We're Going to the Zoo

This past Friday, Amanda's class (actually, the whole second grade) went to the zoo for a field trip. Parents were needed as chaperons, so Brooke and I volunteered. Brooke volunteered because she really gets into the super mom thing at school. I volunteered because I was "supposed to". Well, what I mean is, I want Amanda to know she is important to me, and she wanted me to go. Plus, I know there are a lot of kids at the school who do not have a positive male role model, so I knew I "should" go. In case you haven't figured it out, I'm not all that into kids (except my own!).

I came back Friday afternoon knowing why I was "supposed" to go...knowing why the Lord wanted me to go on this field trip. Brooke and I were assigned five boys and three girls while at the zoo (pictures below). On the way there, one little boy broke my heart telling me how many times he had moved and how he now lived with his grandparents. He was afraid of moving again because he said he would then be put up for adoption. His mother's past boyfriends had abused him and his siblings, so they no longer lived with her. If it didn't work out with his grandparents, he would be put up for adoption. Like I said, I am not into kids, but all I kept thinking was "no kid deserves this". We hit it off and he seemed comfortable talking to me. He kept holding my hand as we walked through the zoo.

Another boy told Brooke he lived with his mom and grandmother because his Dad was in jail. He obviously needed a positive role model in his life, too. By the time we got home, I was ready to get off the school bus packed with noisy kids and my stomach was a bit queasy from the long, bumpy bus ride, but my heart was touched. Sure am glad I did what I was "supposed to" do. I felt like I got to be a little bit of Jesus in a couple kids' lives.

Amanda and two friends

Our "gang" for the day

The gang with a Komodo Dragon

Mrs. Hurt and the Posse