King for a Day

On Monday I felt like I was King for a day.  It wasn’t because I sat at jury duty all morning, it was because of the shoes I got to deliver to some very appreciative inner city children.  It all started about a month ago, when a friend emailed me and told me his company wanted to do something for the kids at one of our schools.  I quickly emailed the counselor and asked her if it would be okay to bring around 30 pair of shoes to their kids.  She obviously said “yes!”

Eventually we received the list of 34 names, shoes sizes, teachers names, and grade.  Then my friends company went to work.  They had no problem providing us with all 34 pairs of shoes, which included all kinds of fun things stuck in wrapped boxes, like socks, gloves, and candy.  In addition to all the shoes, they also raised about $200 for our non-profit Retread.

The real fun started when all 34 pair were dropped of at our house on Saturday.  It definitely looked like Santa had arrived!  Monday after jury duty I loaded up the car and headed to the school.  When I arrived I went in search for Ms. Barbara’s cart that normally sits in her office.  We both arrived at her office at the same time.  When she told me we could probably deliver the gifts to the class room I was really excited.  I normally don’t get to see the kids, because they are in class and we don’t like to interrupt their studies.  But, this day was different.  It’s almost Christmas and counselors and teachers are often more likely to bend the rules when it’s Christmas.

I loaded up the cart and headed to the class room with all the gifts.  When I pushed the cart through the door the whole room erupted into cheers, clapping, and many thank yous!  Then there were about 12 children who spontaneously jumped from their seats and ran to give me big hugs around my waist, each saying thank you as they squeezed.  Smiles were overflowing from the faces of all the children, teachers, Ms. Barbara, and of course from me.

I certainly felt like a VIP and the kids just made my day.  I wish I could have stayed and watched them open their gifts, but they were not allowed to open them until after class.  Otherwise the teacher wouldn’t get any work out of them for the rest of the day.  My guess is she had a difficult time any way!

There’s so much joy in giving.  I wish all the world could experience my day on Monday.  I wish everyone could see the smiles, the excitement, and the wonder on the children’s faces.  I heard some of the boys say “these are new shoes” and they were still just as excited!  Children excited about shoes!  You need to stop and ponder that thought and image for a few minutes.

Friends in the Park

Several volunteers from our church have been going on Tuesday nights to an inner city park next to one of the schools that Retread sponsors, to hang out and play with the kids there.  We have had a larger number of kids show up each week and some who get there very early to wait for us.  Tonight was our third week and it was so much fun. 

We had several large containers of side walk chalk with every color you can imagine.  We spent time with the kids making all kinds of pictures on the covered patio where the smaller kids play and some  of their moms hang out and talk.  I wish I would have taken my camera tonight so I could have taken a picture of our art.  There are some very talented kids there who love to create.

I was having a great conversation all evening with one of the boys who told me he was ready for school to start.  He said he really loves going to school and learning.  Math is his favorite subject and he said he struggles with science.  Before the evening was over we were becoming good buddies.  His mom was sitting at the table where we were talking and he occasionally translated from English to Spanish for his mom.  His dad manages a restaurant near our house, so we are going to go by and see him there and enjoy some good food.  I can’t wait for my friends to return from their vacation so we can all go in and support the resturant where he works.  It’s one of my friends favorite places to eat, so they will be excited to go.

We also met another very sweet lady with three boys.  We are so thankful she was there this evening as she was fluent in both English and Spanish.  I was playing with one of the kids and she said are you a Christian.  I replied “yes” and we began talking to each other.  She goes to a church near where I work and she asked several questions about our church and why were were at the park.  She paused and spoke in Spanish to the other two moms at the table and then she said “I just told them that God will bless you all for what you are doing!”

That was an awesome moment for me.  It was like she had spoken this blessing over us herself and she believed in her heart that it would happen.  I’m impressed with her faith and openness to start conversations with strangers, yet it felt so comfortable at the same time.  I felt tonight like the Kingdom of God was being restored.  Walls were coming down.  People of different cultures were growing closer.  Maybe just in small steps, but at least I felt like progress was being made.

Tonight I give praise to my God who so wonderfully plans our every step.  I thank you God for our new friends and fellow brothers and sisters.  I thank you for revealing yourself to us every time we go to the park to play with the kids.  And I thank you for allowing us to experience your Kingdom here on Earth today.  May your Kingdom be restored a little more, each time we go to the park to play.