Looking at Rainbows: THAT kid

House of Faith runs a sports camp every year. A week long camp of sports, bible lessons, memory verses and sweat! This summer all the kids participate in the sport of their choice for the first half of the day then after the bible lesson, huddle group time and some water they split up into classes they get to sign up for. There is games, golf, hip hop dance, and, thanks to yours truly, gymnastics! Now let me explain this process.... I load mats of various sizes and purposes, a mini tramp, a small beam and various other pieces of equipment into a small bus and sit in a puddle of sweat as I drive over to Glenn Jr High and unload everything and set it up in the girls gym.

Now, even though I am no longer very involved with HOF it is still very close to my heart and I love the kids they are aiming to reach. Namely "that kid." That kid is the one I spotted the first day. He didn't want to do anything I asked including taking off his shoes and socks. He was the one that had to prove that HE didn't have to do what I said. The one that instigated all the other boys goofing off but then acted "cool" and not goofy like the rest of them. THAT kid is the one who had to prove he was tough and no one could tell him what to do. As far as disciplining goes he seemed to be my hardest/slash worst kid in the group but ultimately that merely depends on how you choose to view "that kid."

I seem to always fall for THAT kid. That's the one I want to reach. To crack through the defenses they have built around their hearts just a little bit. To keep my word when I set boundaries and to show them that they deserve respect as a person.

Anyway back to that kid a little later in the post. As I got to the gym today Logan walked up and I asked him to help me unload some mats to which he responded "on one condition.... if I help can I play on the trampoline" I laughed and said "Sure!"

Well here is a small example of what he meant by "play on the trampoline" and believe me this is just a taste of what he decided to try!

And this.... He invented all sorts of ways to crash onto the mats but these were all I caught on video.

I even got involved in the fun and discovered that I still have some of the old skills left...

So back to THAT kid. Well he signed up for gymnastics the first two days and fought the rules the whole time. He was pretty athletic and I knew he secretly enjoyed all the skills I was asking them to try. As I was driving to Glenn today I was thinking about him and sorta had a bet with myself that he was going to be back today. Yesterday right as we were finishing I had asked all the kids to come off the mats and go to the other side of the gym. Well he didn't and tried one more flip on a mat just to show me he could. I knew letting it slide would be going back on my word and ultimately disrespecting him by not requiring him to adhere to the standards I had set. I asked him to go sit against the wall. I could tell by the way he looked that he knew he had done wrong. He knew he was caught and he looked kinda shocked that I backed up my word. It seemed almost like he was testing me. Is she really going to make me sit out if I try a flip? Will she keep her word? Does she actually care about me enough to enforce the standards she set? Before I started the class I told the kids that there were two main rules. No flips and do what I ask you to. I told them them that there would be no warnings with these rules. Gymnastics is dangerous and so I wasn't going to give them three warnings or something like that. They flip and they're done. So when he did that last flip and I made him sit against the wall he knew that I was only sticking to what I had said I would do. Anyway back to today.... I was explaining what we were going to do today to the kids and that kid wasn't in the group. As I'm explaining Rachel walks up to me and that kid is beside her. She says "Kelli I know you're already a little over 20 kids but (we'll just call him Pablo) Pablo really wants to do gymnastics again today if that's ok. He promises he will listen and do what you tell him to" Well of course I let him come! He stood there looking rather sheepish like he couldn't believe he was allowing himself to be so vulnerable and actually showed that he cared about something but he really cared so much he just had to ask to come. I said of course he could and kinda shook his shoulders and told him he better behave and got him to laugh a little bit!

Pablo asking to come to gymnastics today was a huge victory in my eyes and he honestly did great! There are several other boys like him in that group and all of them keep coming back! They all did awesome today and I told them that if they worked hard I would let them flip! Well man you would have thought I hung the moon the way they got excited about that! One of the boys another kid kinda like Pablo yells "Come on everyone we have to work hard!" haha Pablo did better today than he has all week and yet he still seems to feel the need to test the boundaries. Today was a victory though! I cracked the shell just a little bit into his heart and gained the right to be heard in his life. That makes me so excited! Several other of the wilder boys let me in a little as well. One of the crazier ones worked really hard today for me compared to the first day. As we were finishing I noticed that he waited until everyone else had walked off then came up to me and asked "Hey miss, I did good today right?" It touched my heart! He was looking for someone to affirm him, to let him know that he can be somebody or something! And honestly he had done awesome that day, both in gymnastics itself and in how hard he worked and listened! It gave me great pleasure to look him in the eye and tell him "Yes you did awesome today! I am really proud of you!" and watch as his eyes light up as he ran back to his friends!

As I am not involved in HOF much anymore it was so good to stop and invest in something bigger than myself. To pour some life into some kids who need affirmation! Having the opportunity to use gymnastics as a channel into the hearts and lives of "that kid"s makes it even better! Here are some pictures of the kids today!

Teaching a cartwheel