280/365

280/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

Today was our last day teaching at Joy Springs. We still have a big presentation day on Thursday, which makes me feel all kinds of knots in my stomach, aka, I'm gonna bawl, but today was our last "real" day. At the end of a really fun really productive class with the 6th graders a few girls came up and gave Amy and I these beaded rings that they made.

Honestly? I could have died right there. I dare you to give me a better gift.

There is a problem, however. It's that I do really badly with rings. I always lost them as a kid and I haven't worn one since. This summer someone gave me a ring that had an elephant on it and the next day my mom found it in the garbage disposal. How will I ever take care of this ring strung together by a thread?

Today Amy and I bought Bibles for prizes for some of our kids. They are really cool hard cover ones with the Old and New Testament. Most of the kids, if they have Bibles, have only NT's and they are tattered, coverless, sad looking things. We wrote notes on the insides to the kids. We don't know yet who will get them, so it's exciting. We wrote something different in each one.

We are also giving away awards for top boy and girl in each art class. We bought them drawing books, colored pencils, and mathematical sets - a tin box with rulers, a pencil, and a sharpener. Those are very popular here. And they cost less than a dollar. We've wrapped up each gift and I'm SO excited. I don't know if any of these kids have ever opened up a package.

We also did something with the kids today for those of you who gave to them. I want to tell you how cool it is, but you'll just have to trust me for now.

You want to know something I've learned since I've been here? It's about helping. I think helping is the most non-stressful, fun, easy, enjoyable thing you can ever do while still reaping a huge reward. I mean, think about it. Money, success, power, all of those are great rewards, but they take a lot of hard work. The reward here just feels SO good but what's even cooler is that it's no work at all. Helping in itself feels like a reward. It feels like an honor to serve. And I'm not saying that as a sweet, Christian, all-I-want-is-for-everyone-else-to-be-happy type girl. I'm not that good. I'm saying that from my down-to-earth, realist, even pessimistic side. We can all do something, at no great cost, and gain something even greater from it.

Like, for example, this ring.