“I really like the tia, (sounds like “CHEE as”) (“aunt” meaning Deanna)), and I really like the little tias (our girls), but who I really like is the tio pelada (pay LAD a)( (the bald headed uncle). He meant me.
Dedé, one of the moms who came to church Sunday night, was walking up the hill with a group of children. She overheard Adriano talking to his friends. This seems kind of odd to me, as Adriano is the first person I ever kicked out of church, and that was only two weeks ago. I have been asked by church authorities to please participate or please leave myself, many years ago, but this is the first time I remember requesting this of someone else. It is uncommon how often these things come around. To loosely quote Mel Gibson in The Patriot, “I have often been afraid that the sins of my youth will overtake me and I will not be able to bear it.” I think maybe Apostle Paul felt the same way at times.
Adriano lives in a broken home. He always is getting into trouble and bothering people. Right while I am preaching he will come to the front and start snapping his fingers. Two Sundays ago when Deanna preached he started acting up. I was kind of tired. I went up front, got Adriano and walked him out the door and up the hill to our gate. I told him we were here to hear from God. This was not the time for playing. He could not stay if he was not going to behave. He nodded calmly, thought about it a bit, and left. That was two weeks ago.
At this children’s conference he was exceptionally well behaved. He surprised everyone. Did I already mention this his home life is a disaster? Here is a photo of Adriano worshiping Jesus at the children’s conference.
Photos like this just make me weep. Good tears. Hopeful tears.
That is so precious. Just nicely and respectfully talking to them in love can be all they need sometimes; even if it is reinforcing a boundary. Maybe its a boundary that they have never had reinforced, or never done respectfully before.