Off The Ranch

One day a week, I get to leave the ranch and hang out with the kids at the Mission Lazarus school in San Marcos. And it's a blast! The last time I was there, Shanna, Seth, and I hitched a ride in the back of a fruit truck to San Marcos, which was pretty thrilling. We then proceeded to hang out at the school, where I got to help with the preschool kids all day. Yikes! What a crazy-fun bunch of niños! After going through their morning lessons, (in which the letter J that I colored got posted on the wall! Yes!), they had free time, which was free reign to do just about anything! So, some of their favorites that I experienced were the Sleeping Monster game (pretending you're asleep until the kids get really close to you and tug at your hair and your glasses and stuff and then waking up and growling and roaring and chasing after them) as well as picking them up with one arm and swinging them all through the air. Man, it's a blast! And they don't even care if you can barely speak a lick of Spanish; they just want you to pay attention to them and play with them. If only us "adults" could be the same way! Lunch time at the school is great, too, especially when you get to eat the divine chicken and rice on Fridays. And after lunch is recess, the crazy swing- and soccer-fest, packed with a million kids screaming "Dee-lan, Dee-lan. Mesa me!!!" It's great, too, because I look like I'm really good at soccer when playing against a bunch of four-, five-, and six-year-olds! Yes!! I love it! And, after sweating it out on the playground all afternoon, you can slip over to the ice cream shop and get a divine Giga caramel chocolate bar and feel like a lush!! The school is so much fun to be a part of, no matter what your main focus is as an intern. It is soooo amazing how God is using Mission Lazarus, in so many amazing ways, to reach the seemingly insurmountable needs of this corner of the world. ML serves these children and their families so well, and it is so evident in the kids' little faces how excited they are to be who they are in Christ. It's an amazing thing to see so much light in the midst of so much chaos. God's hand is here in so many ways!! The school is a flippin' sweet place to be; that's all that can be said.

-- Dylan Wann