stories.

So it has been a little bit, sorry about that. However, to make up for that, I am going to share two, mostly unrelated, stories.

Story 1.
One of the ways that I have started participating in ministry again is by volunteering at a local community resource center called Neighborhood house. This center is located in White Center, a part of Seattle that is one of the poorest and is heavily populated by immigrants. I have only been a few times, but I am learning SOO much from going. One afternoon a week, we go and we tutor elementary aged school kids with their homework. Or at least that is what it says on paper that we are SUPPOSED to do. One of the things that first got me interested in helping was the level of diversity that we would encounter. Normally, I spend my afternoon hanging out with two girls who are from Somalia. Now, these two girls are very bright, and they do not really need much help with their homework, I mostly just try and keep them focused. However, the part that I get such enjoyment from is the conversations we have. They frequently ask me why I am not married at the OLD age of 21, and that I should hurry up and start having babies, we talk about what we did in school that day, how people look different today, I receive a few Somalian lessons, and show them how my lip ring works. But, I think the thing I love to hear about the most is what they remember from Somalia. One girl told me about this ring she had received from her mother when she went to the most important Muslim temple in all of Somalia. For some reason, I felt so honored that she would tell me about this ring and how it was so important to her, she said it was one of the most important possessions she owned. I just love how God uses such strong, verbal, 3rd graders to teach me about importance.

Story 2.
I work at a day care, and one of the things that we encourage the children to do is independence. So for lunch we set out all the lunch boxes from the refrigerator and the children go and grab their own lunches. Now my little friend, being as observant as a hungry 4 year old can be, took what he thought was his lunch box and sat down and started eating. A bit later the newest teacher came in and asked if we had moved her lunch. She described the lunch box and we soon realized that she and the 4 year old had the same lunch box. We didnt know what to do, we explained to him that he had the wrong lunch box and that he had eaten all of teacher's food. I work with a great group of teachers, so not missing out on this opportunity, the teacher that I was working with asked the class what we should do. One of the little girls pipped up and said that we should share our food with her! So we took a plate and each child donated a small portion of their food. It was awesome. I love the way children choose the most obviously helpful thing. However, I thought, as adults would we be that willing to choose the easiest way to help, if it involved giving up something that was important to us?

I love these children, and I love working with them. I am excited to see how the relationships continue to grow and how these children explore their world.