Don't get me wrong, the children aren't perfect! I still can get frustrated sometimes when we are talking about God or something and a child raises their hand and says something completely off-topic. But they've 4/5 years old. That's normal.
Every day, when we have circle time, the children have to pick a letter to sit on. Its an easy way to have the children sitting on the edge of the carpet. Micah always sits on the letter M, and the other children always sit near him (he is quite popular, apparently...). Except Ethan. Every day, Ethan sits alone on the letter E, with no other children around him.
Until last Friday. Micah sat down, as usual, on the letter M. The others sat beside him, except for Bennett. Bennett and Micah are best friends, and Bennett ALWAYS wants to sit beside him. He always wants to do everything with Micah. So it was surprising when Bennett sat beside Ethan instead. Dorian was thrilled because that meant that she got to take Bennett's usual spot beside Micah. And then one of the kids asked Bennett a question: "Why are you sitting over there today?"
"Well," Bennett shrugged, "Ethan is always all by himself. I thought he might be lonely, so I decided to sit by him today."
The kids thought that was a great idea -they didn't want anyone to be lonely!- so they ALL ended up moving over to sit around Ethan.
It was so amazing to see Bennett, and then all the others, looking out for their friend. Thinking about someone else before themselves. That's not something that happens a lot with kindergarten aged children. It was an amazing reflection of Jesus in them, and I was so proud!
Of course, Ethan likes having space, so he ended up moving so he was sitting alone again, which confused all of the other kids (I explained that sometimes people just need some space, and they were like "But he ALWAYS has space!") but it was the thought, the compassion of those kids that made me really see Jesus that day.
Then yesterday, I was reading a story to a couple children while PD (fellow staff member who helps me out now, and it is terrific!) was playing dinosaurs with the others, and they were chatting about nightmares. I couldn't help but listen. PD asked them what they do when they have a nightmare, and they replied that they will pray to Jesus, usually with their parents. PD asked them if that helps, and they said yes. Once they pray, they aren't scared anymore.
I love those kids. So much.
Over the past seven months, I've had the amazing privileged of walking beside these seven children as they grow in relationship (with God and each other) and understanding. I have been blessed by each child, and I can't thank God enough for asking me to come to Madison and do this. I may not know why He picked me, of all people, but I will be grateful for the rest of my life!
Three and a half weeks to go....
Blessings,
Katie
Kenzie and I were feeling active on Saturday, so we went out. Spent an hour at the pet store (sadly the puppies were all behind glass :( but we had fun watching the birds!) followed by some time at Barnes and Noble, where we read children's books. The Dr Seuss book was amazing.... that line though. "Kid, You'll move mountains!" Its true. If you just trust God, you will do incredible things. Just look at where I have been so far! God really speaks through children's books :)
The weather last week was INCREDIBLE -it was 15 degrees at 9:30 in the morning one day- so Kenzie and I went for a nice walk at sunset. It was beautiful!
This weekend, I moved downstairs to Kenzie's room. Our house "parents" are in the process of becoming foster parents, so they need the room I was staying in to be empty. Kenzie and I are now in the middle of our "29 day sleepover" as Kenz describes it. Everyone is concerned for us, and keeps asking me how it is going. But we get along quite well ;) Seriously though, I love Kenzie. She's an amazing friend, and a highly entertaining person, if you know her as well as I do...
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