Over a mouthwatering breakfast of mango and dosa, Kevin suggested that our first morning at New Life be spent "meeting the children".
Aside from the grand introduction with flower bouquets and dozens of warm "hello seestar,"'s I encountered last night, I had no idea what to expect from them. We walked over to the school house, kicked off our shoes to walk up some stairs, then my eyes fell on a room full of children sitting on the floor studying. As soon as I crossed the threshold, the children stood up in unison and in precious Indian accents said, “good morning sister!”. Their words caused a wave of absolute joy and thankfulness for their love to overcome my heart. I went to sit with a circle of girls studying science. School is closed this week because it is too hot (we have snow days, they have sun days) so all the children living here at New Life (70 approx.) are studying independently. They are so smart, and eager to learn. I sat for hours in the upper room reading with them, having a beauty parlor hair session, learning Oriya, dancing, and singing praise songs. They taught me to say "thu maranama kurna?", Oriya for "what is your name?" and cheered and giggled with absolute glee each time I attempted in a distinct American accent.
One of my favorite things in life is when you are so overcome by joy that the smile on your face is simply not adequate to contain all that you feel. Laughter spills out uncontrollably from sealed lips, not because of anything particularly humorous, but because you are so deeply happy to be alive. As I sat with the children, exchanging linguistics and inquiries about one another, the pure joy exuding from their hearts and precious “praise the Lord” comments elicited a wave of rare, genuine laughter.
Aside from the grand introduction with flower bouquets and dozens of warm "hello seestar,"'s I encountered last night, I had no idea what to expect from them. We walked over to the school house, kicked off our shoes to walk up some stairs, then my eyes fell on a room full of children sitting on the floor studying. As soon as I crossed the threshold, the children stood up in unison and in precious Indian accents said, “good morning sister!”. Their words caused a wave of absolute joy and thankfulness for their love to overcome my heart. I went to sit with a circle of girls studying science. School is closed this week because it is too hot (we have snow days, they have sun days) so all the children living here at New Life (70 approx.) are studying independently. They are so smart, and eager to learn. I sat for hours in the upper room reading with them, having a beauty parlor hair session, learning Oriya, dancing, and singing praise songs. They taught me to say "thu maranama kurna?", Oriya for "what is your name?" and cheered and giggled with absolute glee each time I attempted in a distinct American accent.
One of my favorite things in life is when you are so overcome by joy that the smile on your face is simply not adequate to contain all that you feel. Laughter spills out uncontrollably from sealed lips, not because of anything particularly humorous, but because you are so deeply happy to be alive. As I sat with the children, exchanging linguistics and inquiries about one another, the pure joy exuding from their hearts and precious “praise the Lord” comments elicited a wave of rare, genuine laughter.
This expression was fairly persistent throughout the rest of the morning. My face has a habit of turning red when I laugh, to which Justine exclaimed, “Miss Tomato!” Consequently, the children nicknamed Brooke, Alexis, and Katie Miss Potato, Miss Onion and Miss Lettuce-Finger, respectively. Later we went out to play badminton and had a jump rope tournament, at which time my title expanded to “Miss Tomato Barbie Princess”.
Spending time with these children is incredible, they have already taught me so much. The love I feel for them is overcoming, and serves a beautiful glimpse at the deep love their Heavenly Father has for them.
Spending time with these children is incredible, they have already taught me so much. The love I feel for them is overcoming, and serves a beautiful glimpse at the deep love their Heavenly Father has for them.
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