day 4

day 4 was filled with excitement. we were finishing up work on the house taht day, going to the school, and that night we were hosting a block party in our neighborhood.

work went great in the morning. by the end of the week we had the first house completely primed and ready to do flooring, and the second house had dry wall up and we had been mudding and taping ceilings, as well as primed some parts of rooms and textureda lot of rooms. i was pleased with what we got done, but of course left wishing we could have finished the house. but glad it wont be long before they can move back in.

going to the school that day was exciting but sad. knowing it was the last day definitely was upsetting me; i had grown so attached to the children. we had to wait extra long to play with the kids, and i felt like i was going to explode. i felt like i was losing precious minutes, and i was not happy about it. we finally got to go out, and thankfully Rayne was back that day, but Iona and Alexis were not, which was a huge disappointment. I had hoped to be able to talk to Alexis again, and was sad that wasnt going to get to happen.

John from Trinity had given me a list of names of kids who had accepted Christ into their lives the week before, so must of day 4 I spent finding those kids and following up. I was happy to be told that these children realyl understood what it meant and were excited to give their lives to Jesus. I was even more excited to find out that one of the boys I had been playing with all week, Tyrone, was one of the kids who had became a Christ follower. great feeling.

there was one point during the day when a little girl I had been playing in the sand with came up to me and dumped a handful of shells and one pebble into my hand. she continued to tell me that she "loved me that many shells, and picked all the prettiest ones just for me, cause im so pretty". that little girl made me cry right there. all I had done was play with her for a few minutes, give her a hug and take her picture, and suddenly i was her best friend.

another touching moment was when Rayne wrapped her little arms around Jenna, and told her that she would miss her the rest of the summer. seeing how we had touched these kids lives really touched ours.

when the older group came in we got a game of four square running after some hula hooping and uno was played. the game went great, with our buddy mitchel telling us how exactly to get Chris out, who happened to be king most of the game. it was pure entertainment, these kids loved it, and i was having a blast too. even though im really no good at the game. i did get to be king once though! no thanks to my own teammates; those kids were way nicer to me than ceri, mac, or tyiesha ever were! :]

i connected again with the little girl named Erin mitchel had introduced me to. she told me she had 6 siblings, and she was in the middle. i told her i had 8, and i was in the middle too. she was happy to have someone who understood that pain, and was attached to my side a lot of that day, too. we got plenty of pictures together. she also loved pointing out that i was the "invisible erin" of the 2, referring to my skin color. see pictures to understand

saying goodbye was tough. i played it lightly, not wanting to seem upset or upset the kids. it was hardest saying bye to G man, i had grown so attached to him. i miss his hugs and i miss his smile. no matter what he will always be the one person who could cheer me up on the spot, just with a little grin. he gave me a huge hug and patted me on the head, telling me he would "see me later", and I said a little prayer right then that maybe some day that would be true. who knows, right?

after the elementary school we went back to our site and rested up a bit while all the other teams showed up. we got a corner team together and went to the streets, with Becky leading chants to draw attention and tell people about the block party. we walked around the neighborhood as well, inviting whoever we saw to come. we got back to the site and I waited anxiously for our kids to show up. we had invited a bunch, as well as the neighbor kids, and itwas almost a proud mother feeling; i loved those kids so much, and i just wanted to show off how amazing they were to everyone else at the block party.

while waiting, we blasted our CD from the van, and our whole crew got up and danced around. we got others to join in, and at one point I grabbed a little 2 year old and we danced for a while. while we were dancing he had pointed to something, so i assumed he wanted his mother and i went to her. as soon as I handed him over he was screaming and crying and reaching for me, and my heart just sank. i said bye and headed over to kerry and lindsey, and shared how upset I was that the child was crying. after some persuasion, I went and told the mother I really didnt mind holding him, and reached for him again. as soon as i reached out he grabbed my hand and screamed louder and cried harder, as i tried to tell the mom i really didnt mind. her face went from one of friendliness to one of complete hate; i dont think i have ever gotten a look that dirty. i instantly peeled my fingers out of the babies as she told me they were leaving and stomped away, with the poor thing still bawling his eyes out. that kind of crashed the block party for me; my heart just broke for the poor little child, and i felt horribly guilty. i had never meant to make the woman feel like i was not a friend. really i had tried everything to make her feel respected. but in turn she felt anger bc her child reached for me and wanted me over her. awful, awful feeling, upsetting her so much.

right after that little LaRon, the neighbor boy came out, and I turned my attention on him. i got to talk to his mom for a while, and told her what great kids she had. we got him some beads and let him show off his skateboarding tricks, and then got him a water bottle and they headed in. a couple kids from the school came and i met some of their mothers, and made it my goal to make sure those moms understood what a blessing those kids had been all week. i hope they really understand what amazing little bundles of joy they have, and how much i loved being able to spend time with them.

we prayed and cleaned up, but Bollie had not stopped by again. the team left upset we hadnt been able to say goodbye, but since I know where he lives I know if I go back I'll be ableto see him again. as long as he is still there. fingers crossed.



so that was pretty much the end of my trip. or at least the part I am going to blog about. i have been so touched by Bollie,the kids, the teachers, and the other people on our trip. my heart came back a little more stripped of its walls, and I know I am going to be a much friendlier person from this day on. I'm really praying hard for God's guidance, but at this point I really feel like I want to go back to New Orleans, just to spend time at that school helping the kids. we'll see what doors open.