I am thankful for time with Sarah.
You may remember
Sarah, my special needs buddy, whom I spend Sunday mornings with while we navigate different Sunday School programs. Sarah is very tuned into nature and has shown me a lot in that area. This last Sunday was no exception.
After eating our fill of bacon and eggs with the youth group, we made our way to the other building for singing. Well, we almost made it to the other building. Along the way we found too many things to explore to leave time for singing. We noticed leaves that were just starting to change and a picnic table that was upside down. We saw big bugs and little bugs and the flowers that were still blooming. She also found "helicopters" (winged maple tree seeds). Instead of going inside to sing, we decided to stay outside at another picnic table and examine the things she had collected along the way.
 |
| A normal two winged seed group, and the unusual three winged |
And do you know what we found when we examined them? A triple seed group of maple seeds! They usually come in a pair. Sarah has been picking seeds and leaves from this tree for years, but we have never seen anything like this. In fact, I haven't seen triple seeds among the thousands of winged seeds I've seen over the years. I couldn't even find a reference to them on the internet. To say the least, I was excited.
 |
If you look really hard, on the back of Sarah's hand,
you can see the tiny insect we watched. |
I also got another lesson from Sarah
about slowing down and being in the moment. A very tiny green bug landed on her arm and she watched it for several minutes. She was careful with her arm movements, so she wouldn't disturb it. We watched as it crawled around her arm and she described the sensations she was feeling to me. When it was time for her to leave, she carefully transferred the bug to a leaf and left it in the grass where she found it. Quite frankly, I'm not sure that I would have even noticed the bug if she hadn't showed it to me. But with her coaching, we had a slow, calm, interesting few minutes of just being in the moment with the bug. Something I need to do more often.
So for getting to spend another morning with Sarah, I am thankful.
Lovely post and reminder and I was excited about the 3-seed find for you both!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that I took a picture of the triple seeds because the group was lost soon afterward. But it was pretty cool. :)
DeleteWhat a fun find with your 3-seed "helicopter" (that's what I called them when I was a kid). Sarah sounds like a joy to be around. Actually, I thought you were great at being "in the moment"--instead of going to the scheduled singing time, you took the time to do what was more meaningful to her. :)
ReplyDeleteI am spending more time than usual these days with my mind racing, so time with Sarah is always good for me. While Sarah has her challenges, she definitely brings something special to my time with her.
DeleteWe call maple seeds whirlies. I have never seen a triple seed either.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful that Sarah shared her gift of being present with you. In this hectic world we all need to take the time to watch a few more bugs!
I guess maybe I need to channel my inner child. I am just now remembering when I was little, I'd let ants crawl on my arm and spend a long time watching where they'd go. Japanese beetles provided the same kind of entertainment. As you very well know, people with special needs can often provide us with opportunities to visit our happy inner child. I'm glad that I get to do that with Sarah.
DeleteWonderful post and Sarah sounds like a lovely person. Slowing down and savoring the world is something all of us should do more of.
ReplyDeleteI hope you've had a chance to slow down recently and enjoy the moment. Circumstances recently have made that harder for you.
DeleteThank you for sharing your experiences with Sarah with us. I wish more of us are able to really be in the moment! We all have a lot to learn from Sarah. And you, too - you didn't hurry her along to sing, but rather, let her set the pace and focus on what interested her.
ReplyDeleteMore of us can be in the moment. I think it just takes being aware that we need to slow down sometimes and practice. At least for me anyway.
Delete