Precious Moments

I recently joined a ministry through my school that works with kids at an after school program. Basically, we go to a mission center in inner city LA and play with the kids, tutor them, and develop meaningful relationships with them. Although I’ve only been three times so far, I have already been abundantly blessed by those kids… by the sweet things they say, the cute things they’ll do, the twinkle in their eyes as we play together, the hugs they give the moment we walk in the door, and the way they’ll pick me up and spin all 4’11” of me around. Sometimes, I forget that I’m there to be a blessing to them, that I’m there to let my joy for the Lord flow over into them; it’s almost like it works in reverse and the kids bless me more than I can return. Their liveliness and joy spills over into us volunteers, making me wonder where their joy comes from when I should be the joyful one, when I have been so blessed in this world.

The first day I volunteered, I was asked to read with Onajee, who was incredibly excited to read about “Joseph and the Whale.” At first, I was a little confused… Joseph? I don’t know about you, but I don’t know any stories about Joseph and a whale, unless it’s some new sort of fairy tale I just haven’t heard of yet. After looking the book over together, though, we soon discovered the proper pronunciation of that name… and things made a little more sense. They made sense, that is, until we got to Nineveh… Apparently, not only has Jonah switched to Joseph, but he has also decided to run from Nivvenah. (I decided not to work on the pronunciation of that one.) When I asked Onajee what was so bad about this decision, this little second grade boy gave me a full explanation of how “Joseph” was disobeying God and how he could never run away from God because He can see everything… even inside of a fish’s tummy. Onajee was also very clear on what happened in the story next… or on the next page. In fact, he made a game of guessing what picture would be on the next page and, somehow, he was always right even though he never peeked ahead (or so he said as he asked me to turn my head the other way). Regardless, Onajee’s innocent attitude, cute mispronunciations, and sweet understanding of Bible stories made me smile.

The next week, we (volunteers) were all asked to fill out and wear a bright orange name tag. I was actually excited about this because it would mean that the kids could learn and know me by name. My hope for them to learn my name was lost, unfortunately, when the kids took our nametags within three minutes and traded them amongst themselves, calling this one Lizzie and that one Lydia and bursting into hysterical laughter. Before long, I lost all trace of my nametag and, figuring that it had been inordinately destroyed, put aside all aspiration that anyone would ever remember my name. I was proved wrong, however, when I came to the center the next week and Tatianna, after taking me for my weekly “spin,” told me that she had taken my nametag home and put it up on her wall so she could remember me. Me! Lizzie! I was so touched… but how could I convey that? She remembered my name! She put my nametag on her wall! It was a big deal…

Later that day, I had the privilege of reading “A Bug’s Life” with Tatianna. Though only in fifth grade, this girl can sing and she loves to be heard… which means our reading of “A Bug’s Life” was not a reading at all, but was turned into a singing experience. When we first sat down to read, I was expecting the time to pass by rather slowly; I already knew the story and had seen the movie several times and she already knew how to read, which meant that she wasn’t likely to mispronounce words. But let me tell you, my understanding of and interest in “A Bug’s Life” will never be the same again. She opened the first page and began singing the words, instead of reading. Was she serious? Was I hearing correctly? Was a fifth grader really singing “A Bug’s Life” to me? Yes, but more than that, I soon got the picture that I was supposed to sing too. I… who does not sing and especially not when it is necessary to make up the melody on your own. But I gave in… how could I not? Especially when she was looking at me with those big puppy-dog eyes… So I did it. Admittedly, I sang “A Bug’s Life”… and I ended up having an amazingly memorable and enjoyable time. We sang together. We laughed together. We made up our own melody and rhythm together… it was a bonding time. And, as different as it was for me, I’ll probably never forget that time we shared together… or how interesting “A Bug’s Life” can be if you put it to music.

Like I said, although I’ve only been to the center three times, I have been abundantly touched and blessed by these children. Here I was, coming to bless unfortunate children at an after school program on skid row, and finding that they were blessing my life in ways I can’t even understand or hope to explain. I just can’t wait to see what God has in store for me and for them as I continue to spend time there and to develop relationships with the kids… Who knows? Maybe next week I’ll be dancing to the story of “Moses and the Ark”!