Trips, Teeth and Toots

We had a really good trip to Arlington. I LOVE PRE-TEENS. They are so much fun and still care what you think. (Is it wrong that my new best friend is a 12-year-old? Seriously, we bonded. I'll just pretend I'm her mentor.) It was really fun being back in TX again--brought back a lot of good memories.

Two noteworthy things about the mission trip: I was really stretched on this trip and I've decided I'm not going on any more. No, but seriously, let's talk about the "stretching" part first. Anyone who's ever played Scruples with me knows that me and the "special" folks don't really get along. Amanda, you know. My heart hasn't really been bent to their plight in a tangible, let-me-get-my-hands-dirty sort of way and I've had some crazy (and scary!) run-ins with them before. Well, for our afternoon VBS, I could see Dasani coming a mile away. First thing I noticed was he wasn't holding his hands right and then, when he got closer, I saw him drooling. Who did he hone in on? Me. If I was ever concerned, I knew that I was definitely going to heaven after letting him pull me around the playground for 2 hours and feeling his drool spill over onto my hand. The second day, he was already waiting for us on the playground in the Texas heat. He found me again and, honestly, I was really dreading another afternoon with him. He was a total animal lover and knew where every inside cat liked to perch or where every dog had their crate. We even spent about 30 minutes stalking a friendly squirrel. I decided to take the opportunity, knowing full well that while he may not be able to comprehend the full lesson we were teaching, I could get him to remember that God loves Dasani and God made Dasani. If you've seen "Up" you'll understand why that wasn't the best time to start introducing those thoughts. "Who loves Dasani?" "Squirrel!" "Who made Dasani?" "Squirrel!" :) Every day, I spoke his "language" a little better; learned what he liked and didn't like, heck, even the last day I pulled his baggy shorts up off the ground when they dropped three times. Awkward and hilarious! But, you know what he finally remembered that last day when I asked? God loves Dasani and God made him, too. I learned so much from him and really stretched as a person. Thank you, God for using Sani to change my stupid heart. And, about me not going any more, I'm definitely considering it because while my heart is good, I seem to make at least one mortal enemy on every mission trip I go on and I don't know if it's worth it anymore. It takes someone with the patience of Job (or Brent) to live in tight quarters with me for a week--no matter how nice and relaxed I think I'm being. (Let me just clarify one thing though: To the kids, there is no one cooler than Ms. Corrie.) :)

Sad story: Beatle got a bad ear infection while in Oklahoma. I felt a little helpless being 3 hours away and no car to get to her. Honestly, I'd rather it be her than Birdie just because she could communicate with the grandparents what was going on. But, she's already feeling better so I'm glad.

Tonight, I play the role of a life time...THE TOOTH FAIRY! Yes, Dr. Lance pulled her baby tooth and it wasn't as terrifying as she had anticipated. The second pic was taken right after it was pulled so it's still a little bloody (also, I got some good video footage that would rival David)...

She thanked me after her prayers tonight because she said that I made the day special. Do you hear that??? It's the sound of my heart warming. Cheesy, I know. Oh, also, if anyone needs a good gift for a girl this age, look for "The Tooth Fairy Tale" at Hallmark. It's such a cute book and comes with a little pillow to put the tooth in.

I'm going out with this story: We are smack-dab in between camps so I had nothing for us to eat this morning. I threw some prunes and graham crackers at Beatle before we left to go work out. We were talking about prunes and reminisced about how they made her just absolutely rip toots at our friends' Amanda and TJ's house when we visited. I was mortified. She was concerned it would happen while she was at the gym but then we talked about how it takes a few hours for them to fully get through her system. "Well, that can just be my alarm clock for the afternoon then."