Just Simply Amazing

Wow, I have been really busy and I’m sorry that I just left all of you hanging there, but my schedule here comes before writing blogs so…

The schools that we have been able to volunteer at have been amazing! We have been able to lead assemblies and teach classes. Every Monday, Alicia and I get to teach one of my favorite third grade classes ever! It is really cool because God’s words just flow right through us and half of the time we don’t even know we are going to speak and then right out of the blue we say something…it is actually quite comical sometimes.

At the school we go to on Wednesdays, we already know a lot of the kids because they go to a bible club with us on Tuesday afternoons. Every week at our Wednesday school we are able to eat lunch in the cafeteria with the kids and one time, it was so funny, we almost started a riot because all of the kids wanted one of us to sit with them. Also at this school, a couple of weeks ago, Thomas, Alicia, Samuel, and I went out to play on the on playground with some of the kids during recess. We had such a blast! Right when we walked out of the back doors each of us were literally swamped with about twenty to thirty little first and second graders climbing all over us, we barely made it out the door before we were completely covered in kids. We played swing-on-the-monkey-bars, tag, freeze tag, and duck-duck-goose. Now, as a hint, never play duck-duck-goose with about thirty little kids (lol). Every single time when someone is being chased and they have to find a spot to sit, they always decide to sit in your lap and every time that starts a dog pile. We were able to play with the kids for about thirty minutes and when we tried to leave the kids jumped on us, said that they didn’t want us to leave, and kept hugging us until we couldn’t breathe. Poor Alicia, she had so many kids on her that Thomas had to literally go dig her out. When we finally made it back inside we were luckily still breathing, Thomas was glad his poor shirt was still in one piece, Samuel was happy that he had come out with his glasses still on his face, and Alicia and I were relieved that we had been able to retrieve our shoes from our ever-adoring fan club. Just to be able to play with the kids and start a friendship with each one of them was amazing! We had so much fun and we all definitely want to go to recess again.

Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, we volunteer with a different organization which allows us to lead bible clubs. Now, at a bible club, we have a small group session first and normally what we do during that time is teach a group of kids (that are split up by grade level) a new verse-of-the-week, an object lesson that goes with the verse, and sometimes a craft. Then we have a large group session, and that is where one of us leads songs and then someone else teaches the kids a story from the Bible. Our favorite large group lesson to teach so far has been about Cain and Abel.

Every bible club, and child, is so different and we have all learned that since each club is different we have to teach a little differently each time. Every week, I get to help teach a second through fifth grade girls class, a second grade class, and a fifth grade girls class. So, as I said before, something that worked for one class might not work for another, but that makes it so fun and interesting and there is never a dull moment.                   

Our favorite song that we sing over and over at a bible club is “I Have a Friend Who Really Loves Me”. If you haven’t heard it, it goes like this, (the first verse is in English and the second is the same thing only it is in Spanish)

Verse 1 – I have a Friend who really loves me, He love me, He loves me. I have a Friend who really loves me and Jesus is His Name.

Verse 2 – Yo tengo un Amigo que me ama, me ama, me ama. Yo tengo un Amigo que me ama, su nombre es Jesus.

On Tuesday of this past week we had forgotten that the kids were on fall break, so we got out bible lessons ready and we make it to the place where we hold our Tuesday club and then we set up for the kids and Ms. Esther and Jocelyn go to pick up the kids and when they get back they don’t have anybody following them. (Now, this was really weird because normally they pick up about fifty or more kids.) Anyway, when they come back with no kids we ask what happened to everyone and they told us what someone told them, that there are no kids here because they are all home enjoying the week off! We laughed so hard and we just had to take this picture…

This past week we had a lot of “no school/fall break” days and so what we did instead was find ways to serve the community. We have painted window frames, hallways, bathrooms, we have shoveled grass that has overthrown sidewalks, picked up trash, raked leaves, trimmed trees, and washed windows. God always blesses our time and allows us to accomplish many, many tasks for people around the city. 

I just want to clarify that we do not always work 24-7 up here. (lol) We loveplaying Ultimate Frisbee and soccer. Also, the other day Mr. Chad took us all out to play a couple rounds of putt-putt golf. (Just for the record, I got a hole-in-one!) We have been taken to see the 45th Infantry Museum of OKC and last Friday, Mr. Chad also took us out to a corn maze. We had a blast and it was funny because every time we tried to get lost we found our way through immediately and every time that we tried to go through it quickly we got lost.

Also, last weekend I had fun because me and my whole family got permission to come home to Texas on October 9th through the 12th. It was so fun and refreshing! We had to go back because a friend of ours was getting married and I needed to be there because I was going to do some of the photography and Bridget and Courtney were going to be the flower girls. (They were absolutely adorable!) While down there, God allowed us some time to have a few special visits with some of our friends back home. We wanted to visit all of you, but a lot of the time we were busy with wedding rehearsals or errands that we had to run while down there and some other things. It was sad that we didn’t get to see all of you, but I keep reminding myself that God’s timing is sufficient and that all things happen for a reason. 

Sorry, this was so long, but as you have now read, a lot has happened and I didn’t even include our volleyball game, the ice cream trips, Sarah’s birthday, the fire drill, the paint war, or some of the training sessions! Oh, and Thomas’ semester is over now so he is going home, but we have had four new girls arrive yesterday. 

I’ll have to tell you more about everything when we get back. I’ll be keeping you all posted and I can’t wait to see you and and talk to you all!

In Him, Brianna

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 4th, 2008 at 11:32 am and is filed under Brianna, Oklahoma City. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.