Yesterday was quite a busy day. First thing in the morning I went to help with a Fun Day that one of the schools was having. I arrived thinking I was just there to help keep an eye on our kids and to cheer them on. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. Sadly I forgot to take my camera.
We arrived and were led to a big open field. On the sidelines, rows of chairs had been set up for the parents so they could see all the games and excitement that were taking place. It seemed like yesterday was not that hot, but my sunburned face and arms tell a different story.
They told us the first set of races would be horse racing and they needed to go get the horses from the stable. As we watched a group of children brought these tiny blow-up ponies to ride. The groups were split into their classes and by boy and girl. The first class to go was the Baby Class boys. As the children were racing they were encouraging everyone to cheer them on, and they made special mention whenever one might fall of and they would get back up and keep going. We cheered our hearts out for our boys. This scene replayed for the girls and for the middle and top classes of boys and girls as well. They did races with the ponies, pushing tires from one end of the field to the other, crawling, and many other things.
Then they mentioned it was time for the parents to get involved. That we were going to do what the kids had just done. My first thought was that we would pop the ponies and second how might I be able to get out of this. Since we have kids in different classes there, we divided ourselves among the groups so everyone would take part. The first race came up and they wanted us to push a tire from one end to the other. I looked at the other person I was with and said I am going to come in dead last. I have never pushed a tire in my life. She just encouraged me and said just try! :) I grabbed my tire and went to the starting line and looked over to see all the children and other parents watching all of us. Soon I heard the word go and I was just trying to get my tire to go in a straight line and to not make it fall over. I did not give up, but as I predicted I was dead last by at leasst 20-30 seconds. I also participated in a tug of war. My group gave a valiant effort, but in the end we were pulled to the other side. I had already let go of the rope by this point because I knew they were going to end up pulling me down to where I would face plant on the ground. I felt bad though because that is exactly what happened to the mother in front of me and she was dragged a little ways before they called the other side the winner.
The kids were then taken to a pool where they were going to have races. At this time I ended up having to leave because I was speaking at a local high school.
Once I arrived at the high school I found out that there were other speakers already talking to the girls. It was a husband and wife from Tennessee.
As I walked into the building I saw rows of benches, filled with young ladies. They were all sitting quietly listening to everything they had to say and were even taking notes. There had to be at least four hundred girls in there at this time, if not more. No one was talking, just listening intently. They brought along with them some musicians. Right before they left the one guy got up and rapped. The girls wanted him to sing again, but they were told there was someone else here to speak and that they needed to be heading somewhere else.
What a hard act to follow. I was only there to share with the Form 2 girls, which from what I understand is the same as being a sophomore. That left the room with roughly 118 girls. I did an activity with them where they had to use team work and watch out for the others on their team. Afterwards we talked back and forth about how people on their team encouraged them or let them down, or were in a hurry to get to the finish line without looking to see where everyone else was.
I shared with them my struggle the last couple of years of high school. I told them how tough it was for me. I worked so hard and my grades did not always show for it. That never stopped me from working hard. I would get discouraged, but God had a plan for me out of my struggle. I explained to them that I ended up becoming a teacher and how I felt God had placed certain children with me to help them in their struggle as well.
Verses I Shared:
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 : Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have recived from God.
Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
I thought my time was up, but they informed me that I had another half an hour to talk. So, I opened it up for them to ask me questions either about myself or America or anything else they wanted to know. The first question was if I had any children. Then they wanted to know my status: single or married. I told them I was single. Then they wanted to know how old I was. I told them I was 32 and they were surprised. The inevitable question then came: Why are you 32 and still single? I shared with them how I do not want to get married just for the sake of getting married. I told them I was waiting to meet the guy God wanted for me, and until then I was happy to be single. We had a lot of other interesting questions that popped up, but that answer seemed to be the one that surprised them the most.
