Snapshots from Youth Group

We have a girl who is part of the group who is developmentally handicapped (the number of special needs kids in our group is very high). She seldom speaks, and is extremely shy. She has never initiated a conversation with me, and at most I get 1 or 2 word responses from her. She came in tonight and handed us 2 boxes of wallet size senior pictures. She stood there beaming from ear to ear as we admired them and commented on all the clothing changes and how much she looked like her sister. She never spoke, but I got some nods in response to my comments. It was great to see her so happy and proud.

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I went over to the church about 15 minutes before we were to begin, and there were already 3 kids there waiting. They enjoy being together and were looking forward to caroling, supper, and wrapping gifts.

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The kids were going caroling tonight to some of the senior citizens in Tiny Village. A couple of younger kids wanted to come along. One of them, a 1st grader, volunteered to wash the dishes after the kids ate soup and hot dogs when they got back. It was great watching the older boys supervise him. He stuck his arms into the sink and got his sleeves soaking wet. He wasn't very good at washing, so one of the older boys was going behind him making sure the spoons were really clean.

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His sister was working with Daughter on gift wrapping. Daughter was very slow, and her tremors were bad. The girl was so patient with Daughter, letting her take the lead even though the younger girl was much more capable.

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I was avoiding having my picture taken. One of the boys came up behind me and reached over my head with the camera to snap a close-up. My reflexes are still good, and he got a lovely shot of the palm of my hand.

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I love spending time with the kids. It energizes and renews me.