latched onto me. He kept dropping subtle hints about his home life- he didn’t have a present father figure, his cousin who acted as that figure was recently shot and killed, his older brother is never around, and his family has no car. I don’t want anyone to think I had “favorites”, by the way. He shared so much with me and still managed to be this bubbly, energetic kid with only some anger issues. But we always prayed afterwards and talked about what happened and what we could do next time to make it better. I’ve never met anyone (and this is only one example) who had the need to share so much after only knowing me for 72 hours. It kind of tells someone that’s listening that some of these kids are just bursting at the seams, and they need someone or anyone to lean on. The whole week, everything, has been a really powerful experience that have and will continue to have a huge impact on me. But simultaneously it was so much fun. If I could do it all again, the exhaustion that we all felt, the awe, the chaos, everything, I definitely would.

This week has been a lot of fun. I have learned so much and have met so many great kids. It has not come without a challenge while the kids were fun, they could be very hard to control throughout the day. I had to rely on my team members and God for energy and patience many times throughout the week. Today it was very sad to have to leave the kids, but it was nice to have many good times to look back on. I think that we all enjoyed being able go outside and play with the kids and enjoy water activities. One of the things that had a big impact on me today was being able to use my faith story to help comfort a kid that was going through a rough time. It was also really special to be able to pray with Sadie and this kid to help comfort them.