yeowch

Mummified

My title doesn't mean what it sounds like. This past week has just been nuts and i'll need to take a step back and record things to make sense of them and hopefully, make me a little less mental.

Starting with today. Oh - my - word. I saw the uglier (and probably more realistic) side of my boys at after school care for the first solid time. I wouldn't push them to the impossible end of the category, but disrespectful sounds dead right. Boys were been yelled at, kicked at, and dobbed at. I felt like a sheepdog having to round up the victimised sheep a quarter of the time; in addition i also felt like a cross between a mum and a very ineffective police officer.

"Cops & Robbers" worked well to diffuse the situation before it snowballed. My plan to teach them how to make carob truffles also went off with the younger boys thank the Lord. I eliminated half the victims with that move. Next i organised a game of poison ball which went better than expected. And from there the arvo flowed smoothly. It just shocked me how openly the boys can show hate towards each other. And how wonderful some can also be. One boy gave me the little clay figurines he made last week (that I've called smurfs) which just made my day. And 99% of them loved the truffles so i finally have a pacifying weapon of control:P But today was just one of those days.

And yesterday. FAR OUT! Whoever said working with girls was easy?? It was not as physically demanding as today but every bit as challenging. Time and again I had to knock out their idea of fun by stopping them from potentially hurting themselves. It's times like these that i rely on God more than ever.
*I just flipped open my bible and look where my eyes rested*: Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and He shall bring it to pass. --Psalm 37:5
Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. --Psalm 37:7
Thank you Lord for cutting straight to the depths of my soul with everything you show and do. This job has significantly tested me. A red hot furnace at times. But I intend to be proven as true and dedicated to you all the way, as much as humanly possible. Because only things done for you count in the end. And how can i hope to withstand the harder things in life and glorify you fully if i stay within the safe confines of the expected and familiar all the time? So thank you for giving me these opportunities to learn and grow stronger from. Thank you for the great things that you do which i cannot comprehend. It gives me a hope to look forward to; the day when all will be revealed in tandem with your glory.

P.S. i can hear sounds from the U2 concert all the way from my bedroom right now! and pretty clearly too. I'll be going there tomoro.. man i hope those ear plugs do their work:)

posted by "/umin @ 4:35 PM