The kids and I went to watch a friend play volleyball at the neighborhood middle school yesterday. Then tonight I watched a PBS special on urban schools while holding my not-so-sleepy little one. It's got urban public schools on my mind.
I don't think I had ever been inside an urban school before yesterday. It was different. I think the boys noticed it, too. But it was also the same in many ways. Binders scattered on gym risers, girlfriends talking, boys goofing off, cheerleaders shouting, popcorn on the floor. But there were no parents cheering the on the team. And the shoes most players wore could barely qualify as athletic. And there were very few white people around...just teachers, as far as I could tell. As I watched the kids near me, the girls cooing over Lois, one girl changing seats every few minutes to sit by different friends, I identified with them. They are middle school kids, just like I was a long time ago. But they have so much more weight to carry in life.
The opposing team had a wicked serve, and our team lost. But I am so glad our friend is playing--she really enjoys being on a team. That's just one of the things I assumed everyone gets to do. Our Bhutanese friends don't. We took a couple of boys to watch Ezra play soccer last weekend. They had a great time, but I heard one of them saying, "I never played on a team. I heard it cost $20. I want to play sometime." I want him to play, too.
We send our kids to a private school. A great school. And I am so thankful we have the opportunity and means to do that. But tonight, I am imagining what would it be like to go to the local school? How would my kids do? Would it make a difference? There are so many hurting kids.
God has been using small, every day experiences to open my eyes more to the world around me. To see individual faces instead of newspaper headlines, to put skin on the problems I've always read about. It's uncomfortable sometimes, and it exposes my naivete. It's humbling.
I feel so full just trying to take care of my family, and love my friends. I feel like I really can't do much to make a difference. But we have made a few new friends since moving to this neighborhood--five kids and the beginnings of friendship with a couple adults. I pray God can do big things with my little things--that just doing life nearby, including them where I can, and loving them well will somehow reflect God's great love for them. I think that's what He asks me to do.
I don't think I had ever been inside an urban school before yesterday. It was different. I think the boys noticed it, too. But it was also the same in many ways. Binders scattered on gym risers, girlfriends talking, boys goofing off, cheerleaders shouting, popcorn on the floor. But there were no parents cheering the on the team. And the shoes most players wore could barely qualify as athletic. And there were very few white people around...just teachers, as far as I could tell. As I watched the kids near me, the girls cooing over Lois, one girl changing seats every few minutes to sit by different friends, I identified with them. They are middle school kids, just like I was a long time ago. But they have so much more weight to carry in life.
The opposing team had a wicked serve, and our team lost. But I am so glad our friend is playing--she really enjoys being on a team. That's just one of the things I assumed everyone gets to do. Our Bhutanese friends don't. We took a couple of boys to watch Ezra play soccer last weekend. They had a great time, but I heard one of them saying, "I never played on a team. I heard it cost $20. I want to play sometime." I want him to play, too.
We send our kids to a private school. A great school. And I am so thankful we have the opportunity and means to do that. But tonight, I am imagining what would it be like to go to the local school? How would my kids do? Would it make a difference? There are so many hurting kids.
God has been using small, every day experiences to open my eyes more to the world around me. To see individual faces instead of newspaper headlines, to put skin on the problems I've always read about. It's uncomfortable sometimes, and it exposes my naivete. It's humbling.
I feel so full just trying to take care of my family, and love my friends. I feel like I really can't do much to make a difference. But we have made a few new friends since moving to this neighborhood--five kids and the beginnings of friendship with a couple adults. I pray God can do big things with my little things--that just doing life nearby, including them where I can, and loving them well will somehow reflect God's great love for them. I think that's what He asks me to do.
