{Stole my heart}

I have a million other posts ready to go, & a million more ideas as to what I want to share with you all, but right now, my heart is stuck on this: innocence.

Yesterday morning, my college cheer team put on a cheer clinic from 9 until noon. We had nearly 50 girls from York county show up to the clinic. & I feel absolutely in love with each of them. They came with big smiles, bright eyes, & eager attitudes, ready to learn & have a great time. They melted my heart as they worked on jumps, cartwheels, made pyramids, did lifts & stunts, learned cheers & when they worked on their routine.

I walked around to the stations with my camera and snapped some very sweet, innocent pictures of the girls genuinely enjoying themselves as they made new friends. Some of the girls' parents were staff members or teachers here at York. Others just came because of flyers we gave out to schools & stuck around the community.

Here's just a few pictures that I took, that are absolutely TO DIE for!

These girls all jumped together quickly at the chance for a photo opp! Such fun!

Brinkley was such a cute little girl! Loved working with her & teaching her cheers!

Coach Katie is squished between a bunch of cheer clinic cuties while they're waiting for the next station! Thanks for the great idea to do the clinic, Kate!

Calleigh Lones was really enjoying the poster painting portion of the day, & had a little help from Alaia! Her mom posted all over social media about how much fun Cal had at the clinic! So glad she got to join us!

Chloe came & volunteered her Saturday morning to help out in the crafts station to help the girls make hair ties!

Brinkley got a little messy while making her poster for the men's team to hold at the game.

Alaia helped walk the kindergarten group around to the stations. I think she really enjoyed being with all of these sweethearts.

Bre helped out Kensley, a girl who knows me from working at the restaurant, she was very excited to make her hair tie! 

Jakelynn didn't want to wear the pink shirt that I picked out for her, luckily all the girls in her group were wearing pink too. They're all pretty in pink! Perfect choice, Jake!

Tara's group of 2nd graders all loved the Huskers, good thing for her! But I think T enjoyed the cheer clinic than she would ever want to admit to anyone.

These two, Cammie & Brinkley, stole my heart right here. Brinkley was eating a granola bar that her dad gave her & she willingly offered Cammei the other half. It melted my heart to see the two of them sitting there chatting & chowing down on the bleachers.

Yesterday helped remind me how much I wish I could just be a kid again. But it also helped me to think of how blessed I was as a child. As you grow up, you realize & begin to notice things more than yo used to. Most of these girls came in yo the clinic only knowing a few girls, or none at all, & all left with at least one new friend. One little girl, clung onto my waist when Katie asked the girls at the end of the clinic  if they had made a new friend. She said I was her new friend. She grabbed my hand & brought me over to her mom & brother to introduce me as her new friend. It was so sweet.

Who remembers he time they lost their innocent & their pure heart? Or who remembers the first time they said a curse word, or told a lie. These girls are just living life. They're willing to take the hand of any familiar face because they don't see the danger or hurt in the world. Sure when growing up, you recognize what is going on, & you move out of the G rated version of real life & look into the eyes of the R rated world. It breaks my heart to know that there are children who grow up in a word like that. Thankfully, there is a God that watches over those children & a God who loves them even when they think that no one else does. It's a blessing to be little & to beloved.

I want to share part of a poem that I fell in love with by Ina Huges

"A Prayer For Children"

We pray for children who sneak popsicles before supper,

who erase holes in math workbooks,
who throw tantrums in grocery stores and pick at their food,
who like ghost stories,
who can never find their shoes.

And we pray for those who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire
who never go to the circus,
who can’t bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers,
who are born into places we wouldn’t want to be caught dead in,
who live in an X-rated world.

We pray for children who sleep with the dog and bury the goldfish
who bring us sticky kisses and handfuls of dandelions,
who get visits from the tooth fairy, who hug us in a furry
We pray for children who sleep with the dog and bury the goldfish
who bring us sticky kisses and handfuls of dandelions,
who get visits from the tooth fairy, who hug us in a furry and forget their lunch money.

I fell asleep last night, extremely tired, but with a smile on my face thinking about these precious little girls. I prayed thanking God for the chance to have been able to provide them with a fun, healthy activity. 

Here's a video of the little girl's dance that one of he "cheer" mom's video taped. Such fun & so precious! (Thanks, Mrs. Lones!)

My day was filled with love & joy. I think I gave a little bit of my heart to those little girls, but I'm okay with that. I needed to be filled with joy, & they all filled my cup, & it overflows.

Peace & love.

B.