Lemonade Stands

I try to make it a goal to always stop and buy lemonade when I see a lemonade stand. Some of the best times have been with Kelsey. Through our lemonade "stops," I have come to appreciate a good cup of lemonade compared to the cheap "thrown together" kind. If setting up a lemonade stand, here's some advice: 1) Don't put too much ice in. Then there isn't enough room for the lemonade. 2) Have big cups. 3)It's better to be too sweet than not sweet enough. 4) Homemade lemonade is always the best and definitely worth a whole dollar. 5) Don't be too shy. People who stop to buy lemonade usually want to talk to you especially if they are teachers. :0) Lemonade stands symbolize the American dream each summer as children line the streets with dreams of starting a small business or buying something special with their hard earned coins. Next time you see a lemonade stand on the side of the road, take a few minutes, stop, and buy a cup of lemonade. As the saying goes, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Why not buy someone else's lemonade as well?

Water Balloons

Written in July 2011: I have never been so happy to see water balloons as I was this afternoon. I was visiting a mom who I had been building a relationship with over the last month in the Freedom Housing Projects. All of a sudden I saw a young man duck around the corner and a colored balloon whiz by my face and "SPLAT" it hit the side of the house. Then I heard laughter. I saw guys running after each other saying "I'm going to get you." I saw a mom yell at these young men, yet not really angry. I saw joy flash across broken faces of men who's future is as unknown as the date of the apocalypse.
Most of these men had dropped out of high school, hanging out at friends' houses probably doing drugs or drinking, and for some going in and out of jail. Men my age who probably never met their fathers or even had a God fearing man in their life to show them what a real man is. Instead gang leaders, drug dealers, and pimps show them what being a "man" is. On this afternoon rather than dodging the police or bullets, they were ducking from water balloons. On this afternoon, laughter and joy rang through the air as balloons were filled and escape routes plotted. Normalcy entered their lives for a brief moment in time as young men played.

Reading with H

6:06 my alarm went off and I immediately jumped out of bed. I knew I had a long, full day of me. I was quickly making mental notes as I was getting ready to leave, taking a quick prayer time, and grabbing a box of Raisin Bran Crunch out of the cupboard as I ran out the door shortly after 7:00 AM. I stopped by Dominick's grocery store to buy supplies for a volcano lesson this afternoon and a coffee from Starbucks. Today was definitely going to be a coffee day. My day continued on in a swirl of craziness as I tried to skype quickly with my host family in Belfast for the first time, orientate a new staff member in the elementary, lead the day at summer camp from the 6-10 year olds, welcome new campers, take care of the little details, teach lessons and peacefully deal with students who were having a "rough" day. It was craziness, but I loved it. Finally at 3:30 when I had brought a group of students to the pool did I realize how tired I was. I still had 2.5 hours to work. Why am I working such long hours this summer? By 4:30, I had forgotten again how tired I was when I was helping a student who had had an accident, communicating with the other staff members, directing the other students out the door, and rubbing my face much more than usual in exhaustion. The overwhelming feelings of a long day were increasing. Just as I was walking over to the main campus to help with extended care, the fire alarms were going off. GREAT! I don't even know where we are supposed to be going (this is a different campus and building than what I am usually at). Fortunately the other campers and counselors did. I grabbed the clipboards took role call, listened to the sirens, and sang songs. It happened up being delightful! After the action was all over, we waved goodbye to the firefighters on their BIG YELLOW truck rather than a red truck. (All those children's books were wrong about red fire trucks. Than can be other colors too.) We continued our afternoon playing on the bars, doing flips, watching Miss Sarah do flips too, cleaning up the yard, and going inside to the library. Once again as I sat down in the library, I remembered how tired I was. Ok a half an hour more, I can do this. As I was waiting with my elementary students, my little 3 year old friend, H, came over to join the big kids. I got him a little chair to sit on. Of course we wanted to sit in my chair, so I sat in the little chair. H pulled a couple of books off the shelf. As we read together, I noticed the rush and craziness slowly melt away. I staggered on the pages to allow H and myself time to experience each one. After each page was turned, H would leave his hand on my hand. His hand on my hand while slowly reading three books put life into perspective. Sometimes we just need moments to slow down and take things in. To breath deeply and just be. Jesus regularly took moments throughout his day to just be without a the craziness of life rushing around him. I believe God gives us these moments everyday to just be and remember how loved we are. May we remember that we are truly loved and to love those around us. I'm really grateful for H today and the way he showed me Christ's love by showing me how to slow down and just be.