This Thanksgiving I'm Thankful For....
“What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?”
“Family.”
“Jesus.”
“Friends.”
“Home.”
Last Wednesday was the last Bible study before Thanksgiving. When we first started teaching the class 3+ years ago, it was like pulling teeth to get the kids to pay attention and not be disruptive. After several months, I was ready to quit after several weeks where the boys were being especially rude and disruptive (it seemed like they were doing it out of spite for us).
We didn’t, of course, though it was very tempting. The lady that had taught the class before us used to go home every week crying, and I could definitely understand why.
After those weeks of “trials”, the kids started getting better (slowly) and we started building relationships with them. The surprising thing was that the boys that were originally the “trouble-makers”, became the best students. After they found out that we loved them and cared about their life, they started paying attention, asking questions, and genuinely wanting to know about God.
When it came time for some of them to move to the “youth” study (ages 12+) this year, most of them wanted to stay in our group because of the relationships we had formed with them. They knew that we cared about them, and that we were reading the Bible. (The boys would come into the room and ask excitedly, “Are we reading the Bible today?”)
Wednesday night is a safe-haven for them. Most of them come from broken families; parents divorced and/or on drugs; uncle’s in jail; angry older siblings. Watch them play in the gym, though, and you’d think that there wasn't anything wrong. Laughing, yelling; screaming as they chase each other.
But listen to them pray before class, and you can hear their heart as they pray for their family’s.
I am extremely blessed by these kids and thankful for them. I have learned so much from them every week. How to love unconditionally someone I have just met; how to be an older sister; how not to lose my temper when the 4 yr old with an attitude refuses (for the umpteenth time) to do what I have requested of her; to love even when I’m disciplining one of them; to be patient when I’d rather not. Spontaneous “sneak” hugs, spinning little kids until I’m too dizzy to stand, duck-duck-goose, piggy-back-rides, basketball, and tag. Walking into a room to see the girls faces light up and then run over to me to give me a hug is a feeling that can’t be described.
And I know it’s nothing that I’ve done except to love them with Christ’s love, but they eat it up as fast as I (and the other helper’s) can give it. Because it is a love unlike any that they have seen before.
And they want it.
I am so thankful for the ability to share God’s love with them and for the other young people that have joined us in sharing God’s love. That we have the ability to be a part of their lives, even if it’s only for a couple hours a week. That God is molding them as they seek Him, and us as we share Him with them.
“Family.”
“Jesus.”
“Friends.”
“Home.”
Last Wednesday was the last Bible study before Thanksgiving. When we first started teaching the class 3+ years ago, it was like pulling teeth to get the kids to pay attention and not be disruptive. After several months, I was ready to quit after several weeks where the boys were being especially rude and disruptive (it seemed like they were doing it out of spite for us).
We didn’t, of course, though it was very tempting. The lady that had taught the class before us used to go home every week crying, and I could definitely understand why.
After those weeks of “trials”, the kids started getting better (slowly) and we started building relationships with them. The surprising thing was that the boys that were originally the “trouble-makers”, became the best students. After they found out that we loved them and cared about their life, they started paying attention, asking questions, and genuinely wanting to know about God.
When it came time for some of them to move to the “youth” study (ages 12+) this year, most of them wanted to stay in our group because of the relationships we had formed with them. They knew that we cared about them, and that we were reading the Bible. (The boys would come into the room and ask excitedly, “Are we reading the Bible today?”)
Wednesday night is a safe-haven for them. Most of them come from broken families; parents divorced and/or on drugs; uncle’s in jail; angry older siblings. Watch them play in the gym, though, and you’d think that there wasn't anything wrong. Laughing, yelling; screaming as they chase each other.
But listen to them pray before class, and you can hear their heart as they pray for their family’s.
I am extremely blessed by these kids and thankful for them. I have learned so much from them every week. How to love unconditionally someone I have just met; how to be an older sister; how not to lose my temper when the 4 yr old with an attitude refuses (for the umpteenth time) to do what I have requested of her; to love even when I’m disciplining one of them; to be patient when I’d rather not. Spontaneous “sneak” hugs, spinning little kids until I’m too dizzy to stand, duck-duck-goose, piggy-back-rides, basketball, and tag. Walking into a room to see the girls faces light up and then run over to me to give me a hug is a feeling that can’t be described.
And I know it’s nothing that I’ve done except to love them with Christ’s love, but they eat it up as fast as I (and the other helper’s) can give it. Because it is a love unlike any that they have seen before.
And they want it.
I am so thankful for the ability to share God’s love with them and for the other young people that have joined us in sharing God’s love. That we have the ability to be a part of their lives, even if it’s only for a couple hours a week. That God is molding them as they seek Him, and us as we share Him with them.
Seek, as a plain duty, to cultivate a buoyant, joyous sense of the crowded kindnesses of God in your daily life. -Alexander MacLaren
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