I Will Praise You In This Storm

Last day of work in Helena today. Have I mentioned I don't want to go home? I'm gonna say it again: I do not want to leave. Unfortunately, that isn't really an option so I will instead enjoy my last weekend in Helena. Anyway, for the past 5 weeks, one of the interns has been training a swim team and we all went to Memphis today to do a meet at a YMCA. First we brought the kids to an Incredible Pizza with a huge buffet and all kinds of arcade games. They all disappeared as soon as we set them free, but I would randomly see a kid running by with a smile on his or her face so I think it worked out just fine. When we got ready to go, another intern and I put our tickets together with one of the children and ended up with over 780 tickets! It's strange how thrilled I would have been with that when I was child, but now it just makes me laugh.

Anyway, once we got all the kids rounded up we headed out to the Y for the meet. There was so much energy in the air and so many children! We got through one boys and one girls freestyle relay and won first in both of them! Unfortunately, after that, a storm began so we were sent it to wait it out. As we waited we prayed together and on our own, hoping for a chance to continue the meet. After the required half hour passed we gathered around the pool again and the storm began again. All the kids were really disappointed, but the song "Praise You in this Storm" kept popping in my head so I decided to accept and encourage the kids to celebrate the fun they had had thus far and be happy for what they had accomplished. I'm not saying it worked, but I really did try.

Overall it was an amazing day, and I'm glad I got to chance to just hang out with the kids all day long and help treat them to a day where they got to do things that wouldn't typically get to do. Perhaps it's better that we need to do a mini-meet in Helena now since we may be able to get more community involvement, or at least from parents. This was a wonderful end to my summer, even if I don't want it to be the end.