Going Anyway

If You Had Won

Sunday, April 30

As an English teacher, I feel like I don't write enough, and people tell me I should blog, so I am going to try it for one month.

By one month, I mean this will probably last a day.

I'll start off by giving the short story of my life: I am a 27-year-old, raising my sister's daughter because my sister robbed a bank.

Oh, and we are moving to Iowa in a month because the schools there are amazing compared to the ones here in Alabama. I can say that because I grew up here.

I am also a YouTuber. English, the life of a teacher, and the life of a single uncle/parent are the main focuses of my videos.

Anyway, I guess I should probably blog about something specific today or y'all are gonna get bored.

This morning, I taught Sunday School. For a trust activity, I divided the kids into teams and made each of them pour water into a teammate's mouth. The goal was to spill the least amount of water between the two teams. I have a little treasure box I keep at the church for the kids, and the winning team got to choose little prizes.

Ava's team won, and Ava picked out a blue squishy elephant that goes on top of a pencil. She has had some other squishy animal things, but I haven't seen these toys in awhile, so I was kind of confused why she chose something she has kinda grown out of.

At the end of the class, she put her hand on a boy's shoulder and looked at him. "I know you want this." She handed him the elephant. This boy's partner had spilled water down his front. So much for a lesson about trust, right? Also, kids usually stay away from this boy because he carries an odor, and I'm sure he has lice. "I know you love elephants, and if you had won, you would've wanted this." I could tell Ava was completely out of her comfort zone.

The boy gave her a weak smile, seeming almost embarrassed to be noticed. He looked down at the elephant, red faced. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Have a great week."

He could barely look at her as he walked out of the room.

Everyone else was gone at this point, and it was just Ava and I.

When we got to the truck, I asked, "What inspired you to give TJ the elephant? I could tell it meant a lot."

"People are so mean to him at school and Patrick totally spilled the water on purpose. I mean, I had to prove to TJ he can still trust God, and there are people on his side."

I hadn't started the truck yet. "Did you get that elephant for him originally?"

"Yeah, I did." She gave a sad smile. "But I really wanted that pink pencil grip."

"I think that elephant means more to him than a pink pencil grip for you."

"I know."

I know what it's like to be that boy on the playground who hid in the slide because I had no friends, and I think that's why I can't stop thinking about what she did today. I remembered when someone went out of their way to stand up for me. I don't trust many people, but I am able to trust a few people because those few people still proved to me they still cared.