Joy, Junk, and Jesus

Going with something that we did in high school. Naming something that brought joy, something that wasn't the greatest, and something that you give credit to God for in your day, in this case, my week.
Joy
My heart melts every time I see these kids, seeing a sense of peace over them as they come in, knowing this is their safe place. Nothing really tops their warm hugs and joyful smiles when they are super excited about something. They have no idea what an encouragement they are to this heart of mine! This week they blew me away! I was left in charge of the class while the other teacher ran an errand. (Keep in mind, these kids don't quite see me as a true authoritative figure yet, so it's like leaving a group of kids with a substitute teacher. You never know what's going to happen!) As I expected, those ornery smirks came on their faces and they were determined to do what they wanted. After a few time outs, tears, and little tantrums things started to calm down. We had just finished the exhausting bathroom break and were all settled down for lunch. However, lunch was not quite ready so we had to wait. So Ms. Wendy had to figure out something to entertain them with... Best of luck Wendy! I taught them a finger play game that Ms. Pearl had shown me, and they wanted to repeat it about a hundred times. But every time they would laugh and giggle and squeal and I couldn't help but go along with them! But that wasn't the best part, we started singing random kids songs and then little Darchae caught my ear. All I heard was "Y yi yi yi yi is for you, you, you, and you." I asked what she was singing and she said the song that I sang when our group came up in June. With all the groups that come through the daycare, I couldn't believe she would remember that song! So I asked the rest of them if they wanted to do the whole song and a huge "YYYYYYYEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!" filled the room! Its just a normal VBS song, but it is by far one of their new favorites and they know all the words and love to dance with it! Ms. Pearl was so excited when she came in and heard them singing "J is for Jesus, O is for Others, and Y yi yi yi yi yi yi is for you, you, you, you, and you and you!" We sang it all through the hallways, the sanctuary, lunch time, free time, all day long! My heart filled with joy as I saw their excitement, heard their praises, and felt the love God has for His children! So a big shout out to Tracy Haddock for helping me with VBS songs that week, you truly left an impact on these kiddos!
Junk
I don't know if anyone else has a certain day of the week where it seems like everything that could happen usually does. Well that day seems to be Fridays for me up here. Last Friday I backed into the dumpster and broke my taillight. (Yeah I know, shocker, Wendy had a fender bender! However, I'm not used to maneuvering in an alley just yet, so please cut me a little slack.) And this Friday I was taking breakfast to the construction workers at the house and had to bring back a couple of pans to the church. Well I'm running around getting stuff together and I get to the car, throw the pans in the front seat and grab for my gloves in my pockets. Apparently there was some chicken noodle soup in one of the pans and it had spilled all over my coat and into my pocket! And of course by this time it had already spilled all over the seat in the car.... Awesome! Not that any of those are major things, but they just added to the craziness! Praying next Friday doesn't have any new surprises!
Jesus
It is rare to have an evening to ourselves at the house, Ms. Pearl is always pouring into either her family, a mom, myself, or whoever may be visiting with us. She takes full advantage of every opportunity that God places in front of her to reach other people. We had dinner with the construction workers one evening and just spent some time getting to know them better. One of them was a younger guy who had some wild stories and couldn't quite figure out why things have turned out the way they have in his life. As he was speaking, I could see it in her eyes that she was about ready to ask some deep questions. After a couple of hours discussing what it means to be a Christian and the hope that he can find in Jesus Christ, the man gave his life to God. Praise the Lord! I keep thinking about how she told him the angels rejoice when even just one person comes to know Christ. People may not think it's a big deal, they may not see the point, or they just might not fully understand; but God does. The whole heavens rejoice for even just one person's decision. It's a huge deal to the One who created each and every one of us when we decide that life with Him is far greater than life without Him. I was humbled by the reminder of the love He has for His children and I am so thankful to be called His own!

Made You Smile!