I ♥ Teens

I love preschoolers.  I really, really do.  However, as I have been saying for over 2 years, teaching preschool is not my thing.  I am not crafty.  I can only crawl around on the floor or pretend to drink coffee from a tiny pink plastic cup for so long.  I love the hugs and the hilarious things that come out of a four year old's mouth.  Watching the kids learn and grow is an invaluable gift.  But teaching preschool was not for me.

All my adult life I have been working with teens.  It is my gift.  Until this week I have not been able to exercise my gift in Honduras.  In fact, I had almost forgotten I had a gift.  In the past two years I started to doubt myself and my abilities.

Well, I'm BAAAAaaack!!  Working with the teenagers is awesome!  I absolutely love it.  I am shocked by how attentive they are and how quickly they learn.  It is so much fun, both for me and for them.  I find myself constantly smiling and laughing.  The best part is that they are laughing and smiling too!  Teaching the teens is better than I ever expected or even hoped.

Granted, today is only the second day.  But we have big plans and great ideas.  The kids are almost as enthusiastic as I am.  Except for one.  He is older and comes to Buen Provecho every day.  But he has grown accustomed to doing his own thing.  He isolates himself and is never really part of the group.  I wrote about him yesterday when I asked him to pray and everyone gasped because he had never prayed before.

Today when class started Kike tried to hide in the kitchen.  When he was told he had to attend class he left the church.  I wasn't surprised, but I was disappointed.  He did well in class yesterday.  I hope he comes back tomorrow.  He has never been expected to follow the rules that the rest of the kids have to follow.  He isolates and does what he wants to do.  Kike could benefit as much from the social aspects of being in the class as he will from what he learns there.

Today one of the girls who tends to be the most disagreeable outside of the classroom and who struggles hardest to learn in the classroom told me that she really enjoys the class!  That was awesome to hear.

I think that after more than 2 years of struggling to teach preschool I had forgotten how it feels to be naturally good at something.  Let me tell you - it feels great!  I am excited to see where God will lead us in this class.  I think He has lots of good things in store for us.  The kids are excited too, which makes me even more motivated and happy.

I called my Mom to tell her about this new phase and how happy I am. Then I remembered what happened this morning.  "Yes Mom!  It was one of my greatest days ever!  But I almost died."

You can imagine my Mom's response.  She was able to laugh since I was obviously still alive and talking with her on the phone.  I told her about how I was taking my vitamins in Eunice's office this morning when one of the pills got stuck in my throat.  I literally choked.  I could not breathe.  I motioned to Eunice and another boy who was there.  Eunice jumped up from behind her desk, said, "Get your hands up!"  and started whacking me repeatedly on the back.  I kept trying to punch myself in the solar plexus and motioning for them to do the Heimlich maneuver.  But they just kept lifting up my arms.

Finally, after more than 30 seconds the vitamin flew out of my throat and across the parking lot.  It was like a jet propelled vitamin.  I caught my breath, but I was sweating all over and trembling so much I could barely stand.  Eunice brought me a glass of water and I sat down for a few minutes to recover.

So, I am still alive and I am really happy.  Everything seems to be falling into place with my role at the church and my living situation.  I can't wait to see what tomorrow, next week, next month and the next year will bring.  I have a huge sense of peace coupled with hopeful excitement.  Yay!