Summer Camp...or why I haven't blogged in the last few days.

I'm not a kid person. Honest. This statement usually prompts a comment like, "But you have so many of your own!" Yes, I love my kids. I even love a few other kids. But naturally, I am not a kid person. I lose my patience. They don't amuse me. Babies? Bring 'em on! Teenagers? Love 'em! But those in-between years? Not so much.

What have I been doing the last 2 weeks? Teaching English lessons at summer camps in the West Bank to KIDS! Lots and lots of kids! We cycle through more than 100 kids a day over the course of 5 sessions at the camp that's running this week. I am up to my ears in kids! And I'm loving it!

Okay...not really loving it like, "Gee, I hope I can do this for the rest of my life." And not even loving it like, "I don't have any complaints because this ministry is so amazingly wonderful!" But loving it because it is what God has called me to do for this time, right here, right now. Nothing else. And there is joy in serving God, even when what he's asked us to do doesn't come naturally.

I'm loving it because lots of these kids have no one else who loves them much in their lives. They have little to laugh about, so I seek to make them laugh. And not just a little snicker. I want a big belly laugh! So, I jump around, make faces, try to make jokes in Arabic...all to make them laugh. Scot's with me in this. And frankly, being with kids doesn't come any more naturally to him than it does to me. But he's got more patience. :)

There is one little girl, a trouble maker. She's got a 'tude. She can be belligerent. She can be argumentative. And she can be violent with the other kids. She's a real pain in class. And she's been there for every single thing we've done so far.

Today, she came to the classroom while I was alone, cleaning up. She asked if she could help me with something, so I had her help me hang up some posters. While we were working, she started talking. Her daddy's in an Israeli prison. He might get out in August, but he might not. He had divorced her mother, and remarried. She doesn't see her mother. She lives with her stepmother, who now has children of her own. While she was helping me, I realized she was trying so hard to do something right. She proudly told me she helps the principal in her school with projects. She offered to help me when I need it anytime.

And I choked back tears. I didn't like her. I wrote her off as a problem. I said I'd rather not have her in my class. Shame on me. Here is a 10 year old girl without much in her life that is good. And I am here to make a difference in the lives of children by bringing some love and joy into an otherwise gloomy day, yet I didn't want her around. My heart broke.

I was just this moment thinking about what I can do to keep her busy tomorrow at the end of the day. Maybe it's only 10 minutes, but I can give her that much of my time to see her smile. And she does have a beautiful smile.

So, if I'm absent for a few days, not posting, just know that I'm knee deep in kids...and silly songs, and duck duck goose, and glue, and Arabic, and Red Light, Green Light, and coloring pages, and broken crayons...and I'm busy trying to love some little people who can really use a hug...