Tiny Hands
His name was J. J wasn’t quite sure about me when I first sat down on the couch across from him. He wore a bright blue shirt with a stretched out colar that you could tell had been passed down from an older sibling. He was so excited to learn about the different feelings and emotions that we all feel everyday. As we learned about each one… happy, sad, mad, hot, cold, scared, excited… J followed along with cartoons on the videos and acted out each one… smiley face, sad face, mad face, cold face, hot. He was actually a better actor than the ones who voiced the cartoons we were watching!
After our lesson, it was time to go have some fun so we headed over to the dining room table to decorate sugar cookies. These would be no ordinary cookies though. We were going to decorate them like emojis! Like the new kid in school during lunch time, I tried to pick my seat at the table. I noticed there was an empty seat next to J so I asked him if I could sit beside him. He nervously gave me permission. It took J a minute to work up the nerve to ask me the same question that causes some adults to shake in their boots. In his tiny and innocent voice he asked, “can you help me?”, and my heart skipped a beat! Of course I could!
J and I Googled pictures of emojis and we laughed at each one we saw. He decided he wanted to decorate his cookie to look like the super cool sunglasses emoji and I decided to keep it simple since I’m not very artistic and I chose the heart eyes emoji. We sat together and decorated our cookies and when we were done, we tasted our creation and smiled at each other. Suddenly, we were the emojis that we had just chosen as the inspirations for our cookies.
After cookie decorating time, we played games together and put together puzzles. As our time together ended, I was cleaning up the game pieces when I felt the tiniest little hands tap me on the side. I looked down and there was J with his hands outstretched and ready for a hug!
Be still my heart!!!
These are the type of moments that I have come to cherish with each passing Chicktime. Three years of doing this and those hugs NEVER get old! They bless me more than anyone could ever understand… unless you’ve experienced them, too, that is. Chicktime Montgomery serves at Mary Ellen’s Hearth. MEH residents begin to have hope again because they are being provided opportunities for them to learn and develop the skills necessary to live a life of independence. At Chicktime, we have the blessing of spending time with the children who are currently living in the home while mom learns job skills that she will use to provide for her family. Our time with them is precious and we would love to share the blessing of these tiny little hugs with you!
If you feel called to serve your the hurting children of our community, contact Lynnette or Abbie today and let us welcome you to Chicktime Montgomery!