First day on the Job.

Imagine a school house. It might look like something you’d see in a picture book.  It’s painted green, not unlike the grass and trees that surround it. There are flowers in planters surrounding the walk ways that lead to the other school rooms that have been happily painted orange. The green school room  for kindergartners is not much more that a rectangular building that stands by itself in the front corner of a very small school yard. The inside is painted blue as if to match the pale blue uniforms worn by the children who learn in this classroom. There are six desks in the three primary colors: red, blue, and yellow, that join together to make a hexagon. There are two little seats at each table. Toys, play dough, paints, and a play house surround the walls of this little one room classroom. There are ten little students with combed hair who great the morning by singing a song saying, “Good morning teacher, good morning teacher, How are you, How are you?” They then continue on to sing the days of the week and months of the year. This week is National Nutrition and Health week in Costa Rica and these four boys and six girls will be spending the rest of the week learning about how and why to eat healthy. When their teacher asked them this morning what is their favorite food, all but one said rice. That little boy told us his favorite food was mango. I am truly in Costa Rica.  I will be spending the next five months with these kids. I am excited for when they learn to love us and tug on our shirts and ask us to play. Most of them seem uneasy at our pale faces. They don’t know us and I honestly cannot remember most of their names. Most seem shy. There’s a boy who just likes to play and have fun. There’s a small boy who yells—for no apparent reason. And there’s a little girl who is fun, and extraverted, and a little bit bossy. She tells the boy who yells what to do and to stop yelling. I imagine she’s something like I would have been at her age. I am excited for what is to come and when I know them all. When the shy child is no longer just a shy child—but a unique and lovable creation of God. I am excited for the funny stories that are to come and for the happy memories that are to come. I am so happy to have this experience although I imagine that it will be hard. There will be days when I am tired and frustrated, but I know this will be one of the most cherished times in my life. How many other people are blessed with this kind of opportunity?