Anyone who knows me even a little bit knows that I absolutely love and adore my junior highers. I love being able to sub for them, I love their little hearts, their minds, their frequent lapses in judgment, their jokes that they think are sooooo hillarious but really aren't, their questions, the laughter, pretty much everything about them.
I love Sunday mornings and getting hugs and high-fives from the kids, listening to Nate speak, singing praises, hearing about how that soccer game or that water polo game or that sleepover went. It cracks me up to see them all squeezed into couches, all the boys on one side, all the girls on the other, with that one or two special girl and/or boy sitting in a non-gender designated area.
I love Wednesday nights- the game that always gets out of control, the small group time where Amanda and I have to remind them about giving us a personal prayer request before a prayer about someone else, passing out cell phones and making sure they get to the right kid, teasing them kindly about the silly thing that they just did.
I love Winter and Summer camps- the way that they just jump around and dance and love each other, the way that they learn so much and are so dedicated to changing for the better. I love their competitive spirit. I love watching them play kajabi-can-can, the Sumo game, steal the bacon, the insane games Forest Home comes up with, I love watching Nate go absolutely bonkers with competitiveness no matter what. I love cabin times and then the craziness that comes after cabin time. I love going to sleep to the whispered and giggles of the girls in my area.
I miss them a ton and I get sad every Wednesday night when I go to bed because I know that while I am slumbering away in my warm bed, they are getting ready for JAM. So it was with great trepidation and anxiety, plus a big of excitement that I headed out on a chilly but not frigid night for my first meeting with the Pathfinders- the Years 7-9 group at St. Andrews. Their usual routine is as follows: Friday nights are more relaxed, getting together for games and worship and some discussion and Sunday mornings are for breaking up into small groups and discussing questions about the particular study.
This Friday night was mainly a sports night. I arrived, was introduced to Heather and Dave, the two other regular staff members, Pete and Jonathan, two Friday night only volunteers and Aaron and Rachel, the Christians in Sport Academy volunteers. The kids slowly started to trickle in, I met a few of them and then it was off to the races! We played several rounds of team-handball, Halo (where you have to toss around a bouncy plastic ring and try and get it to fall onto the end of a hockey stick) and dodgeball (I opted out of this game because, due to playing with Nate and some of the other junior highers, I have been officially scarred by dodgeball- however I still managed to get beaned in the head... awesome). While my team wasn't playing, I got a chance to get to know some of the kids. Only four girls came that night, so I spent most of my time talking with them, but I was able to have some conversations with some of the guys as well.
All in all, it was really successful. When I first joined JAM staff three years ago, I really only made an effort to get to know my girls and maybe a couple other sevenths graders. The following year, I made it my job to get to know every single kid and that's what I've done for the last two years. That's definitely given me the encouragement to do the same out here- maybe in a couple of weeks, the boys will be giving me high-five and the girls will be tackling me with their hugs here too! I'm looking forward to my first small group meeting with seventh grade girls on Sunday morning- a void in my heart left by my sweet girls will hopefully not feel so empty.
As much as I hope to love these new kids, know that they will never replace my beloved JAMmers back at home. I do miss them so much and am excited day-in and day-out to get a little bit of news about them and their lives. However, while I'm here, I'm excited to use the gifts that I've been given to hopefully impact the kids here. It will make my heart a little lighter.
No comments:
Post a Comment