1 + 6 +31 = ?

? = sweet, beautiful chaos

1 movie (monsters & aliens in 3D at Great Escape) plus 6 adults (and I use that term loosely) plus 31 Hands of Hope kids was an interesting adventure yesterday.

I expected poor kids from the projects to be a little awed by a movie at a theatre on a big screen, especially in 3D. Which really means I expected them to sit and be quiet and "good".

They weren't.

They wanted more popcorn and something to drink and to sit in a different seat and beside someone else and to go to the bathroom and get a drink of water and they talked over the movie and.................

This in one difference I notice in these kids compared to the poor in Ecuador and Peru. Here in the United States we seem to all be born with an innate desire to get more for numero uno, ourselves. The kids in Ecuador and Peru are incredibly generous. Yes, these observations are oversimplified generalizations, but there is truth therein.

One thing I notice the Hands of Hope kids have in common with South American kids: I love them deeply. They are loud and obnoxious and somewhat ungrateful and incredibly beautiful and made in the image of God.

I got a kick out of helping D'marco navigate the sink and automatic electric hand dryers in the restroom. He had no idea how to get soap out of that stainless steel arm hanging over the sink. It was neat watching him figure out the dryer. He pushed it on all sides until figuring out it came on automatically as he put his hands under it.

There were two dryers.

He ran back and forth between them trying to keep them both running at the same time.

I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else yesterday.