Kids, Ants and Rain

So, last week was the great Art Reach of famousness, from which I should regale you with many heart-warming and harrowing stories. Well, I will perhaps not regale you with many stories, so if I only tell you a few, I shall make sure that they shall be high quality. I think, perhaps, the most interesting day was actually the very last, for which we rearranged the schedule so that the kiddos could get some rehersal in for their show. First we congregated them in the gym, which was no mean feat in itself b/c there were over 200 kids in total at our camp. Then we herded them in groups out to the stage, which was outside. First, as we were settling the drama kids in their places in the grass in front of the stage, a few of the kids in the back row lept up yelling. Quick-response investigation revealed that those particular children had been seated in a very large nest of fire ants. Fire ants, for those of you who are not privileged enough to be Texas residents, are biting bugs who's stings hurt about 5 times as sharply, and 5 times as long as mosquito bites. So these kids were not very happy, and neither were the guides who were working crowd control trying to keep the other very curious tykes away who's first impulse in responding to the screams was to run over and get bitten themselves. So, a large area of grass was taped off and order was restored, although a number of kids seated near the taped off area looked very concerned about their tender tushes.

So we finally got all of the kids out and seated and more or less quiet, and were just beginning to run them through the walking around that they would have to do, when the first drops started falling. Perhaps I should have mentioned earlier that the weather for this particular day had not been at all promising, dark and gray and very windy. So the first drops began to fall and as they came more and more quickly, the kids were getting more and more restless. The youth pastor tried to reassure everyone, "Don't worry kids, it's just a sprinkle," and on we went. But then the rain reached some kind of unspoken critical mass and the drops started falling heavily and, as if on cue, all 200+ kids started screaming. The grown-ups all threw up their hands and laughing and the rain fell down on us all quite steadily. We started moving the kids back in trying to keep some semblance of order, and wouldn't you know it, right as we did that, the rain slowed and stopped.

Now, for a couple of cute kid moments: we were working on these crazy wire sculptures, which were easily the most difficult art projects of the week, and not terribly successful. Basically all the kids, K-5th grade were give a couple of feet of wire, and were told to bend it into some kind of skeleton for a summer symbol that they would then cover with yarn. Well, these kids got so frustrated with this project...a couple of quotes overheard: One girl working on her project said lamentably, "This is not turning out the way I expected it to." Another boy, when asked by a guide what he was making replied dazedly, "I have no idea."

I don't want it to sound like the week was negative, that's not true at all. It was a wonderful week, pouring into the lives of these dear little ones. It was an entirely gorgeous show, the props were beautiful, you could actually hear the children singing their cute little songs and the set was fantastic, their were swiveling panels along the back w/ seasonal icons that switched over for the final number into a kind of pastiche of the different descriptors of God. It is a beautiful thing to see children worshipping God, even in their lack of understanding and naiveté. And they are lovely people, for the most part, tho some of them can really give you a run for your money. I also got to put together a kind of free form poem out of the adjectives and phrases about different seasons that the children wrote up on our "Wonder Wall" (which, by the way, got the song stuck in my head all week). I would post the poem, but I think that the only existing copy is floating somewhere in Calvary Community church.

So that's the Art Reach scoop, sports fans. Hope you got enough FYI, because that's all I'm writing for tonight. Have copious peace in your souls, and eat more fish. I know I do.

Peace, love and crabs,
S.