Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set the example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity. I Timothy 4:12
Sep. 26, 2009
Hao de Tian
It was a good day. Not a great day - those days are saved for all-day AIM events or something when Katie's home - but a good day nonetheless. Did Chinese before breakfast then after piano tackled science. Had the review questions and practice problems - we use Jay Wile's science curriculum - and then the module test. Spent two hours on physics this morning. Kinda crazy, but I got through it all. Checked the test this evening before I graded it and it was a good thing too because in a couple of my answers I'd used the acceleration due to gravity value in meters instead of feet and had my units all crossed. Glad I fixed those before the test was graded.
So did that and geography, then lunch (with fresh bread... yumyummy!). Did a writing assignment - it was one of those where you have to write a story using specific words, and it was fun - swept my room and bathroom, then got ready to leave.
AIM had a service project pop up last week - apparently the Salvation Army's been hit hard by the recent economic "crisis" and so they held a fundraiser down at the Landing today. Some local business had donated the use of their blowups and they had a bounce house, a slide, and a big obstacle-course type dealie mabober set up down there. The charge was $1 or $2 per kid and after you paid you could ride all day. They also had kettles set up down there.
Anyway, we'd announced it on Thursday and it went out in the announcements, but when Andrew and I got there at 2:15 (we'd said in the announcements it went from 12-9, although they actually ended up starting earlier), nobody was there. We expected to see Jorge for sure, and a lot more team members... but nobody was there. It took us a while to find anybody we knew but eventually I spotted Captain Jody. Andrew didn't even know Captain Key had moved to STL! :) I guess there's really no way for him to know.
We were given aprons and bells and set to work. Now, I like bell ringing. I think it's fun to ring the bell in different ways, watch people walk by and think about what their lives may be like. Plus I love smiling, which I can do for extended intervals without getting tired of it. Plus it was a beautiful day. Plus we were right by the fountain so we could sit down AND cool off. :) So anyway, it was a good setup. We rang for about an hour. During the course of this hour we noticed Ryan and Ms. Mildred across the way manning the largest blowup. We waved, glad to that we weren't the only people there. Turns out they'd been there since SEVEN setting up, and Andrew said that Ms. Mildred said that they wouldn't be leaving till ten-ish. Yipes. Also during the course of that hour we saw the Halls from church and that made me smile. Several people told me I was having too much fun bell ringing. I guess they expect me to be glum and bored.
After about an hour Ms. Mildred waved me over there and said she'd been standing since ten o'clock and could we possibly switch places. I was a bit reluctant to leave my bell, but I agreed and Andrew and I hung out at the big blowup for the next two hours. You'd have to have been there to understand what it was like. I took pictures, though...
So this is the view from where Ryan was perched for the first bit. The kids climbed up this wall and slid down a slide, seen in the next picture.
Funfunfun. I had a lot of kids trying to slide down the blue center divider. Oh yeah. So after a while Ryan slid down and asked me if I wanted to go up there for a bit. Of course I did. You kidding?
It was so much fun! I got to know the kids, 'cause they'd come through ten or fifteen times in a row. I'd ask their names and ages (varying widely from three to ten) and eventually after the eighth time or so they'd start talking to me. One girl told me that her grandma was named "Tina and my grandpa's name is... ... Grandpa!" and then she took off down the slide. :) So cute. I had SO much fun with the kids. Had to help some really little ones up the wall. Told the more feisty ones to quit crawling over the dividers. Shouted encouragement. Yelled enthusiastically during the sibling race. My heaven's going to have a bunch of little kids in it.
This picture is from when we had a bit of a down time and Ryan challenged Andrew to a race. You might notice this is only a picture of Andrew - that's 'cause Ryan had already disappeared down the slide. His record's 18 seconds, which is really impressive. Andrew and I raced once too and I beat him - but only by a very little bit. I think I would have been faster if I'd taken off my SA apron.
So anyway it was a most fun afternoon and then we went to Wally World and then came home and had Senegalese Peanut Sauce. I double checked my science test and then graded it. 15/18. Not terrible. It was worse before Mom and I went through it. She's a lenient grader.
So life is good and God is good but I really ought to go to bed. I need to keep remembering these two things:
1. I have grace for anything and am enough for anything through Him who gives me strength.
2. BE JOYFUL ALWAYS!!
OOPS! It says anonymous, but this is Mrs. Lilly and I feel terrible! I haven't been getting the announcements. The children may be getting them, though. They didn't tell me about the service project, though JM says that I said Mrs. Rolf told me all about it. I have short-term memory issues and therefore can't verify any of that :) I am bummed that we missed it! It sounded like a lot of fun and it is always good to help others. So sorry.
I'll be remembering / The dark night; the hard fight; the long climb up a hill knowing the cost / The brave death, the last breath, the silence whispering all hope is lost / The thunder, the wonder... the power that brings the dead back to life!
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Sep. 28, 2009 - Untitled Comment