Thursday, July 12, 2007

Tell me how it is

The week of 7/5-7/12

Wow I am tired. Believe it or not, I walked Kenyan ground for three weeks and I had not yet played football. I consider this an amazing feat especially considering I am a PE instructor. That changed this week. After school the lower primary students get out before the upper. (lower primary = classes 1,2,and 3.) Thus they go out to the field a play a legit soccer game. If it makes it sound like I was playing against third graders, that was not the case. The class three students would destroy third graders any day of the week and then send them crying to their moms. Plus these kids may be as old as 17 but most are 13 or so. So I am not a fish out water flopping on the land. I have three things on them strength, speed, and intimidation. Intimidation is a valuable asset. I don’t think I have ever had that advantage before. I found out I have a canon of a leg. However the accuracy is not quite there. The past two days I have scored a goal. ( I am not going to count the ones I scored during PE.) My favorite part is penalty kicks. I loved looking at their faces before I kick. Fear and competitive spirit. These things fuel athletes to be great.

I love it because I got hundreds of kids at my disposal to play sports with except for during duties. Everyday they have chores and during that time they take away all the sports equipment. This my friends is the saddest time of day.

I got to see to today how I am a blessing to the staff. Today I had six PE classes which is equivalent to about a 70: 1 student teacher ratio. It was bordering chaos every moment. The tidal wave crashed on my head and I just waited for it to take me away. This is what he has everyday, so you can see having an extra instructor is a huge boost.

I guess I cannot complain about having class three ever again. 30:1 is manageable.

The school is preparing for the Olympics. The event should be really exciting and tiring at the same time.

Food for thought:

When I returned from Cuba I saw I was living in excess. This happens to most all that visit people living well below the poverty line. Seeing people living on next to nothing lead me to question the lifestyle of Americans. First of all, how do you cut back but how do you give the cut back amount. The sensation that I was living richly has not hit me in Kenya. I think it is because I already learned the lesson. This statement seems cocky but read on. I do not deserve to be wealthy, go to a university, be born in America but I was. It does one no good to feel guilty because it this way. Believe me, many of them find more joy than we do. Accept this fact; everything that is your has been given to you by God. Now it is your responsibility to deal with it responsibly. So I have a couple points to live by

Steward your blessings wisely

Cherish blessing don't put a death grip on them

Don’t look down on those with less material wealth

Let your life speak louder than your money

It is okay to have fun in life and to own things that cause enjoyment but make sure you can exhibit self-control when it comes to spending money.


Still clouds cover the glorious sky

4 comments:

Aaron said...

Excellent post Daniel, especially the closing section. Well said.

Bill Robertson said...

Hi Daniel:
With all that P.E. you will come home a man of iron. But the last part reveals a man with a soul for God. We American Christians have been so richly blessed. 'To whom much is given, much will be required.' It haunts me. I keep struggling with it. Keep safe and healthy. Blessings with your week.

sunnysuzi said...

I want to see pictures!

Unknown said...

Daniel:

It's John Guertin. I like your observations in the Your Food for Thought section. I would add one other observation about where God puts you "in your station in life".

Give away what you have to others as the Lord leads. Even when there is a cost higher than what we feel comfortable with. He wants us to be a blessing to others, this is where theology becomes very pracitcal, Abraham was promised to be a blessing to all peoples if Abraham chose to follow God's direction. He did. We are a part of that convenant. Both a fullfillment and a continuation of into the 21st century. Pretty cool!

What is also very clear is even when Abraham screwed up (many times falling back on his own fears and schemes) he kept coming back to God and growing in faith.

You are being a blessing to the folks who run the ministry now by giving them additional bandwidth to reach kids for Christ. I bet you are an answer to prayer. Praise God for that fact! Be open to those future stations in life that are yet to seen. This is true for all who call Jesus Lord!