It started with a playful smile.
I dragged my feet walking into the first day of daycare ministry. “Kids are just not my thing,” I kept thinking to myself. “Why am I even here?”
That’s when I saw her; tiny fingers picking at the H stitched into her apron, a cut scabbed over above her eyebrow barely obscured by uneven bangs, eyes red from recent tears, feet fidgeting to kick off her worn out shoes.
She didn’t seem interested in the short message about friendship that the team was sharing. Sweat was beading up on her forehead indicating her slight fever.
She looked so miserable but I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. She was special; I could see it.
What I didn’t know then was that this little girl that refused to sit in my lap would soon become my reason for rejoicing every week.
The kids stampeded through the door as they were released for play time but sweet Heisel hung back. She flashed a stoic look at me as I made faces at her. Her face remained expressionless as I tried to tickle her.
At a loss for what to do, I scooped her up and carried her out the door of the classroom. I walked over to sit on a tire beneath a tree with a wriggling child still in my arms.
That’s when I saw it. The mischievous grin.
Heisel reached up as I began to sit down and she grabbed the branch over head. The tree relinquished it’s leaves into her tiny grasp and she threw her head back as she giggled.
We spent the next several minutes with our tree as she attempted to clamber up into it’s leafy arms. After several tries to no avail, we changed focus and I held her hand as she energetically bounced from tire to tire. The sun grew strong as we grew tired; before long we collapsed together beneath the shade of our flourishing friend.
I’m blessed because my first adventure with Heisel was only the beginning to our story.
Every Wednesday I get the chance to look at the little school yard in the middle of the city as a jungle awaiting to be explored, as a quest to leave no rock unturned, as an expedition to conquer the unknown.
Every Wednesday I get a glimpse of the world through the eyes of a child. Every Wednesday I get to end my day with a gratified smile.
