10 thousand words

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, well here's my ten favorite from the whole summer and the stories behind them. Enjoy!

This is one of my fellow summer missionaries, Kyle, with a little boy on his shoulders. Kyle putting the child on his shoulders, did more than raise the boy to where he needed to be to make a basketball goal. As missionaries we go out of our way, to share the love of Christ. Different children need different methods, but all need Jesus.Plus I just love the look on his face! Kyle is uncomfortable, there is 75lbs on his shoulders, and a ball in his face, but what the picture doesn't show is that Kyle actually enjoyed helping the boy reach the goal.

These little girls gave me the runaround literally. I chased them all over the front lawn of the community center. In their case, they needed someone to love them enough to follow them wherever they went. They took different paths, but I was able to catch them sooner or later. When we were done, I sang silly songs with them and talked to them a little bit. It was a great day!

This little girl was about 5 years old when she climbed the blow up rock wall. Well, actually she wasn't strong enough to climb it, so I pulled her up the wall. Like God does for me, I did the actual work (something that was no sweat for me) but let her think that she was doing it all herself because I knew she needed the confidence boost. I so admired the way she faced her fears, and worked with all her might to climb the wall.

Xaiver is the beautiful boy in the picture with me. He was the liveliest two year old I've ever met. He was filled with so much joy, he never stopped smiling the whole camp. You would never know that he was living in the worst apartment complex in all of Beaufort. In his case, I learned more about God than I could teach him.

Meet Shelby. She was a ten year old that was in my VBS class. At the end of the week she wanted me to promise that I would come back next year. I couldn't promise her that because I don't know where I'll be in a year. But I did give her my contact information and told her she could call me whenever she wanted to. It turns out that Shelby loves to write, and now she is my pen pal. Sometimes what a child needs it to be listened too, and to be responded to. They need to know that you'll be there for them in some way or another.

Justin is a youth pastor from Alabama that I had the pleasure to work with for one week. I'll never forget when a little girl came up to me and asked me to play tag with her while everyone was eating at our end of the week cookout. I was tired, it had been a long week and my energy was used up. I told her I was sorry but I was too tired to run around right then. Justin called out to girl, "Wait a second, I'll play with you" and then whispered to me, "You're never too tired to play with a kid." It changed the way I worked the rest of my summer. From then on out, I kept going till I all the kids went home.

Mr. Roland was like a grandfather to me. He sang old songs, told life stories, and gave me advice. I'll never forget his sweet spirit, and wise words.

This little boy was in my very first VBS class. I'll never forget this week. I was so nervous, and was working with kindergartners, which I am not experienced with in a structured environment. However this week turned out to be better than I could ever imagine. This little boy and the other four children each looked up at me at different points in the day and said "You are a good teacher." Unless you have the heart of a teacher, I cannot explain to you how this simple comment changed my life. It was the most encouraging message I have ever received. I believe that God was apeaking audibly to me through these children.

This is Mandy, a fellow summer missionary and dear friend. No matter what I was going through, Mandy was there to lift me back up to God. She couldn't have known that I was upset or struggling, but she always just knew the right thing to make me feel the best. Its through intermissionary relationships that we develop as stronger Christians. We admire other Christians and then strive to be more like them that makes us more like Christ. Mandy was my encouragement when eveything else was discouraging.

This little girl is very special to me. Her name is Chapman, and she is the pickiest two year old I have ever met. She wouldn't eat anything but chips at dinner time, and she wouldn't let anyone but her mom hold her. Well, you can tell by the picture that Chapman was in my lap. Somehow, this picky little girl decided that I could hold her. I love kids that are picky, because they are unique and they are strong.