Thursday, July 7, 2011

Yikes!

Tomorrow is my last day at Blackfriars and on Saturday I'll be leaving Australia -- I'm still in shock that my time here is almost up and am slightly unwilling to believe it.  Today was definitely a great last full day at the school, though. I spent the whole morning in the year 5 class; as soon as I walked in, one of the boys (Dylan) walked up and handed me a card he had made and then the whole class signed.  He included the Blackfriars crest and American flag and then a picture of me crossing the International Date Line, with plenty of well-wishes for my trip.  It really made my morning!  When the boys were doing their morning prayer and sharing their prayer intentions, a bunch of them mentioned me, asking that I have a good last two days at Blacks and a safe trip home.  I couldn't help but smile every time.

Mr Richardson gave the boys a lesson on Dominican prayer today, which was really interesting.  I always love to hear what young kids have to say about prayer, and it was an awesome lesson to be around for.  I moved around the room, asking the boys about their prayers and seeing what they wrote.  Since it's the end of the term, though, there was plenty of mucking around mixed in with the actual working.  Anton had a bit of a giggling fit and decided to practice smacking me with his ruler, and then had fun making faces at me behind the teacher's back to try and get me to laugh (it definitely worked).  

After recess, I went into the year 4 class for two lessons.  They were watching that show "Mortified" again and doing some work to put their portfolios together.  I didn't do too much with them, but at the end of class they were really keen on throwing those balls at me again.  For whatever reason, they love when you whip the balls at them (they're small enough that they don't hurt), and so I had plenty of fun doing that at the end of class.  For lunch, Anton and his friend Christopher came over to the office.  Tommy was out sick again, so I have Anton a note to take home for him, along with my blue cross necklace that he loves (I had promised to get him one, and the one I ordered online never came).  It was my last lunch at the school and was really enjoyable -- Anton and Christopher are both great kids, and they seemed thrilled to come over for lunch two days in a row.

For the last two lessons of the day, I went in with the year 2's.  They were getting ready to lead the afternoon's assembly and were a mix of nervous and excited to speak in front of the rest of the primary school.  I watched proudly as they all read at the assembly, and then gave them all a little card afterwards with the class picture I took and a small message with an American flag on it (I couldn't find any pennies, but they still really seemed to like the pictures).  One boy told me that he'll always remember me with it! 

The day was just about over by this point, and when I went back to the office I made plans with Maria to go to the hospital and visit Reegan and the new baby.  What a great way to spend one of my last afternoons here -- with the baby girl Leni Eden.  She's only two days old, and it was so peaceful to hold her and think about the new life that I was holding in my arms.  

The youngest baby I've ever held

I've only got two nights left Down Under, and tomorrow is my last day at Blackfriars -- all I can say is: yikes!

1 comment:

  1. I am so glad you got to meet the baby! Next time you see her she will be so big! I know it is hard to leave all of your new friends but, by God's will you met them and if it is His will you will see them again.

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