The Circle of Life

The past two days at Blackfriars have been pretty great.  Yesterday I spent some time between years 12, 10, 7, 2, and reception, and then today I spent mostly with years 5 and 2.  The first part of the day was really cool -- I was with the year 5''s for over two hours and got to know them pretty well.  It's so interesting observing the differences between the various years -- I've had some experience with almost every grade here and I'm starting to notice a lot of the differences.  The year 5's are still young and innocent and willing to chat, but they're also more mature than the younger grades.  I had a great time with them as they worked on poems called "I Used to Believe," all about things they believed when they were younger.  They were pretty imaginative!  One boy believed in vampires, ghosts, zombies, and that his dad was Bigfoot -- I don't know how he slept at night!  The same with the boy who was convinced that a fat man lived under his bed and wanted to eat him when he went to the toilet!  It was really fun talking with them about these things as they looked back and laughed a bit.

After a bit of a break and some time with the year 10's (where one boy asked for my last name so that he could friend request me on facebook tonight), I made my way back to the year 2's for the last two lessons of the day.  They were finishing up watching The Lion King, and I was just as excited as they were to see the rest of it.  Little Tommy was sitting right by my side the whole time, giving me some commentary about the movie and doing imitations of Simba and Rafiki.  They had an assembly afterwards, which I hadn't planned on going to until Tommy asked where I was sitting so that he could sit next to me.  I followed along with the class, Tommy holding onto my sleeve the whole time, and saw all the primary classes gathered for their assembly.  The year 3 boys led everyone in prayer, and then some teachers came up to hand out different awards to some of the boys.  It was really neat to watch -- they have such a great community here at Blackfriars and having all the little kids waving to me and yelling out my name really made me feel a part of it.

Once the day had ended, I made my way back to the learning enrichment office.  Everybody was out and I had to wait a bit for Brett to finish up with footy training, so I took some time to think.  My mind was reeling, and I came to realize that I am so blessed to be here.  I have met so many amazing people and had the chance to start forming some great relationships, both with fellow teachers and with the students.  Then it hit me: it seems like I really do just get to start forming those relationships before it comes time to leave.  I've been here at Blackfriars for less than 4 weeks, and so much more has happened than I could ever have imagined -- but just over 2 weeks from now I'll be on a plane back to the States.

I've had more than one boy and a few of the teachers ask me if I'm going to stay here permanently, or at least come back someday.  Part of me wants to (don't worry Mom, I'll still be coming home on July 11 ;-) ).  It almost seems unfair that I get to come here and do so much, but then have to leave.  It was then that something came back to me: "The Circle of Life."  A few lines were making their way through my head, and they really struck me:

There's more to see than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done
There's far too much to take in here
More to find than can ever be found
...
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding

 There really is too much to see, too much to do, more to find than can ever be found.  But maybe we're not meant to find it all, because we all have our place -- we just need to wait for that path to unwind before us.  Be it in despair or hope, we must never lose that faith or love. 

Well, I suppose things really do go full circle.  I was able to relive my childhood by watching The Lion King, and now it is helping me to understand my present and look forward to my future.  I can only place my trust in God, that He will guide me both now and always, along this circle of life.