Imagine this:
4 years old
Stands at a height just above my knees
No more than 20 lbs
Naughtiest little guy ever!!
I affectionately call him Little Terror. He is tiny but he gets himself into trouble better than anyone. He stands on the tables, runs around screaming, uses the side of the building as a toilet and basically finds as much mischief as possible! The problem is he's cute. He's adorable and he knows it.
Despite his mischievousness I love him to death. Little Terror loves his life and he loves every single thing he does. He has the biggest smile ever. He laughs, sings and dances constantly!
On occasion he does something to melt my heart...
A few weeks ago we had visitors from Brazil. They were energetic but also really loud and overwhelming. The entire time Little Terror stood next to me with his arms wrapped around my leg and his thumb in his mouth taking in everything that was going on.
----
The sun decided to break through the clouds and the rain stopped so we took all the kids outside to play instead of have classes. The girls were sitting nicely in a big circle singing and dancing and the boys were across the way climbing trees and wrestling. I was on boy patrol and when I was watching to make sure no one got seriously injured Little Terror came up to me and started walking figure eights around and through my legs. The entire time he was squealing with laughter. I looked down, asked what he was doing and he looked up and just giggled.
----
It was Day 2 of sun shining and while I was standing out soaking up all the Vitamin D I could get, Little Terror ran over and fell into a sort of head stand kicking his legs up at me. I grabbed his legs and pulled all 20 lbs of him up into the air. He screamed with excitement and joy as he was flying through the air.
Little Terror finds joy in absolutely everything he does and I've been able to take on his attitude. Every time I see him I try to pause and notice the things going on around me. Through this my God has clothed me with joy.
In Psalm 4 David says, "You have filled my life with greater joy than when new grain and wine abound."
These words echo the laughter of my heart. 5 months of being filled with this great joy is life changing. As my time here winds down I have a huge smile on my face because I know my God has blessed me with Little Terrors and has opened my eyes to see life in a new and better way. Life is new and exciting. Life is full of adventure and wonder. Life is joy!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Math Defeat
(2e-1)/(e^2+e-6) - 3/(e+3) = 2/(e-2)
solve for e
It was 6:00, I had just finished up my Grade 7 English class and I was ready to go home. I walked into the reception to put the keys away and Monde was sitting there slumped back in the chair with his hood up looking horribly defeated.
Now, you need to understand Monde: He constantly has a huge smile on his face. He is in love with life. His joy for life is contagious. He is one of the few honest hard workers. He had a lot of "bad choice, make a new one" moments when he was younger but those where his Before Christ days. He's let God do some awesome work on his heart and has cleaned up his act. He knows he messed up and has been spending the past couple years doing his best to make something of himself and to catch up to his peers in school. He is so smart and his smile warms my heart.
So obviously his defeated body language caught my attention.
"Monde, friend, what's wrong?"
"Ya! SisNora. I can't do this maths. I need your help."
Sitting down to work on this math problem got me kind of excited (I freely admit that I'm a nerd). We proceeded to take the next 25 minutes to solve the problem. There was a lot of blank stares and heavy sighs followed by "SisNora, I just don't get it." We'd go back to the beginning and I'd try another approach to explain the process.
Once we got to e = -1/3 Monde looked at me with the light back in his eyes and the smile back on his face.
"I understand! Wow, thank you!"
I've done tons of math problems since I've been here...everywhere from basic multiplication to this type of algebra. The fact that this particular 25 minutes made me so happy perplexed me. There was nothing extraordinary about it. I sat back to reflect on this and realize the reason why I loved doing math with Monde didn't matter. I am just thankful I was able to.
All I can think of is thank you Jesus for loving me and trusting me enough to bring me here! Thank you for giving me opportunities to do what I love! Thank you for putting people in my life who have stamped their footprints on my heart; people who show me how to dream, hope, love, fly and discover!
Some people come into our lives
and leave footprints on our hearts
and we are never ever the same
Some people come into our lives
and quickly go....Some stay for awhile
and embrace our silent dreams
They help us become aware
of the delicate winds of hope...
and we discover within every human spirit
there are wings yearning to fly
They help our hearts to see that
the only stairway to the stars
is woven with dreams...
and we find ourselves
unafraid to reach high
They celebrate the true essence
of who we are...
and have faith in all
that we may become
Some people awaken us
to new and deeper realizations...
for we gain insight
from the passing whisper of their wisdom
Throughout our lives we are sent
precious souls...
meant to share our journey
however brief or lasting their stay
they remind us why we are here
To learn...to teach...to nurture...to love
Some people come into our lives
to cast a steady light
upon our path and guide our every step
their shining belief in us
helps us to believe in ourselves
Some people come into our
lives to teach us about love...
The love that rests within ourselves
Let us reach out to others
and feel the bliss of giving
for love is far richer in action
than it ever is in words
Some people come into our lives
and they move our souls to sing
and make our spirits dance
They help us to see that everything on earth
is part of the incredibility of life...
and that it is always there
for us to take of its joy
Some people come into our lives
and leave footprints on our hearts
and we are never ever the same
~Anonymous
There are people I can name who have done every single one of these things for me. I had these grand plans of trying to make an impact in a short amount of time and have found that, the very things I wanted to do for these kids, they have done for me. I have been taught. I have been led to discover myself. I have been nurtured. I have been loved.
solve for e
It was 6:00, I had just finished up my Grade 7 English class and I was ready to go home. I walked into the reception to put the keys away and Monde was sitting there slumped back in the chair with his hood up looking horribly defeated.
Now, you need to understand Monde: He constantly has a huge smile on his face. He is in love with life. His joy for life is contagious. He is one of the few honest hard workers. He had a lot of "bad choice, make a new one" moments when he was younger but those where his Before Christ days. He's let God do some awesome work on his heart and has cleaned up his act. He knows he messed up and has been spending the past couple years doing his best to make something of himself and to catch up to his peers in school. He is so smart and his smile warms my heart.
So obviously his defeated body language caught my attention.
"Monde, friend, what's wrong?"
"Ya! SisNora. I can't do this maths. I need your help."
Sitting down to work on this math problem got me kind of excited (I freely admit that I'm a nerd). We proceeded to take the next 25 minutes to solve the problem. There was a lot of blank stares and heavy sighs followed by "SisNora, I just don't get it." We'd go back to the beginning and I'd try another approach to explain the process.
Once we got to e = -1/3 Monde looked at me with the light back in his eyes and the smile back on his face.
"I understand! Wow, thank you!"
I've done tons of math problems since I've been here...everywhere from basic multiplication to this type of algebra. The fact that this particular 25 minutes made me so happy perplexed me. There was nothing extraordinary about it. I sat back to reflect on this and realize the reason why I loved doing math with Monde didn't matter. I am just thankful I was able to.
All I can think of is thank you Jesus for loving me and trusting me enough to bring me here! Thank you for giving me opportunities to do what I love! Thank you for putting people in my life who have stamped their footprints on my heart; people who show me how to dream, hope, love, fly and discover!
Some people come into our lives
and leave footprints on our hearts
and we are never ever the same
Some people come into our lives
and quickly go....Some stay for awhile
and embrace our silent dreams
They help us become aware
of the delicate winds of hope...
and we discover within every human spirit
there are wings yearning to fly
They help our hearts to see that
the only stairway to the stars
is woven with dreams...
and we find ourselves
unafraid to reach high
They celebrate the true essence
of who we are...
and have faith in all
that we may become
Some people awaken us
to new and deeper realizations...
for we gain insight
from the passing whisper of their wisdom
Throughout our lives we are sent
precious souls...
meant to share our journey
however brief or lasting their stay
they remind us why we are here
To learn...to teach...to nurture...to love
Some people come into our lives
to cast a steady light
upon our path and guide our every step
their shining belief in us
helps us to believe in ourselves
Some people come into our
lives to teach us about love...
The love that rests within ourselves
Let us reach out to others
and feel the bliss of giving
for love is far richer in action
than it ever is in words
Some people come into our lives
and they move our souls to sing
and make our spirits dance
They help us to see that everything on earth
is part of the incredibility of life...
and that it is always there
for us to take of its joy
Some people come into our lives
and leave footprints on our hearts
and we are never ever the same
~Anonymous
There are people I can name who have done every single one of these things for me. I had these grand plans of trying to make an impact in a short amount of time and have found that, the very things I wanted to do for these kids, they have done for me. I have been taught. I have been led to discover myself. I have been nurtured. I have been loved.
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