All the homeroom teachers being gone today when I showed up to teach English, makes for an eventful class.
Like I do every Thursday, we took hours to prepare the lesson before we leave at 11:30a, we traveled 2 hours attempting by bus, taxi, boat, tuk tuk and motorcycle, then finally arrived at the Thai governmental temple school. We teach there every week, usaully 2 classsrooms unless there is a random holiday or assembly planned right in the middle of the day that I usually find out about when I arrive (and this happens often!).
This is in one of the communities that our team, at ARK International, and I get a chance to work with each week.
It was organized chaos. No, in fact, there was so little organization I would heave to say, "chaotic chaos." In the middle of the lesson 1/2 the class got up and walked out.
With very limited Thai explanation...I was dumbfounded. I got another assistant teacher (after the fact) involved in the crisis, and she told them a thing or two that I missed becaue I was on the phone trying to arrange the four other people that were joining our team that afternoon. Trying to get them to the right bus stop to meet our team to join in helping us in this community. The helper apparently scolded them and when I came back in the room, they were very oddly very quiet.
The tricky part comes a little after. I found out 1/2 (of the 1/2 of the student) who left had to go to practice for their community games tomorrow and the other 1/2 were being cheeky in another room staring intensely at another child who was sitting on the floor crying with the things from his desks overturned. What do I do now?
But at the end of it all. We told a little story I think all of you might enjoy...
Here is that LOVE story...
A Love Story -- I want to tell you a LOVE story. Who likes love stories? This story is the story of one way to LOVE:
One day 20 yrs ago George moved into a new house. Since he loved to Garden he planted a small seed of one of His favorite trees just outside his back porch.
He decided to plant it at the edge of the yard, next to the fence, because he wanted to imagine seeing it everyday as he looked out if his kitchen window.
Everyday he would go out to water it, but the tree grew very slowly. George knew the flower would give beautiful flowers as it grew...because he knew the tree well and grown many like it...
And he watered.
And watered...
...and WATERED...but the tree grew so slowly that it began to frustrate George.
In fact, instead of bringing him joy everyday, George would look out his kitchen window and become more & more angry. George knew he was a good gardener, but “Why was this tree not producing any flowers or fruit?”
Finally, one day, after 10 yrs of watering and caring for the tree. George couldn’t take seeing the old brown trunk anymore.
He grabbed an axe and headed to the backyard. Just then George’s next door neighbor could see over the fence he shared with George. He could see George’s frustration and asked him: “What’s wrong?”
“I have been watering this tree for 10 years, George remarked angrily. “And NOTHING has grown from it!” “Not so much, even, as one flower...” As his speech began to trail off, He grabbed the axe and raised it up.
George’s neighbor, held up his hand to stop George, and said. “George before you do that please come with me.”
George, followed his neighbor into his neighbor’s yard. As he walked over, George realized that he had never taken time to even come visit his neighbors. He had been so busy.
As he entered his neighbors yard, his eyes WIDENED. There, along the fence that George & the neighbor shared together he saw the most incredible thing...
“The tree that you have been taking care of for so long has been blooming like this for 10 years,” The neighbor shared. “In my yard. I have been enjoying its beauty and your hard work. I didn’t realized”
George was so amazed at the gorgeous blooms but realized he had been so busy and concerned with trying to see fruit from the tree for himself, that he hadn’t taken any time to even come visit the people around him. He hadn’t realized the tree really had been giving incredible beauty and fruit in other people’s lives.
George asked his neighbor, “Can I come visit you more often?”
His neighbor smiled. “I never thought you’d ask. But promise me one thing,” the neighbor commented. “Never stop caring for your tree. We can sit out here and enjoy it together.”
“You got it,” George said. “I’ll never stop caring for it, even if I never see the beauty of it on my side of the fence.”
_______
This is a beautiful story of loving so much, loving but almost giving up. In this story there was a condition or an expectation to the loving care of George when he loved and cared for the tree. He expected something in return: for the tree to bear fruit, or in this case, flowers. For awhile George cared for the tree & loved it while it was young. Then over time, George began to get frustrated because there was this condition that he would see something beautiful, the tree would give something in return. GEORGE loved on Condition.
BUT now I want to tell you another LOVE story, yet this is a story about LOVE without any conditions...(to be continued after Nak Suu Next week)
Like I do every Thursday, we took hours to prepare the lesson before we leave at 11:30a, we traveled 2 hours attempting by bus, taxi, boat, tuk tuk and motorcycle, then finally arrived at the Thai governmental temple school. We teach there every week, usaully 2 classsrooms unless there is a random holiday or assembly planned right in the middle of the day that I usually find out about when I arrive (and this happens often!).
This is in one of the communities that our team, at ARK International, and I get a chance to work with each week.
It was organized chaos. No, in fact, there was so little organization I would heave to say, "chaotic chaos." In the middle of the lesson 1/2 the class got up and walked out.
With very limited Thai explanation...I was dumbfounded. I got another assistant teacher (after the fact) involved in the crisis, and she told them a thing or two that I missed becaue I was on the phone trying to arrange the four other people that were joining our team that afternoon. Trying to get them to the right bus stop to meet our team to join in helping us in this community. The helper apparently scolded them and when I came back in the room, they were very oddly very quiet.
The tricky part comes a little after. I found out 1/2 (of the 1/2 of the student) who left had to go to practice for their community games tomorrow and the other 1/2 were being cheeky in another room staring intensely at another child who was sitting on the floor crying with the things from his desks overturned. What do I do now?
But at the end of it all. We told a little story I think all of you might enjoy...
Here is that LOVE story...
A Love Story -- I want to tell you a LOVE story. Who likes love stories? This story is the story of one way to LOVE:
One day 20 yrs ago George moved into a new house. Since he loved to Garden he planted a small seed of one of His favorite trees just outside his back porch.
He decided to plant it at the edge of the yard, next to the fence, because he wanted to imagine seeing it everyday as he looked out if his kitchen window.
And watered...
...and WATERED...but the tree grew so slowly that it began to frustrate George.
In fact, instead of bringing him joy everyday, George would look out his kitchen window and become more & more angry. George knew he was a good gardener, but “Why was this tree not producing any flowers or fruit?”
He grabbed an axe and headed to the backyard. Just then George’s next door neighbor could see over the fence he shared with George. He could see George’s frustration and asked him: “What’s wrong?”
“I have been watering this tree for 10 years, George remarked angrily. “And NOTHING has grown from it!” “Not so much, even, as one flower...” As his speech began to trail off, He grabbed the axe and raised it up.
George’s neighbor, held up his hand to stop George, and said. “George before you do that please come with me.”
George, followed his neighbor into his neighbor’s yard. As he walked over, George realized that he had never taken time to even come visit his neighbors. He had been so busy.
As he entered his neighbors yard, his eyes WIDENED. There, along the fence that George & the neighbor shared together he saw the most incredible thing...
“The tree that you have been taking care of for so long has been blooming like this for 10 years,” The neighbor shared. “In my yard. I have been enjoying its beauty and your hard work. I didn’t realized”
George was so amazed at the gorgeous blooms but realized he had been so busy and concerned with trying to see fruit from the tree for himself, that he hadn’t taken any time to even come visit the people around him. He hadn’t realized the tree really had been giving incredible beauty and fruit in other people’s lives.
George asked his neighbor, “Can I come visit you more often?”
His neighbor smiled. “I never thought you’d ask. But promise me one thing,” the neighbor commented. “Never stop caring for your tree. We can sit out here and enjoy it together.”
“You got it,” George said. “I’ll never stop caring for it, even if I never see the beauty of it on my side of the fence.”
_______
This is a beautiful story of loving so much, loving but almost giving up. In this story there was a condition or an expectation to the loving care of George when he loved and cared for the tree. He expected something in return: for the tree to bear fruit, or in this case, flowers. For awhile George cared for the tree & loved it while it was young. Then over time, George began to get frustrated because there was this condition that he would see something beautiful, the tree would give something in return. GEORGE loved on Condition.
BUT now I want to tell you another LOVE story, yet this is a story about LOVE without any conditions...(to be continued after Nak Suu Next week)
Wow Amy, what a powerful story. God‘s wisdom is better than ours! Xx
ReplyDeleteThank you Cody! Every day I feel like I am understanding more and more what you mean. Keep aligning ourselves with truth! That's the safest and most life-giving place to be...plus the pleasure is unexplainable!
Delete