I apologize for this mild extension of the truth. But, in all fairness, she lied to me first. Ninja berries. Ridiculousness.

Anyway, on we went to school.

It's interesting how comfortable that gym, those desks, my tea mug, can make me feel. We struggle through each day, truly. But each day God eases me into the place that I know He had prepared for me long ago.

Today I had my students put the final touches on the poster that we have been working on as a class. At the top is our scripture, Jeremiah 29:11-13, " 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.' " Their handprints fill in the spaces everywhere else. One hand holds their fears, and the things holding them back. The other hand holds their hopes, dreams, and desires for the future. The cross stands between the two, representing how we erase our fears by replacing them with the plans God has for us. After that, I had them each complete the following sentences on the poster: "God is..." and "God made me..." Then, amid much laughter about proper placement, we hung up our poster as a class.

Underneath, I hung their 'Dream Sheets.' On the first week of school, a Friday to be exact, we left school and walked to a local church where the pastor was waiting to usher us through the open doors. There we talked about what we want to accomplish as a class, through service projects and work experience. On the back of recycled paper, each student drew a chart with a Community section, a World section, and a Future section.

Each Friday, we will use part of the day to open their eyes to something new in the community. Last week, we went to the local township's Disability Center where the kids played simplified versions of soccer and netball with the people there. I was unbelievably proud of them. The week before, we visited the town library, discussed the genres of books, played a few word related games, and left with our backpacks significantly heavier. We have also had a meeting with the aforementioned pastor, in which he spent two hours sharing his testimony and answering questions about doing ministry. On Fridays, the kids will be also be able to gain practical experience, through life skills training and things of that nature. They all included possible service opportunities and job interests in their Community section, and our hope is that eventually those experiences will be able build the bridge into the World section and propel them forward into their dreams for the future. To be honest, it's so nice to have all of that hanging on the walls. It definitely puts things into perspective when I'm on the verge of getting frustrated or shutting off...that wall holds precious dreams that are worth fighting for.