Ahhhh Physical Education.
Y’all remember it? I sure do and let me tell you, it is hilarious to look back on. I was the kind of kid, along with many others, who hated this class with my entire being. It was awkward, people were so competitive, and honestly…my P.E teachers were always so scary. Now, I know there are people out there who THRIVED in P.E and loved every second of it and let me tell you, I am truly happy for you. I am glad you were blessed with athleticism and motivation. But that was just not my experience. I actually remember a time in 9th grade when I literally had an “F” in P.E…..now, how in the world does that happen? Who knows but now looking back on it, it is quite comical. So even though now I do believe physical education is important, I never thought I would see myself back in P.E.
But then I joined the World Race where we do ALL things for the sake of the Gospel and guess what? I found myself becoming a P.E teacher for nursery/primary school. LOL don’t you just love the Lord’s sense of humor?
So let’s just take a moment and think about how the first few days of P.E went…
Yikes.
As you could have already guessed, teaching P.E. started off REALLY rough.. We taught every single class and it lasted from 8 am to 4 pm. We were in the blazing sun all day long and had to give our best to every class doing the same thing over & over again. We had to google and try out new games to keep the children moving and interested. We had to stay physically healthy so that we would not be deeply effected by the sun. The first few days of teaching were so hard and extremely exhausting. I even remember asking myself, “How in the world am I going to get through this month?”
But God. He knew exactly what He was doing.
So as time passed by and we started to really get to know the kids, our hearts were swept away. They were softened by the Holy Spirit to love God’s children the way they needed and deserved to be loved. We started to build relationships with them. We knew their names, we knew so many of their stories, we knew their strengths, we saw their weaknesses, we really got to know them. We knew that one child loved to play soccer (and has a supernatural talent for it), while the other child wanted to do a relay race (and let that competitive side shine.) We knew that one child had a dream of becoming a doctor, while the other wanted to be the president of Uganda. We really got to be a part of these kids everyday life and because of that, we fell absolutely in love.
I really do believe the Lord placed us here, with these children, to show us something. We learned so much about these kids stories. So many of them only have one parent in the picture and have to take care of their younger siblings. They are in charge of their homes when the parent is gone or sick. These kids have to constantly pray to be sponsored by someone so that they can have an education and create a future for themselves. So many of these kids have lost the chance to be just that…a kid. The Lord really moved in my heart this month and created such a deep compassion in my soul. I can never go back home and live the same life I have always lived. I can’t go back to living so selfishly and so superficially, fully knowing what these kids are fighting for.
They are fighting for their future.
They are fighting just to be loved.
They are fighting just to be known.
I thank God that He has showed me this.
I thank God that because of this month, because of these children, because of becoming a P.E teacher,
my heart is forever changed.
