Top Three Screams

I have accumulated many great 'Why is This Kid Screaming’ stories, but here are three favorites:

1.      A kindergartener, who I work one on one with every day often has trouble remembering my name. His mom told me that he prays for me every night, but after struggling, can only refer to me as “the girl”. I started asking and reminding him of my name every day. Finally, he came into the classroom, ran right up to me, and said, “hi”, and then as loud as he could…“auntie JENNNAAYYYY!!!!” His mom told me that the first thing he proudly proclaimed when he got home was…”I remembered the girl’s name today.”

2.      I do a little thing called “after school squeezes”, where I give each kid a hug after school. With a classroom full of mainly boys, I usually have to chase them down to fulfill the rule. I mentioned it one day when I was amongst a large group of kids, and while all the boys were scrambling around in circles, I heard a voice from the middle of the group scream, “I WOULD LIKE ONE!!!” I looked over and saw the youngest of the clan, a four year old (not even in school with us), standing in the center of the room with his arms squished by his sides, eyes squeezed closed, and chin up, ready to take on his hug.

3.      In church, because I don’t understand the language, my eyes often wander. This particular time, they latched onto a toddler who was in the back of the room, standing alone. I watched him wander down the aisle, looking down each row, and when he arrived right below the preaching pastor, he swiveled around, planted his feet, and screamed, “MAMAAAAA?!!?”.  Others quietly motioned to a corner of the room, where one voice reacted. Of course, I had to spend the next thirty minutes trying to distract my thoughts from the event, with my hand clasped over my mouth to stifle any escaping laughter.


Who woulda thought you could enjoy kids screaming?? The more I hang out with children, the more pumped I am that God wants me to be “humbled like a child“ (Matt. 18:4) so that I can
…rejoice in my small victories instead of  saying “took me long enough” and beating myself up the days I forget.
…proclaim at any random moment during my day, “I WOULD LIKE ONE, LORD!!!!!” and then stand there, not doing anything to deserve it, and receive a hug.
…be authentic enough to stop, look around, and admit not just to myself  but others around me, SHOOOOOOT!!!...I'm LOST. so I can get directed back to my Parent.



    (Me: “Why is it taking you so long to start journaling about ‘one sport you would like to be good at’?”
    Student: “I can’t think of one sport that I’m not already really amazing at!”
     …question is does God roll His eyes after we give Him a good laugh too?… )