Today's my unofficial Friday...which I can say I'm very excited about. Tomorrow my second nephew, Nathan, will be born and the entire family will be there for the fun. And when I say "entire family", I do mean that. When Oakley and Cameron (my niece and nephew, respectively) were born, neither my brother or uncle were there, and they--along with my new sister in law--will be there tomorrow. So, we're all excited and we highly anticipate what he'll look like. Red hair? Brown eyes? Light or dark toned skin? That's the fun part of it all...especially since we have a bet going on weight, length, and time. :)
On Sunday, we did several projects in Children's Church...like grow a tree (I'll try to post a pic) and our "dream jobs" (we were learning that God helps us grow). With the dream job thing, we had a ladder on a sheet of paper that said "God helps us grow". At the bottom of the ladder, we wrote our name; at the top, we wrote/drew a picture of what we wanted to be when we grew up. I drew a singer, just so the kids could relate (and you never know what could happen...haha). We went through and asked for responses...we heard nurse, missionary, fashion model, singer and swimmer. Our boys wanted to be in the military, SWAT team and a racecar driver. But then, one of my 2nd graders showed me her page. It actually said "a teacher like Miss Belinda". I asked her "What does that say?" for the sake of clarity, and she said, "I wanna be a church teacher, like you."
Immediately caught off guard, I continued the activity with the class, and with the ladder, each rung had to represent a step you take to get to your dream job. I generally listed college and then went into detail with some of the others. As I went around the classroom, she asked me "Well, what else do you do besides college?" I was stunned. What did I do to get here? I said to myself. "Well, you probably should work in Awana." (I taught in Team Kid, but I didn't have the time to elaborate on a program that was foreign to her).
"What else?" she asked.
"Well..." I was totally racking my brain at this point. "You need to know the Bible really well." Two more rungs. "Well, you probably need to have good computer skills. With all the stuff they come up with now, alot of it you have to do on the computer."
She wrote down with eagerness. One more. And even though she was just a second grader, I took the chance to be honest and transparent with her.
"And...this might sound silly...but you've really got to like kids and what you do." Because honestly, I was having this exact struggle within. But, that little girl helped me be open with myself for the first time instead of putting it on the backburner.
This...this "church teacher" bit...at that point, it was what I'd be doing with my life. And I'll admit I'm still trying to figure it all out. I'm just in my first year. I even still wonder "Why? Why would she want to be like me in this aspect?" Most days, I can't even handle me in the general sense. I don't know...but that 2nd grade girl will always hold a place in my heart. Not because I'd have another "me" out there...that's the last thing I want. But because she's helping me with the biggest thing I've had to consider in life.
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