Go back and read this post for the story behind "Five Small Things Friday".
For this week, here is my list:
1. Sight:
2. Hearing: Mom Singing "He Leadeth Me"
3. Smell:
4. Taste:
5. Touch: Young Hands On My Shoulders
The stories behind the list:
1. Saturday morning as I had my personal Bible study, I was thinking on all that has happened in the past year, especially in relation to Victory Rd. and the people I know and love there. Memories of good times and victories; memories of discouragement and change. And I felt a mixture of hope and melancholy. But just as I sighed, I heard Mom start to sing from her room as she so often does at the beginning of the morning - almost as a signal that the day is officially starting and we should all begin gathering for breakfast. She was singing the hymn, "He Leadeth Me". Coincidence?
2.
3.
4.
5. I love my little after-school kids at VRCA, and I'm pretty sure they love me too. The little ones say it to me, and the bigger ones - in various shy and awkward, or boisterous and amiable ways - show it.
They are always interested in what I'm doing, whether it's knitting a scarf, eating an apple, reading a book, looking at Pinterest, or helping another student with homework. Or they want me to join them in what they're doing - drawing pictures with sidewalk chalk, playing chess, swinging, tossing a football, etc.
Tuesday it was cold and damp so we couldn't go outside to play. There were only a few kids left, and they had settled down and were playing either 'school' or 'puppies' or a strange combination of both.
I pulled out my laptop and got on Pinterest - my new favorite site (besides Etsy) for crafting inspiration.
Presently I heard a cheerful quiet young voice behind me sing-song, "What-cha do-in'?" and felt two small hands on my shoulders. I smiled.
Though I love all my after-school kids deeply and each one of them is dearly special to me in his or her own way, this one touches something in my heart in a way the others don't. Nine years old, but she often seems to prefer my older company over that of the other children's. She'll sit for ages looking at project ideas with me, pointing occasionally to something that strikes her fancy, and reading aloud instructions or captions. Or she tells me about herself; her dreams of becoming a polymer scientist (something I'd never even heard of until I asked her one day what she wants to be when she grows up), difficulties with siblings, getting to talk on the phone to her dad (her parents are divorced), a drawing she'd entered in the county fair, a book she's reading, or a science project she's doing. She's quiet, but not shy - quiet in the intelligent sort of way that causes some people to just not waste words. And she's got a thirsty, searching spirit. That, I think, is what touches me most deeply.
'Looking up craft ideas,' I motioned to a chair beside me. 'You can sit down if you want,'
She did :) .
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