If as a kid you never spent the entire day on the trampoline with your friends let me apologize for two things. First Im sorry you never got this amazing childhood experience, second Im sorry that this post might not resinate as deep as those of us who have scars from trampoline burns still to this day.
When I was a kid my best friend down the road had a trampoline and we literally spent every day on it during the summer. Not only did we have fun but our friendship grew stronger and I would like to give that credit to our old pal the trampoline.
Never in a million years did I think that at age 21a trampoline would teach me how to grow friendships again, but again my old pal came to my rescue and showed me just how easy it is to bond with some one so different.
Above is a picture of some our new friends. Every Thursday we spend our afternoons playing on this trampoline with all of these beautiful kids. We laugh and joke, make monster noises, and do flips, and on crazy days there are even a few tears. These boys and girls have a fire for life that keeps things exciting. Each week is different in the since that you can never be to prepared to go out and play that Thursday, you never know what kind of mood kids will be in or even who is going to be home that day. Some afternoons we go on adventures, play soccer, or just sit in color. But it never fails that we will some how find our way to this trusty trampoline. I sometimes wonder how many little feet have bounced on the black service of this giant toy, or how many different voices its ears have heard. The two holes in its surface provide an accurate representation of just how much this worn out trampoline means to the ones who enjoy jumping on it daily. And just like the trampoline each child is special, each is different, and each has a story to tell.
Below is a video of a family that is near and dear to place we play each Thursday. They are a family of five children who through many trials and obstacles still maintain joy and innocence. At first glance you would notice that the place they live doesn't look like most of ours. If you talk to some of the other kids you would hear that their dad is out of the picture and that there are problems at home. Yet it never fails the mother of these five children donates an old bag of clothes, or a bag of toys and books, to our ministry each week.
This small act of giving reminds me of the story in the bible where the widow gives all the money she has even though she knows she will not have enough for the week. I love the trailer park because each week God is faithful in showing me the beauty of one of his children, young or old, in a way that I would never get to see anywhere else.
I am so thankful for this place, for the joy that is found in coloring, for the refueling that is found in the laughter of an 8 year old boy, and for the friendship that is found on a trampoline.
