because you just never know…

Wow, it’s been a LOOOONG time since I blogged last… I guess it’s a good thing that I’ve been busier than usual!  😀  But there’s been a lot of things I’ve been thinking about, experiencing, and learning that I’ve really wanted to write about… and I’m finally getting the time to write at least one of those thoughts…

Well, couple weeks ago, I had the privilege of teaming up with few of my old volunteers to lead a mini-VBS at a retreat for a friend’s church.  It was a 2 day retreat with three sessions to get to know 33 kids.  Wow!  We met and interacted with  many funny, cute, smart, adorable kids…  There are always kids that leave lasting impression because they’re ridiculously cute, super relational, or what we consider difficult… And then there’s always a handful of not-so-memorable children because they are quiet, and just don’t make lasting impression.  Well, A is a three-year old who could easily be considered that handful of not-so-memorable child.  She was very quiet and shy.  She didn’t show much emotion so we couldn’t tell if she even wanted to be there.  She needed to be guided to participate in any activity.  For all we knew, she was there because her parents made her.

Well, during dinner on day 1, we saw her sitting behind us.  So naturally, we waved at her just like we waved at every child.  This took no effort on our part.  When her mother dropped her off that evening, she told us how she was so happy that her “teachers” waved at her.  What?  She actually was happy?  We had never even seen her crack a smile!  Session 2 went as usual.  The next morning during session 3, I kept my eyes on her… she was the same little quiet, shy girl.  Even when I asked her questions, she didn’t respond at all.  She just had a non-expression look on her face for the whole 2.5 hours.  From what I could tell, she could careless if she was with us that morning.  But when her mother came to pick her up, she told us how sad A was the night before because she thought our VBS time had ended after session 2.  In the morning, when A found out that there was going to be another session, she was ecstatic!  What?  ECSTATIC???  Are we talking about the same girl???  My volunteers and I were puzzled, because her interaction with us told a different story!!!  We almost became celebrities to her and her mom because apparently she LOVED us…

I’ve been thinking about A since we’ve been back. We initially didn’t notice her because she was so quiet and shy.  Nevertheless, she loved being with us, and was “wow-ed” by her “teachers.”  Little actions of waving to her, talking to her, leading her, and loving her made an impression on her even though we didn’t know it.  A little shy girl why was almost not-so-memorable actually became the most memorable to me only because of what her mom told us.  And this reminded me why it’s SO important to treat each child with genuine love and care of Jesus Christ… because you just never know what kind of impact you’ll have on a child no matter how young, quiet, or shy he/she may be.