I am in love with 7 South African children.

6 of whom are able to walk.

5 pairs of hands I can now hold at one time.

4 is the number of times Lee ran out of the classroom today with me chasing after him, and also the number of students who are able to speak.

3 different languages are spoken in my classroom: English, Afrikaans, and Xhosa.

2 precious girls are my favorites. Shhh, don’t tell!

1 God I thank every single day for my life.

Today, as I was on the playground with my teacher, we were helping the kids on the playground. Not something they get to play on every day since they all need so much help and attention.

We helped them climb up to the slide and also coaxed them to come down, walked on the balance beam, and attempted monkey bars, all while fending off Lee from hitting all the other children.

There is one girl, so close to my heart, who has a much harder time walking and getting around than most of the other children. She had already fallen down quite a few times as everyone else ran around. I saw her starting to cry on the ground in the sand as I walked over to her. Normally, Yolanda doesn’t answer my questions or respond coherently at all, but that doesn’t mean I would ever stop talking to her and asking her all the same questions I’d ask anyone else. So, I picked her up and wrapped her up in my arms.

“Yolanda, baby girl, you can do everything just as well as everybody else. You hear me?”

“Yes teacher.”

I am in love.

I am in love with them every morning and every night. I love them through the drool, the coughs, the boogers, the pooped pants. I love them through the blank stares and screams. I love them when they hit me and when they hug me. I love them when they paint my shirt instead of the paper. I love them whether you call them special, challenged, disabled, handicapped, or anything else they have been labeled.

I love them just the way God created them.