On one particular afternoon a week, I get to help lead an after school program for kids in inner east Belfast. It is one of the many times I work with kids that age but it specifically makes me anxious. I remember feeling so glad the first time it finished. The kids didn't listen and were generally were insane that day. I love working with kids but that group surely tested me. I have been a camp counselor for two years along with babysitting for over ten years. I thought I knew how to deal with any kid. HA! How wrong I was. I began to dread going a couple of hours before it would start. I just couldn't understand what I was doing wrong, but I knew that it was somewhere that I needed to be. This past week, I had a brief meditation with some of the leaders before we left along with a game plan. I felt a lot more calm going into the school that day for the after school program. Two of the boys actually listened to me that day and did what I said, right after I asked them. It felt like the sun came out and was shining upon me right at that moment. Note: it was already dark outside because it was 4pm.
Now don't let me mislead you, there were plenty of slurs that were uttered, huffiness, and cheeky behavior. The kids had been testing us for weeks and that day I believe they realized we weren't going to leave them even if they were being really cheeky. That particular school has been fighting to stay there because all the kids are right from that area and walk to school. It only has 58 students, which would range from kindergarten to sixth grade. They would refer to it as p1 to p7. I know I will still struggle sometimes with that group but they seem to accept me. That is a truly comforting thought knowing I have put so much work into trying to get to know them.
I heard a visiting minister recently talk about a man "wearing his religion well". That after school program for me, kicks out the complacency that assumes I have it all right. I think without that and some of the other challenges I face during the week and the rest of year here in Belfast, I certainly well could become that person who just wears his religion for everyone to see but does not put it into practice. Its easy to work with people that you are comfortable with. I urge you now though to seek out those places that need some attention. It won't be that easy instant gratification that makes you feel good after doing it. The hard work though will show. It might not be that week or month and it might not look like what you thought it would. It will though cause you to see the world a bit differently even if it just a 20-minute walk from your door.
Word of the Week: Cheeky-mouthing off or being rude or disrespectful, there are different levels of cheekiness of course
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