I meant to post this before I left for Volos, but was so rushed that somehow I saved it rather than posting it. It's a bit outdated now, but here you go anyways:
As usual, we traveled into Athens Thursday evening to throw the children's festival. The only thing different this time was that Ron and Deborah, our mentors, stayed behind to have dinner with the pastor and his wife. Before leaving, I got the community center key (where the festival supplies are stored) from Ron and immediately threw it in my backpack which I bring with me every week into the city. As we were walking out the door an hour later, I decided, for whatever reason, that I didn't need my backpack this week, forgetting that the key was inside. I realized as we were standing in front of the community center that I had left the key at the Bible school. The festival lasts two hours and it’s an hour and half travel time each way, so going back to get the key was a moot point. I felt terrible, but my team responded graciously. Regardless, we headed to the park, wondering how we were going to entertain these kids.
At the park, anxious children swarmed us requesting face painting and balloon sculptures. I felt awful that I had disappointed the kids. Attempting to make it up to them, I suggested that we play some games. With a severe language barrier, it was very interesting and somewhat awkward explaining games, but they eventually caught on. Caroline, Emily, and I spent the next two hours racing around the park playing freeze tag, hide and seek, red rover, and red light/green light. The kids were thrilled and tirelessly begged us to continue playing again tomorrow.
After all of those nights of face painting, I bonded more with the kids that night than I ever have. I was so thankful that God redeemed the situation and gave me the opportunity to love those children in a way I wouldn't have experienced had I remembered the key. It was a good reminder that God is always working for the good of his children!
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