My Texas tour has wrapped up and my finals day are at my parents' house trying to recover from a month-long cold. You would think my "to-do" lists are getting shorter, but once I erase one thing, I have a new item to accomplish before I leave on Sunday. It has been super busy, but I have had such amazing time seeing people across the Lone Star state.
Many people to see and many places to go, but one of my favorite things is to spend time with kids. They make me laugh. I feel no pressure to be anyone, but myself around them. They are easy to impress as well. For example, my Houston-nite friend, teaches 5th grade and invited me to "Guest time" at her school. I was a little nervous, it being my first speaking engagement, but actually the kids did all the talking. "Have you touched an eyeball?" "A brain?" "Held a heart?" More hands flew up in the air every time I answered a "touched" question. "Have you gotten sick in the operating room?" Thankfully, God has given me the stomach to touch and see the human body transformed in the OR. The final question made my day, "Have you done surgery on an elephant?"
Last week, I helped my mom give finals at her school and then talked to some of her 6th graders about Africa. She has kept them updated on what I was doing this past year and showed pictures of baby Maomi before and after her surgery. Students clapped for me and said I was "too famous" to be visiting their school. I was there to help them with their finals, but they were more interested in hearing about Africa.
Finally, in Tyler I got to see some of my favorite boys: they are all under 1o years of age. I babysat the trio of brothers and they all grew up this past year I was gone. Besides height, they are much the same, making me laugh with their dinner time antics and finding dress up costumes so we can play ninjas. Our favorite place to go together was the zoo, so I had safari pictures to show them. After awhile, the six-year old asked to see my surgery pictures. Really? Then they wanted to play Operation, but we opted to play Madagascar to continue the Africa theme.
Thank you for teaching me to take time to smile. :)
4 comments:
aww...it saddens me that you are about to leave again...but I am so glad that you had such a great time while you were home. You are such a wonderful person and I am so blessed that I can call you my friend! :)
So, does this mean you haven't done surgery on an elephant? :) That is so cute. I love reading your blog, getting notes, hearing what you're up to. Always a joy to see what our grown-up Allison is doing! Love you to pieces.
Patti
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