Moments Are What I Live for!

we are currently doing two weeks of prayer for the same school. from 8:20 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. we do a week of prayer for the 5th-10th graders at Mother Lode Adventist Junior Academy, and from 9:30 a.m. to 10:10 a.m. we do another week of prayer for K-4th grade. It's pretty fun so far, although, i have to say that by far my favorite part has been RECESS!!! yep, i still love recess with all my heart. there's part of me that still wishes i were in grade school just for the recess twice a day.

unfortunately recess is only with the first through fourth graders, but it's still fun. i just wish it could be with all the kids! to be honest though, it seems like the little tykes have more heart. they don't hold back. i admire that. but...

they don't stand a chance against team y.e.t. when it comes to dodgeball! me, mark, and anil, we dominate every time! we just wreak havoc! there's balls flying, people screaming, kids falling, girls crying, and us having fun! i think it's only fair to treat them as equals. they don't hold back, neither do we.

yesterday, i chucked a ball at a third grader with the rally cry, "take that you vegetarian!" it hit him square in the back of the neck/head. he didn't even see it coming! it was a perfect throw! he turned around with tears in his eyes and wandered off and cried behind a tree for a couple of minutes, leaving me with a grin of satisfaction. "you're out!". he came back and gave me a high five later. anil threw a ball at a kid, knocking the kid flat on the pavement with a big ol' smile! BAM! "you can't handle this!" these kids love us! another time, one of the fourth graders threw a ball at one of his classmates really hard. the other kid tried to jump over it only to have it sweep his feet out from under him leaving him all sprawled out sliding across the blacktop! another one bites the dust!

out of all these moments, there was one today that takes the cake... and really makes me wish i had my camera out! right in the heat of the battle, at the climax of the whole thing, anil hurled a ball at a boy named noah. before he could blink twice, the ball smacked him right in the face/neck throwing his head back in a whiplash like manner, his face all contorted in a 'i just got hit in the face' look. "right in the kisser!" i thought. noah's head came back to a normal position and he stood stunned for about two seconds. then, with all he could muster out of his 7 year old body, he clenched both of his fists, locked his arms straight down at the ground, and screamed bloody murder at the top of his lungs... took a big breath, and let it rip one more time, as if to say, "everybody stop! i just got hit in the face!" everyone paused for a moment until he was carried off the field, blood trickling down his lip from his nose. then, as quickly as it had stopped, it started up again. yep. it's a good ministry i think. dodgeball ministry.

i just wish i could have had my camera to get a shot of that kid half bent over screaming with the force of a spud-gun! what a classic moment in time. i also wish i could have captured him with his bloody tissue from the teacher crammed up to his nose grinning just as big as before with his fresh battle wound. later i told him he was awesome for sustaining such a serious injury at recess. he gave me a big high five telling me the tales of the time he got mr. soandso out who is "one of the tuffest guys..." what a champ! it was fun, yes, but let's face it, the poor guy didn't stand a chance against team y.e.t.! he should have seen it coming from the get-go and been watching out for us. if you're a 1st-4th grader at recess, you can know that we're coming for you! so watch your back!

ah yes. it's these moments that i live for, and i truly believe that these are what the kids at MLAJA are living for too! we love them, they love us. "life is still worth living."