Tuesday was extraordinary. We played with children all morning and the creative play room was completely full. The kiddos brought me so many smiles and gave me such inspiration. Even the children with medical conditions did not play any less hard or give up any easier. If anything, I watched them struggle to get up the slide stairs even harder. It’s so easy to get caught up in our own lives. Thinking about ourselves, feeling sorry for ourselves. Yet the innocence of a child going through life threatening illnesses can really make you put it in perspective. Today I was encouraged to complain a little less and to play a little harder. ❤
Wednesday was another one for the books. I started the morning off taking the wrong exit (same exit our trip advisor missed the day before)… Luckily we made it to the hospital with time to spare and we began our morning serving the children. A group of us ran the potato races which included checking in employees homemade race cars (made out of potatoes). The kids absolutely loved watching the potatoes race and judging the beauty pageant.
There were so many creative themes like Moana, Oscar from Sesame Street, Batman, Cleopatra, Fred from the Flinstones, and many other creative ideas. For the rest of the time, I played with a gal in creative play. She didn’t engage with me much at first but I started chasing down the ball she was hitting with her racket. Eventually she said “you didn’t think I could talk did you”. I told her that I knew she’d talk when she was ready. She started asking me questions like my name and where I lived. After she got comfortable she told me she was afraid the cops were going to come for her (because she opened the emergency door exit and sounded the alarm). I didn’t know what she meant because I hadn’t been there for the commotion (I was running the potato races at that time). We talked about how it was a learning experience and that she knew she would never do it again. I can’t even imagine the struggles this gal was facing with her sibling in the hospital. It seems so reasonable for her to act out, and it reminds me that often I don’t know the struggles others are going through, yet I’m so quick to make judgements. Thank you S for giving me a reminder to love others a little harder and forgive a little easier, because I might not know the struggles they are facing.