I like the bad boys.
Brooklynn, this kid won’t listen.” Cue the behavior analyst face and the walk of determination towards 11-year old Fernando. I knew his face and name by now. He was the little trouble maker that had made quite an impression in the first day of kids camp. In this particular instance, Fernando was spinning another kid around by his arms and hitting him in the head. My teammate Justin has asked him to stop and come join the group, but to no avail he was still misbehaving. Instinct clicked in and I walked over to this sweet little rebellious child and firmly said, “No! Ven aca.” I think I might have scared him a bit so he followed me and sat down where my finger was now pointing. My teammate laughed and teased me the rest of the day, periodically imitating my scary tone and frightening facial expression. Although Fernando was the source of a lot of frustration from several adults at the camp, I declared him my new favorite. I spent the rest of the camp, looking for opportunities to love on this little hellion.
At one point the second day, Fernando’s team was assigned to a team building activity that involved lifting a heavy circle off a pole that was several feet taller than the kids. The kids had to figure out how to work together to accomplish the task. They needed Fernando to stand on another kid’s shoulders to be able to reach the top. Fernando wasn’t offering to help at all. He was currently in the woods throwing sharp branches at other children. When they kept asking him to come over he finally slumped over our way and whispered to me that he didn’t want to climb up because he was scared. I was overwhelmed with even more compassion than I already had for this kid. I assured him I would stand behind him and I promised I wouldn’t let him fall. He reluctantly agreed. He climbed up shaking like a leaf the entire time. But, he made it. They got the circle off and they all cheered for Fernando. The pride that welled up in his eyes was evident. He has conquered his fear and probably for the first time in a long time was getting attention based on an accomplishment rather than a reprimand. He became my little buddy after these two significant moments in our crossing paths.
When reflecting on my time with Fernando I couldn’t help but relate my feeling for him to how God probably looks us. We are often times the mischievous kids in the group that more times than not deserve a good “talking to.” He often has had to grab me by the arm and say, “come here” and “stop doing that.” Sometimes He has even had to put on his behavior analyst face and let me know he means business. But, then after he reprimands us I picture him whispering to the angels who are watching the whole thing and says things like, “Yeah I love that little brat,” or “those bad kids are my favorite.”
It doesn’t matter how many times we screw up or if everyone else has given up on us, He still loves us. And the moment we have a victory, like Fernando overcoming his fear, He celebrates alongside of us. He is so proud of us, because he loves us unconditionally.
I’m glad I serve a God who like me, loves the bad kids!
