Cute things Kids Say and Ask: Will He Fit and Will it Hurt?

Over the course of both my personal and professional life, I have had the priviledge of working with a lot of children. Anyone that has children or knows children, also knows they can say some really cute things and ask some hilarious questions!

For example, just recently, I was teaching one of my husband's classes a song, as a surprise for him, ( He was with another class) and one of the second graders said "Wow, Mrs. Manchester, it's really cool that you are married to Mr Manchester! Does that mean you are brother and sister?"

HILARIOUS!!!

A while back when the Twilight Saga became a big rage, I was in a school cafeteria setting and a student came up to me and said "Mrs. Manchester, you really look like a vampire!" Now, I think the kid meant this as some kind of compliment and I was ready to just roll with it. But another staff member overheard this and gave the kid a stern talking to. She even made the child write me an apology! When the child delivered the apology, she added on in a faint whisper right before she turned around to walk away, "But I actually really do think you look like a vampire! "

HILARIOUS!!

One of my earliest instances of getting comments about my appearance was also with a second grader. The child interrupted the whole class to say "Mrs. Manchester, it's hitting me that you look just like my momma." Again, I took it as a kind of compliment and just kind of nodded and smiled but all the while thinking to myself, "Hmm,I wonder how that's possible because I am Caucasian and this child is not ....So, the kid wasn't quite finished yet and added this last tidbit. "You look just like my momma because your teeth are almost as crooked as hers."

Wow! Thanks! :)

But one of my all time favorites was the night I was doing a devotional with my little sisters, and putting them to bed. I was telling them the salvation story and explaining that you can pray and ask Jesus to come into your heart. One of my sisters, laying quietly in her bed spoke up and said she was interested in doing it, but she just had two questions, "If I ask Jesus into my heart, will he fit? And will it hurt at all?

Super cute, right??

Well, thirteen years later I have a different answer to those questions than I gave back then.

Of course He'll fit...ha ha ha..., and no it won't hurt...trying to explain the abstract concept of a relationship with God....

But now, being older and wiser and I know a few more things about a relationship with God and this knowledge has drastically changed my views.

Does God really fit into me?? NO WAY! Just in part...there's nothing in this world that can contain Him! And at my brightest moments, I reflect only a mere glimpse of his goodness....at my worst, I block others from seeing him and being able to know him.... So No, he doesn't fit....even just trying to connect with God in my humanness is stretching and pulling and changing me....in ways I didn't even know I needed to be stretched and pulled and changed...

And Further, the way of Jesus is the way of the Cross. The way of the Cross is suffering....and so if you really start following Jesus, you will start finding yourself in some painful situations.

You might find yourself in the slums picking up your first adopted child.

You might find yourself in the hospital room with a girlfriend who has just lost ANOTHER baby for seemingly no reason.

You might find yourself giving up your six figure job to move overseas and work with street kids who have no place to call home.

You might find yourself letting go of ladder climbing type social engagements that cost you a promotion so you can serve meals to the homeless....

Because these are places Jesus would probably go.

So much of my christian life has been spent trying to get OUT of painful situations, and thinking, wrongly so , that God's ultimate plan was to get to me to the place where suffering was in the distant past...and it's only been in the past year or so that I am really starting to get this concept of becoming like Christ in his suffering.

While I wait for the day when I get to hear my own daughters cute little quips and qoutes about life...I am reflecting on and thankful for the kids from my past that God has used to help me understand some of the deeper mysteries of the faith.

So, does he fit? Not really.....

Does it hurt? Definately....

But is it worth it? ( A new question I ask myself sometimes..) TOTALLY.

Pizza and Ice cream. An anniversary to remember.

Today was our last working day in Zimbabwe and it was also our anniversary. Eight adventurous years together.

And yes, after our time in Ethiopia we headed down south to Zimbabwe for a mission trip with an organization that cares for orphans and HIV positive communities in both urban and rural Zimbabwe.

We wanted to do something memorable today and we also wanted to keep working with the kids we had come to serve, so we decided to throw a pizza party for the teens from two different orphanages in the greater Harare region.

But, After seeing all the needs that exist with and for the kids, we weren't sure if it made any sense to spend a sizable amount of USD on pizza.... So we went back and forth about it.

One of the homes was mostly teenage boys who farm and weld and do hair cuts for income. These boys had a clean, decent smelling home ( which is a feat for males in my book) are doing well in school, but they faced some serious challenges. One was the fact that they only have water one day a week at the moment. They have resourcefully been storing water though as their group leader noted " water is life you know"

Very good point.

The other challenge is that they are out of power and need funds to restore it.

So again back to the question of , "does it make sense to throw these boys a pizza party or just buy them some bottled water and pay their electric bill?"

The organization staff that we were working with, at multiple levels , encouraged us that the pizza party was a great idea and we would have no way to understand what an impact it would have on the kids lives to get to be in the city and experience something of this nature.

So that's how it got started.

The kids from the other home, we had never met, so we were unsure whether or not the whole experience would be good or have flow etc. Would we have anything interesting to talk about?

Well, we have noticed since arriving on this continent that a lot of people talk about future plans. So that's where I started .

I was amazed and excited about their answers to my question of "what is your future plan?" In the group were hopeful lawyers, a journalist, a musician , a doctor, an architect, a pilot and I could go on!

These kids were so easy to talk to and so hopeful. When I asked them what their favorite food was they all said " pizza!" good answer since that's what we were having. :)

The conversations got a little more serious as time went on and we talked about life in general and favorite scriptures.

EVERY single teen quoted me a different scripture that when spoken juxtaposed against their stories of suffering , brought me to tears.

Since I am a professional counselor I am trained to be objective and refrain from taking on peoples problems.... But I'll tell you what , I desperately wanted to take on ALL of these kids problems.

I wish I could connect every single child with a mom and dad or even a mom or a dad who would solely care for and provide for their every need.

I wanted to scoop each one of them up, even though they are teenagers , and just hug them and let them cry until there are no tears left......

But obviously that would be weird...

So I didn't!

But we DID extend our lunch a little further beyond the pizza gallery because we had miscalculated the number of kids and had extra cash.

We decided to get some Ice cream for everyone. It's sounds like not a big deal but it really was. It was like Christmas! We bought cones and sprinkles and had a great time making jokes about licking the cones as only teenagers can do!

And then one teen said " This is a day to remember forever!"

Wow. Just pizza and ice cream? A day to remember forever?

But when you are coming from a place of survival , days like today ARE something to remember.

And for me too, I want to remember today forever. And I want to top it!

On the spur of the moment I decided I would help look for sponsors for these teens. So this is where you come in blog readers.

This group is not affiliated with world vision or compassion international, though They would love to be . And they have tried to connect. But the need is so vast not every kid gets the opportunity to be " marketed" that way.

So I let each of the kids take their own pictures and type in their names into my phone so i could report back to you all of their needs and maybe connect some to sponsors.

The fee is 35 a month and we are working on an efficient way to get funds back and forth. Five primary school children are already being supported by our church small group members which is great! But I also want these teens to have a chance to reach their goals.

When we are back In the states I will be checking emails and can try to connect you if you desire to help. Even just 35 a month for six months or a year. . It would dramatically impact these children .

Look forward to the posts with pictures, names and future plans.

Start thinking and praying about whether or not you have room in your budget for some " pizza and ice cream".

- Jeanette

farmgirl139@aol.com

Or Facebook message me at

Jeanette Manchester

Better Than Breakfast

Better Than Breakfast!

We were on our way to breakfast this morning, an exciting event for Bill especially as we were headed to an Ethiopian chain coffee shop, when we were interrupted in a big way.

Less than a minute into the trek , our driver received a call from Lemlem, the in-country representative that we were actually due at court at 9:00. We had been told 2:00 and were bracing our selves for a long wait without food, hence the splurge for breakfast.

We promptly turned around in the middle of the road and headed for the high court building.

We had both been somewhat emotional up to this point and this change of events , though welcomed, added a bit to the emotional overload.

However, we had nothing to fear or stress about. Court was fast and easy !! Almost miraculously so compared to what we had been expecting.

After a years worth of paper chasing, details that would make the most organized cringe and the ongoing ups and downs of not knowing whether or not this adoption would succeed, we were finally in front of the high court judge after waiting less than five minutes!

She asked us a few simple questions like:

Will you love these children as your own?

" yes!"

Have you spent time with these girls?

"yes"

Do they like you?

"uh we hope so, your honor!" ( smiles)

Will you learn about Ethiopian culture and share it with the girls, as it will be very important to them?

" yes"

Have you taken courses on international adoption?

" yes!

Do you understand that if finalized today there will be no reversing this decision?

"yes".

Ok then , we are finalizing the adoption of Kumnager and Kalkidan today. Congratulations.

Tears.

Smiles.

Hugs from Lemlem.

So If I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't change a thing about today. For we legally became the parents of

Kumnager and Kalkidan Manchester and that is most certainly better than breakfast.