There and SPAC Again
So I started writing a new blog post about halfway through SPAC (which was about a month ago) and then never finished it...so I decided I would just publish it now and finish what I wanted to say in another blog post. :)
SPAC was awesome. SPAC was eye-opening. SPAC was hard. I definitely learned several things about myself and about my team members on SPAC. I also, and maybe even more importantly, learned that God loves ALL His children everywhere, and he uses tools, like the Spring Performing Arts Company, to express that love to His children.
One of my favorite things about SPAC was the reaction that we would recieve from the kids when we did some kind of intricate footwork or cool trick. Several times I heard "Whoa! That's a big circle!" or "That guy just got lifted in the air!" and I loved it! I loved how impressionable these kids were.
Another one of my favorite things was when we got to spend one-on-one time with the children, especially during warm-ups. At Riverton Elementary School, we happened to be warming up in the school gym when a class of special ed and disabled students were on their way out for P.E. We invited them (under the supervision of their teachers) to come warm up with us and maybe play a few games. I cannot tell you how incredible it was to interact with some of these kids and make them feel as if they were apart of our group. I ran around with a few boys named Josh, Tyler, and Nick. Now Nick LOVES to dance and he often took the opportunity during our warm-up to dance around and shake his little hips to the music that was playing in the background. I realized right then and there that even though these kids may not be able to dance very well (because of physical disabilities, etc.), they still wanted to express their enthusiasm for dancing. It was so inspiring and I felt that because of this, we completely dedicated our performance to them.
Afterward, I was blown away by how positive their reaction was. I even heard one little boy, Max, yell out, "That...was...AWESOME!". Another girl and boy, named Emma and Noah, came over to me and gave me two big, huge hugs. I truly feel that these boys and girls are some of God's choicest spirits.
Overall, the experience was fantastic and I felt that my team became so close, especially by the last week. I started out saying in my last blog post that the first week was kind of hectic because I was trying to get the hang of things, but by the second week, I felt like I knew the ropes by heart. I think by the third week it started to dawn on a few of us that we didn't have very much time left, so by the fourth week, everyone was feeling quite sentimental and was madly trying to take as many pictures as was humanly possible. (I'm not even kidding, more than half of my pictures from tour are just from the last week).
I wish I could express everything that I am feeling right now as I remember my experience on SPAC. I feel, though, that I just can't get out the right words to describe it perfectly. I guess I can take comfort in the fact that I am not alone in this feeling, and that 32 others are feeling the same way I do about our little adventure known as SPAC.
SPAC was awesome. SPAC was eye-opening. SPAC was hard. I definitely learned several things about myself and about my team members on SPAC. I also, and maybe even more importantly, learned that God loves ALL His children everywhere, and he uses tools, like the Spring Performing Arts Company, to express that love to His children.
One of my favorite things about SPAC was the reaction that we would recieve from the kids when we did some kind of intricate footwork or cool trick. Several times I heard "Whoa! That's a big circle!" or "That guy just got lifted in the air!" and I loved it! I loved how impressionable these kids were.
Another one of my favorite things was when we got to spend one-on-one time with the children, especially during warm-ups. At Riverton Elementary School, we happened to be warming up in the school gym when a class of special ed and disabled students were on their way out for P.E. We invited them (under the supervision of their teachers) to come warm up with us and maybe play a few games. I cannot tell you how incredible it was to interact with some of these kids and make them feel as if they were apart of our group. I ran around with a few boys named Josh, Tyler, and Nick. Now Nick LOVES to dance and he often took the opportunity during our warm-up to dance around and shake his little hips to the music that was playing in the background. I realized right then and there that even though these kids may not be able to dance very well (because of physical disabilities, etc.), they still wanted to express their enthusiasm for dancing. It was so inspiring and I felt that because of this, we completely dedicated our performance to them.
Afterward, I was blown away by how positive their reaction was. I even heard one little boy, Max, yell out, "That...was...AWESOME!". Another girl and boy, named Emma and Noah, came over to me and gave me two big, huge hugs. I truly feel that these boys and girls are some of God's choicest spirits.
Overall, the experience was fantastic and I felt that my team became so close, especially by the last week. I started out saying in my last blog post that the first week was kind of hectic because I was trying to get the hang of things, but by the second week, I felt like I knew the ropes by heart. I think by the third week it started to dawn on a few of us that we didn't have very much time left, so by the fourth week, everyone was feeling quite sentimental and was madly trying to take as many pictures as was humanly possible. (I'm not even kidding, more than half of my pictures from tour are just from the last week).
I wish I could express everything that I am feeling right now as I remember my experience on SPAC. I feel, though, that I just can't get out the right words to describe it perfectly. I guess I can take comfort in the fact that I am not alone in this feeling, and that 32 others are feeling the same way I do about our little adventure known as SPAC.
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