--after some bumps in the road as kids are learning to respect each other and be good to each other. This has been a hard learning in a group with such different ages and personalities. To each child, Matthew and I say, "don't use your words to put someone down, but instead to build them up." A common purpose in boat-building helps, as does the games that Matthew our game leader devises. There have been other bumps in the road--such as the flooding of the church basement in an intense thundershower on Monday. After I waded after our wood and tools, construction moved into the parish hall, where we share space with another program. As I write, more intense thunderstorms probably mean we won't be back in the basement the rest of this week.
Even the kids are sometimes surprised at what we've accomplished. Their friend Mr. Rumberger visited earlier in the week and kids clamored to lead him on a tour of our projects. Today, seeing a prototype boat on top of my car, a carpenter wondered whether he could build a boat, too. When he learned that the same boat was being built in the parish hall by kids, he went away determined to try it himself. I invited him to come back and look in on us later on.
Through it all, we use our balances,
we saw,
We sand,
We drive screws
(sometimes with care,
and sometimes mainly with enthusiasm)
We build our models,
And, of course, we play!
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