On Sunday, we lugged home from church two big boxes and one laundry basket full of shoes and a bag of shoelaces. We spent the afternoon sorting shoes - checking for holes, making sure the shoelaces were still intact, tying pairs together (not so easy with the velcro type). We stuffed each pair with a pair of soft, new, white socks. (Thanks, friends!) We also stuffed each pair with a note written by one of our elementary kids from church. A couple of Sundays ago, we provided small cardstock squares and markers and colored pencils and asked all the kids in Sunday school that day to write a note to the child who would be receiving the shoes they had collected. We typically have around 40 kids, so I thought if each kid wrote 3 notes, we'd have our shoes filled. Attendance was down a bit, not everyone wrote cards, and some were illegible, so we came home with only 50 cards. Another note-writing Sunday will be in order!
We let the kids decide what to write. We asked them to write a note, draw a picture, include their favorite Bible verse, or write whatever was on their heart. Thanks to Michelle, who with very little notice got us the Amharic translation of "Jesus loves you", we were able to write out "Eyesus Yiwodihal" for our kids to copy if they wanted. Most of all, we wanted them to sign their names. We want the kids in the Ethiopia Youth Soccer Ministry to know that real kids their own age collected these shoes and sent them half way around the world for them. In the "Kids' Cove" where our kids meet for Sunday School and Wednesday night services, we have an enlarged photograph of the kids in the Ethiopia Youth Soccer League. My hope is to take to those kids a picture of all the kids in our elementary program. I so want them to see each other's faces! How cool will it be for the Ethiopian kids to be able to connect a face with the name on the note in their shoes?!
My kids were excited to carry two big boxes, containing 50 pairs of shoes with socks and notes, into the "white house" where we have our weekly Ethiopia team meetings on Sunday evenings. Little by little, it comes together.
Which brings me to yesterday. I took Carlos to the pediatrician for his 9 year check-up after school yesterday. The boy is terrified of needles. I don't know how this happened or why. Neither his father nor I get squeamish at needles or blood or anything else really, and he's had no horrifying experiences with needles. But the last time Carlos really had to get any immunizations (maybe age 5?) he went completely beserk. He was kicking and screaming and flailing about the exam room. Fortunately, Dave was with me, because it took both of us to hold him down. He ended up kicking the nurse - with his gym shoes on. I was mortified. They marked his file. With the introduction of the flu mist, we were saved. A quick squirt up the nose each year has saved us the drama of the injection, so he has passed his yearly exams for a few years now without any incident.
However, remember that I wrote a few days ago that Carlos might need three vaccinations before our trip? For this trip, kids have to be vaccinated for Typhoid, Yellow Fever, and Hepatits A. Kidist got the Hep A when she came here 4 years ago. I couldn't remember if Carlos had received it or not. The doctor checked his chart yesterday, and sure enough, he hadn't gotten that one. Suddenly there was panic in his eyes - a shot?!!!! "Mom, I'm not supposed to get any more shots until I'm 11!!!" his voicing rising with fear. Dave was not with me this time. I explained that he had to have this shot for the trip. He started to panic, but I told him, flat out, "You cannot freak out on me this time. You have to sit here and take this shot like the big boy you are." I wasn't sure until the moment the needle hit his arm, but he did it. He let out a banshee scream that I'm sure terrified every child in every room down that hallway, but he sat there and took it.
I was proud of him. Rational or not, we all have our own fears. He had to face and conquer his right there on the spot. There are grown-ups who couldn't have pulled it together and sat there like he did. This trip is causing him pain and anxiety, and he's facing it with incredible courage and without bitterness and resentment. I am humbled watching him. I am grateful for God's Spirit within him.
By the way, I'm going to schedule him and Kiki for different days to get their last two vaccinations at the Travel Clinic. I'm afraid irrational fears are catching!
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