We were right next to apartments and a mobile home park, and we got nine different kids throughout the course of the week. Despite the small turnout, we had a great time. Some fantastic volunteers (a combination of my church family and my related-to-me family) made things go very smoothly and gave each and every child individual attention.
On Monday, I nearly had a heart attack because there were 15 kids walking down the sidewalk as we were setting up at 8:30 (not scheduled to start til 9:30.) But, they were a daycare on their way to the good playground a block further, and while we invited them to come back, they did not.
This was an electricity-free site, and even the battery technology I had decided to taunt me, or teach me that it too was unnecessary. You don't need a CD player when you know all kinds of camp songs. And if the laptop decides it's not going to make any sound because it thinks it needs the speakers on the projector you can't use, you just skip the video clip. God is always reminding us that "only one thing is needed."
On Tuesday, some of the kids walked over more than half an hour early, concerned they were going to be late. One of them had walked there barefoot. This was also the day it decided to rain. It didn't faze the kids, who were still happily playing on the playground as the drops got bigger and bigger. However, it made the rest of us slightly nervous. My original rain plan was: It won't. So after that one fell through, we settled for rain plan B: Put some materials back in the van, put all of us underneath the canopy tent, and say many thank-you prayers for Hal and Sharoll who loaned us said canopy tent. It sprinkled on and off throughout the morning, but it didn't keep anybody away. There was a piece of me that was slightly miffed about the rain, though. I had already thanked God a great deal for the gorgeous forecast, a nice contrast from super-hot the week before. I knew he would take care of our every need, as this was His project and not mine. But again, He's teaching me to trust even when things aren't perfect. And I think we all felt pretty cozy there on the blankets on the wet grass, singing and acting out the story of the good Samaritan.
On Wednesday, a little girl's mom came and taught us a song from their church, which was cool. We ended out the day with presents, too. On Monday, we had told a little girl that it was time to switch to crafts, maybe she could finish the paper she'd been coloring at home. She said she didn't have any crayons at home, or pencils either. My inner teacher voice went on red-alert: How are you practicing writing when you have nothing to write with?!? We had lots of school supplies donated to MUMMs from Annual Conference, and with Peg's ok, my helpers and I passed some of them out. I also had lots of books from a very sweet retired teacher who was cleaning out her basement- more books than could fit in my classroom (I know there's no such thing as too many books...but I may actually be coming close.) So I sorted them out according to ages, and they got to pick a few books to keep also. Karen brought some ag activity books and cute erasers, and Pastor Tom brought some tickets to the Piercing the Darkness concert (and candy) so everybody left with lots of goodies.
Next week's commute is quite a bit longer than this week's....and I'm thankful for my host family in Van Buren county, so I can stay there a little bit and save myself 6 hours of driving. (Though I've gotten smart and am now listening to audiobooks on long drives, it's better yet if I can just be closer.)
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