This week is really calm, but I'm being very productive and I love it! I've learned that I work best when I have a list of tasks to do and I can do them as I please, and when I get them done I feel really good about myself. That's some knowledge I should take back to school with me. Basically, what this week consists of, is getting things ready for our community carnival on Saturday.
So yesterday after some laundry, which was much needed, Jennifer and I went to the church and the area around it to put up some posters and flyers about Saturday. Another thing that I have learned is that even though South Carolina is hot and humid, 93 degrees is hot. It's even more hot when I don't wear shorts, however, I value respecting the culture of the neighborhood and being respected by men on the street more than I value not sweating as much. So it's okay. While walking, we prayed that God would lead us to the places we could spread the news about this carnival. We walked around and I noticed a convenience store type place that Jennifer referred to as "the beer store". After a few seconds of discussion of whether or not we should post a flyer there, we decided that we weren't necessarily trying to attract Christians to this event. We're trying to reach out to the community and tell people about the Gospel. We walk in and there is a man standing at the counter talking to the cashier while we ask if we can post the poster. He asked if he could have a flyer and asked how much it would cost and we told him that everything was free. His reaction? "Shut up! I'll be there with my kids!" How awesome is God?! We almost didn't go in there, and now hopefully he'll come and bring his kids!
As we were in the same shopping center, Jennifer's flip flop broke, so we went into "Dollar Land" to see if they had a cheap pair of shoes for her since the pavement was so hot. We were about half way in the store when we realized that we both left our wallets back at the church, and we were just about to leave when the guy said that we could have the shoes because it was a hot day and what else were we going to do? When we went back to pay him he only would take a dollar. What a sweet blessing in such a crazy city.
So that was yesterday. Today consisted of dying salt for a craft for Kid's Club and painting cans for the carnival! It's so obvious that God wants me to work with children, because it takes a special kind of person to want to paint cans and dye salt all day. He makes things like that obvious to me sometimes and I love it.
So tonight at the kid's club, I was sitting on the bench while the kid's were playing dodgeball at the end, and a Polish woman from the neighborhood came and sat down on the other side of the bench. She asked me if the kid's coming up to me were mine, which cracked me up since she thought I was 15, and it started off a pretty good conversation. We talked about me and we talked about her and her family. She helped me understand why there is so much dispute between the Polish and the Latin American communities. The Polish community, generally, are very close minded when it comes to different cultures and even other ethnicities. She said the Mexican families have too many children and they're all too loud and she seemed a little racist against African Americans. She was not a mean woman, though. She's very sweet. That's just how she views the world, and that's so crazy to think about.
When I told her that I'm studying to be a teacher, she acted like I was a little crazy. I mean, I guess it is a little crazy. Being around crazy children all day and not getting paid that much would be crazy if you didn't enjoy being around children and seeing them learn something new. Sometimes I feel like my major/career choice/calling is the "easy route". There are so many people I know that want to go into business and the medical field, so teaching seems like one of those easy things that any one could do. When I talk to people like the woman tonight, though, who talk about how they could never deal with that many children all the time, I know that I'm where I need to be. God's already shown me ways that I can incorporate my love for children and helping them learn things with sharing Jesus with them. When I think about what I talked about with that woman, it seems like it was a little unpleasant. You would think that I would be annoyed or upset, but I am currently filled with joy that I was able to have that conversation. We didn't talk about God a lot, but I was able to have a good conversation with someone I didn't know or have any kind of connection to. God showed me how easy it truly is to just talk to people. I'm definitely going to be praying for her and that God might change her view towards her neighbors, but also that I might be able to talk to her again. Maybe next time we can talk more about spiritual things.
So yesterday after some laundry, which was much needed, Jennifer and I went to the church and the area around it to put up some posters and flyers about Saturday. Another thing that I have learned is that even though South Carolina is hot and humid, 93 degrees is hot. It's even more hot when I don't wear shorts, however, I value respecting the culture of the neighborhood and being respected by men on the street more than I value not sweating as much. So it's okay. While walking, we prayed that God would lead us to the places we could spread the news about this carnival. We walked around and I noticed a convenience store type place that Jennifer referred to as "the beer store". After a few seconds of discussion of whether or not we should post a flyer there, we decided that we weren't necessarily trying to attract Christians to this event. We're trying to reach out to the community and tell people about the Gospel. We walk in and there is a man standing at the counter talking to the cashier while we ask if we can post the poster. He asked if he could have a flyer and asked how much it would cost and we told him that everything was free. His reaction? "Shut up! I'll be there with my kids!" How awesome is God?! We almost didn't go in there, and now hopefully he'll come and bring his kids!
As we were in the same shopping center, Jennifer's flip flop broke, so we went into "Dollar Land" to see if they had a cheap pair of shoes for her since the pavement was so hot. We were about half way in the store when we realized that we both left our wallets back at the church, and we were just about to leave when the guy said that we could have the shoes because it was a hot day and what else were we going to do? When we went back to pay him he only would take a dollar. What a sweet blessing in such a crazy city.
So that was yesterday. Today consisted of dying salt for a craft for Kid's Club and painting cans for the carnival! It's so obvious that God wants me to work with children, because it takes a special kind of person to want to paint cans and dye salt all day. He makes things like that obvious to me sometimes and I love it.
So tonight at the kid's club, I was sitting on the bench while the kid's were playing dodgeball at the end, and a Polish woman from the neighborhood came and sat down on the other side of the bench. She asked me if the kid's coming up to me were mine, which cracked me up since she thought I was 15, and it started off a pretty good conversation. We talked about me and we talked about her and her family. She helped me understand why there is so much dispute between the Polish and the Latin American communities. The Polish community, generally, are very close minded when it comes to different cultures and even other ethnicities. She said the Mexican families have too many children and they're all too loud and she seemed a little racist against African Americans. She was not a mean woman, though. She's very sweet. That's just how she views the world, and that's so crazy to think about.
When I told her that I'm studying to be a teacher, she acted like I was a little crazy. I mean, I guess it is a little crazy. Being around crazy children all day and not getting paid that much would be crazy if you didn't enjoy being around children and seeing them learn something new. Sometimes I feel like my major/career choice/calling is the "easy route". There are so many people I know that want to go into business and the medical field, so teaching seems like one of those easy things that any one could do. When I talk to people like the woman tonight, though, who talk about how they could never deal with that many children all the time, I know that I'm where I need to be. God's already shown me ways that I can incorporate my love for children and helping them learn things with sharing Jesus with them. When I think about what I talked about with that woman, it seems like it was a little unpleasant. You would think that I would be annoyed or upset, but I am currently filled with joy that I was able to have that conversation. We didn't talk about God a lot, but I was able to have a good conversation with someone I didn't know or have any kind of connection to. God showed me how easy it truly is to just talk to people. I'm definitely going to be praying for her and that God might change her view towards her neighbors, but also that I might be able to talk to her again. Maybe next time we can talk more about spiritual things.
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