Our Boys

I am going to miss these three wonderful boys! Two of them have been in Reading Club since the beginning, and the third begged to join for a while until a place finally opened up for him at the beginning of this year. They will be leaving us at the end of the summer to join the Oak Tree teens. The three of them have been providing great leadership in our Reading Club family. They actively engage in our Bible study times asking question after question and demonstrating for the little ones how to wrestle with the word of God.

I thank God for their families who have shared them with us and for the faithful volunteers who have read with them, played with them and prayed for them!

~Becky

Zephaniah 3:17

What a joy it is to watch children grow! The more time I spend around children, the more I am lead to think “What must God be thinking about me right now?”

I get so excited by their enthusiasm. Have you ever been to the zoo with a group of children? Children are thrilled to see a crocodile, sometimes even if it doesn’t move! They want to see, touch, and smell everything. And let’s not forget to take pictures of every moment, because every moment is precious and needs to be remembered. I love to think of God watching us, young and old, explore his creation. Imagine the delight he must have to see us encounter new things he created just for us. He must love to watch us in awe of Him.

I am delighted by their questions. Children ask wonderful questions. During Camp, they asked: “What was the snake doing in the garden?” “What happened to Abel after Cain killed him?” “Is…ahem…hell…ahem…real?” “How did the cowboy turn blue?” Their curiosity means that they are ready to learn, ready to listen, and they want you to tell them. I imagine how God must feel when I ask Him a million questions. Maybe he thinks, “she’s ready to learn, ready to listen, and she’s asking me”.

I am thrilled by their progress. I got to read Dr. Seuss last week, the very repetitive One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. As I read to my buddy, he started to read along with me! Slowly at first, he listened and watched as I pointed to the words and carefully enunciated each one. When I got to the same word again, he would hesitantly jump in half way through the word and finish it with me. At the end of the book, he was reading a page or two on his own. What fun! I can imagine God saying, “Watch me this time. Are you ready to do it with me? Now try it on your own!”

I am saddened, but hopeful in their shortcomings. Yes, I’m disappointed when they make bad decisions. I want to see them use the self-control I’ve taught them all the time, instead of “mostly”. But, I’m also resolute. We will talk about it, they can work to make it right and repair relationships, and they can learn. Then, they will be able to teach others what they have learned. During camp, one student lashed out at another and had to walk away for a minute and then return to apologize. I sympathized with her; I had just had to apologize that morning and I told her the story. I said, “I know apologizing isn’t fun; it’s hard.” She said, “No, Ms. Halie. Apologizing is fun. You feel a lot better afterwards.” I never thought about that; I guess you do! So, while we know God is saddened by our sin, he is also the master of using it to teach us and ultimately to bring himself glory!

So, if you are at all like me and enjoy watching children’s antics, watch and learn. Remember how your Heavenly Father delights over you!

New Faces, New Friends

We have a new member in our Reading Club family! He has been coming to the Treehouse every day for weeks to hang out by the fence and ask if he has a Reading Buddy yet. We would tell him to keep praying and he would always say he would. Well, God has answered his prayers and ours and he met his new Buddy last week! They are going to be best buddies. But before she even got here, he was able to come to camp!

Bless his sweet little heart, he was a not only a newcomer in a family of veterans, but he was also the youngest in the group. He could have been intimidated or shy, but those adjectives do not apply to this boy! He was joyfully enthusiastic all five days. He volunteered for everything and participated in Bible discussions that were being driven largely by our brilliant fifth graders and he just stayed with them.

I wish everyone could see how much this precious boy’s parents believe in him. They both encourage him and us as we all work together to love and develop this child. It is an amazing gift to serve with these families!

~Becky

Reading Club Camp Rewind

Reading Club Camp was June 5th-June 9th this year. We have collected pictures, videos, and stories and we are ready to tell you all about it! Each day this week we will share more about our fun time together...

The moment that it ended, I knew it was something special. And yet, every time someone asked me how the week went, I could only say "It was wonderful". I lost all words. Thankfully, one of our faithful Reading Buddies from Camp sent me this email that perfectly expresses both of our emotions about the week of camp. I hope you can rejoice with us too, even as we are a little sad that it is over.  

"I think we all miss Reading Club camp. Yes, it was challenging in many ways. Ordinarily we have our sweet kiddos for three hours max and camp days were twice that long. On regular days we simply serve a snack on the shuttle and during camp we served two sit-down family meals. Field trips are usually special occasions and that week we had an outing every day. These things posed challenges.

And yet, we all kind of miss it. It's hard to explain, but there was a luxurious feeling of all that time together as a family. We didn’t feel rushed because we had all day together. Sitting down together for meals felt natural and familiar. And going out exploring together every day bonded us together in special ways, as every day we split up into small groups to roam new places.

The best part of the day for me was going to the children's homes to pick them up for the day. On each hot summer morning when other children were sleeping late on a day without school, our children we're dressed and ready to go! Some of them were waiting excitedly on the sidewalk and one would call to make sure we were not going to forget her! The shuttle ride was calm as we all quietly talked about the joys ahead of us that day.

I am so glad we all had that time together. My heart swells with gratitude to the Lord for making it happen. "

Wild Readers

Wild Reader (n) A Person who reads by choice, selecting their own books, and enjoying every minute of it. (Based on Donalyn Miller’s Reading in the Wild)

The Reading Club is in full-swing enjoying the spring weather and eager for our relaxing summer afternoons together! The kids were so excited to add our Thursday afternoons and several of them are asking when they get to start coming on Wednesdays too!

One of our sweet second graders has officially fallen in love with reading. When the kids arrive at the Tree House, they have 30 minutes to play, snack, and “be kids” before the more structured part of the afternoon begins. You won’t find this sweet boy outside playing basketball, or inside with a board game. He’s in the library, curled up on a beanbag reading a book. He’s become a “wild” reader.

A few weeks ago, a couple girls took me back to the library during free time because they wanted to see the new books on display and see if I had put out the Easter books yet. I hadn’t! They dug through the seasonal books with me until we had found every single Easter book and added them to the tops of the shelves. They are becoming “wild readers”.

Want to Know a Secret?

Every week one of our Reading Buddies and their student share a secret, a secret handshake. I can’t show it to you, because it’s a secret! I can tell you that they let me in on their secret a few weeks ago and I was very honored to be trusted with something so important. Each week they add a new move to their handshake and the growing symbols indicate their time together as they learn, read, and laugh.

I love these small little facets of our Reading Club. They demonstrate that we love one another and have fun with one another. They show God’s creativity and design in relationships and his unique preparation of each Reading Buddy to work with their student.

Here are a few more fun moments I was able to capture:

They are writing poetry together, on a stool, with a beanbag.

My wonderful volunteers trying to be serious and read as examples to the kids.

When it is time for Family Meeting, but you aren’t quite finished with your book.

Rapping Poetry together!

In just over a week, we will be adding another day to Reading Club each week and opening the door for even more opportunities to love, learn, and grow. If you are interested in becoming a Reading Buddy, please join us for Orientation and Training at the Tree House, Thurs March 28th from 3:30-5pm!

Cooking at the Treehouse

You may have heard of green eggs and ham, but have you ever tried spaghetti topped with a scoop of ice cream? You simply can't imagine the delicacies created by the four- and five-year-old kids of Marks Village this past Sunday during Bible Club. Food Network, LOOK OUT!

One of the many blessings of our new facility, the Treehouse, is a room especially fitted for the imagination and growth of preschoolers, complete with a child size sink, oven, refrigerator, table, and chairs. Fun? Yes! But, for these kids, Biblical worldview-changing. When tables and chairs are scarce at home, the concept of family dinner around the table is a foreign concept. However, this week at Bible Club, we enjoyed a royal family feast as we sat around our kid-sized table and ate gourmet, plastic treats from french fries to fried eggs and hotdogs. We said the blessing over and over with each meal. 

Yes indeed, God is great. God is good. We all thank Him for our food. By his hands we all are fed. Thank you God for our daily bread. May we never take for granted God’s goodness when we gather at the table.

Working @ The Treehouse

How does a house become a home? Fill it with friends, family, laughter, hard work, memories, and more. The Treehouse has become our home. Our includes Marcus (our happy friend pictured with roller in hand), Becky and Mee La (who carefully taped, trimmed, and painted the women’s fellowship room), Terri and Stephen (our Northpark Baptist friends who are electrical magicians), John and Bubba (who can rip out a toilet faster than you can say “flush”), Ellie and Josephine (our village neighbors who cleaned the kitchen from top to bottom), Kimarius and Daniel (an 11 year old from the village and his mentor who learned how to tape and mud sheetrock from Alfredo), the Hurd gang (who tackled the teen room and WON), and so, so many more. Work days became wonderful days of making this house our new home. Thank you to everyone who joined in to build The Treehouse! More work days are ahead…

Christmas Caroling in the Village

I love the idea of Christmas Caroling. In part, because I love to sing, but also for the beautiful mental picture it evokes. When I think of Christmas Caroling in the Village I think of a Charles Dickens' scene complete with snowy cobblestone streets, lampposts softly burning, men in top hats, and women wearing muffs singing in perfect harmony as children peek out of the upper windows of their houses. 

Yesterday, my Charles Dickens' scene was adjusted to a much more real and meaningful afternoon of caroling. It wasn't snowing, but was delightfully sunny and warmer than most days in December. There were no top hats, muffs, or perfect harmonies. And the children? They weren't peeking out of the windows (actually, that did happen at one house), but were in the center of it all! 

Many volunteers gathered at the Treehouse yesterday and were quickly joined by kids from all over the village. We set out in groups singing along the way as we caroled at the homes of widows and widowers in the Village. Necessarily we stopped at kids' homes along the way to sing to their families. Everyone seemed delighted, even the family to which we sang the very long "The Twelve Days of Christmas"!

As we walked down the street singing "Joy to the World", I had a wonderful surprise. Shortly after "the glories of his righteousness..." one of the little girls in our group ran to the back where I was walking and says "Ms. Halie, look, it's talking about righteousness!" and ran back to the front just as quickly. I knew just what she meant. Jesus is righteous and we are not, but he gave us his righteousness. She was remembering Bible Club's lesson from 6 weeks ago. 

That afternoon, the Village was not filled with the sounds of car engines, talking, gunshots, or barbecues. It was filled with the sounds of children and adults excitedly proclaiming that the Christmas Season is here! We have hope in his righteousness! There is joy to be found and peace on its way in the form of our God made man!

We are Thankful!

I am so thankful for little moments that remind us of God's bigger plan. This past Sunday a Puppeteer Group from McElwain Baptist Church came and kicked off the holidays with a Christmas Musical Sing-Along! We had a great time! The preschoolers all wanted to know if the puppets were real and even the 5th grade boys were dancing to the music. 

I especially loved the story I heard afterwards from one of our volunteers: 

I spent this week's Bible Club with my arm around the waist of one of our little girls. Her little form was too excited to sit still without help. It was nearly Christmas and Bible Club was putting on a musical puppet show! She had also heard whispered rumors of presents to be handed out at the end of the day and it was almost too much to handle.

She was in constant motion: clapping to the songs, whispering familiar lyrics, poking my ribs to ask innumerable questions.

Suddenly, she went still. Her eyes fell on one puppet that had just arisen to join the choir. Her finger pointed an accusation, quivering.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" I asked.

"It's a king puppet! It's an old king!"

I glanced at the crown sitting on the white mop of hair and nodded.

"Wait!" She tugged on my arm again. "Is that the old king puppet from the other story? You know, the old king with the castle who tried to have a party at his house but all of the rich people were busy, and his friends said they couldn't come. So then he asked all the poor people to come and his servants went out and they said yes so he had a big party?"

I stared in shock at such an accurate rendition of the Matthew 22 parable we had demonstrated with puppets -- how long ago? "Sweetie, that story was months ago. How did you remember that?"

She just shrugged and giggled and contentedly went back to clapping along.

Given how loud and frenetic our little Bible Club can become it is comforting to remember that little ears are listening and absorbing every minute of it.

~ Abby