Monday, June 30, 2008

A Boy, Bats, Buckets & Bubbles

Recently Blake had an opportunity to accompany his Dad and one of the USA teams that was here on a trip to a rural community 4 hours outside of Joburg.

It was a week of roughing it and being all boy he fared just fine. In fact, I received daily phone calls reporting just how cool the rugged conditions were in Blake’s opinion.

I love when kids attempt to explain events that you’ve not witnessed. They tend to share as if you were right there watching so imagination and piecing details together are required.

One of the first nights I received a call from Blake telling me all about the bats in the church where the group was staying. Of course this was a trip highlight (for Blake not the girls on the trip).

Another highlight was the “bucket showers”. There wasn’t proper bathing facilities so to maintain hygiene buckets, a bar of soap and some creativity were required. Blake thought this was so cool he asked me if we could adopt the idea as a home bathing technique. (Um, let me think about that….NO!)

My favorite call took some piecing together but when the picture became clear it brought tears to my eyes (and still does). Blake called all excited about how he “got to blow bubbles for the kids in wheelchairs”. After a follow-up conversation with Rich, he explained that the team spent time with kids in a Disability Center. The disabilities were endless and at first Blake was a bit overwhelmed at what he saw. One of the team members gave Blake some bubbles and led him to a number of children wheelchair bound. Rich recanted that it did not take long before Blake got lost in the joy expressed on the kid’s faces as he blew bubbles.


With bats, buckets and bubbles, it definitely was a week of memories for my 6 year old boy! Memories I pray he never forgets especially those involving bubbles!



8 comments:

Momma Roar said...

So precious!!!

Lisa H said...

That is so sweet!

Jen said...

That is precious. I'm sure he will never forget that trip. He may not always remember the details but he will remember how he made those precious children feel with the bubbles!!!

Gayla said...

mmmmmm.... wonderful.

Vern said...

Got a lump in my throat and can't write...glory to God in the Highest form my grandson!

Heidi Jo Comes said...

your children are being raised with something that the kids here in America can not be....empathy. i guess we can try teach it, but nothing compares to living it.

Just Mom said...

SWEET!

Sohailah said...

I remember taking bucket "Showers" with you my friend in Albania... so so long ago. Remember the time that we had to wait NINE days for a shot at a bucket of water?

And I saw in the newspaper the other day that the MRE's have really been upgraded. AS of 1992 they have a SERIOUS variety of entres AND... they have a heating component - right in the bag!