I’ve been trying to come up with a good reason as to why I haven’t written a blog in the last 7 months, but I got nothing. Anything that I could think of would just be an excuse (which is a fancy word for a lie). So since I couldn’t sleep tonight, I let my fingers do the talking.
It’s Tuesday January 21, 2014 at 1:06 in the morning and I’m currently listening to my teammate Howard snore. It usually doesn’t keep me awake; We have been on the same team now for 7 months after all, so I’ve pretty much gotten used to it by now. Tonight, however, I gave in to my caffeine addiction and had a soda way too late in the day. It was my New Years resolution to kick the habit, but I gave in after 3 short weeks, which is actually better than I expected. Hey, I’ve got to have something to keep me going with all of these kids running around.
My team and I are living in a children’s home (or an orphanage as some people call it) this month. I assist the preschool teacher in the mornings while my teammates do a variety of other things such as homeschooling, teaching middle school &high school English, and doing therapy with the special needs children. Then, in the afternoons, we do an assortment of things as well which include, but are not limited to, cooking in bulk for the family, shopping, organizing, teaching guitar, planning upcoming events and cleaning. Also, this week, the children’s home received a 2 week old baby. So, in addition to the things listed above, we are also on baby duty in the afternoons and on overnight baby care on Wednesday nights.
This month has been a really good month. It’s months like this that make me not want to leave the race. The kind of month that makes me realize just how blessed I am and how much of an awesome experience this truly has been. Sure, there have been some pretty hard times and times when I’ve hated the race and being away from home, but it’s months like this that make me appreciate my race and remember why I signed up for this in the first place. Lets face it, we may not always be doing life changing things, but seeing the looks on those kids faces when we see them every day and hearing them say that, “we are their favorite teachers ever,” makes all of those hard times worth it.
We are well over half way done with the race. In fact we only have 18 weeks left and I want to make the most that I can of what little time I have left. I want to pack in as much baby holding, people meeting, Jesus preaching, late night talking, crazy adventure having, weird food eating, “did that really just happen,” memory making times that I can into the next 4 and a half months.
The fist half of my race certainly didn’t lack adventure, but it’s always nice to have a reminder that this thing isn’t going to last forever and it’s nearing the end. This month has made me want to slow down and remember why I’m here. The kids that need just a little more attention or someone to talk to have made me take it all in a little more. I’m thankful for this month, and last month and the month before that. I’m thankful for the months that made this thing worth It and I’m most thankful that I realized it now, before it’s too late.
Today my race isn’t over, but it soon will be. I’m sure months from now I won’t remember a lot of these things. I won’t remember my teammates snoring or sleepless nights. I won’t remember my New Years resolutions. I won’t care to remember having to share everything including my space, my life and my time, and I certainly hope I won’t remember the times that I hated the race. But then there are the things I know I will never forget; the places I’ve been, the things I’ve seen and experienced, the friendships I’ve made and the challenges that I’ve had, but out of all of these things, what I think I’ll remember the most are their faces.
I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. And in this I give advice: It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago; but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have. 2 Corinthians 8:8-11
