The Sacrifice of Service

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The Hickman family has been making a real effort to give time in service to others. Sometimes, they end up giving more than they planned. This past summer, Sarah, Dan, Luke, and Leah all worked in their church’s 3-year-old Sunday school class. One Sunday, three of them failed in body fluid management. During story time, one of the children sat on Dan’s lap for assistance and guidance in paying attention and sitting still. This student still wore Pull-Ups as a precaution, although Dan quickly realized that this safety net was being used as more than a precaution. This child had pushed his superabsorbent polymer to beyond its saturation point. The result? A soggy patch on Dan’s pants, just above his right knee. Later, Sarah was comforting a weeping little girl, holding her as she cried on her shoulder. Later, in the church service, Dan noticed that the tears on Sarah’s solid navy blouse had dried, depositing a dried film of snot. That same morning, Luke was proud to show off his medal of honor: smears of blood on his khaki shorts. Undaunted by their mutual contamination, Sarah continued in her role into the fall. She was the storytelling teacher, occasionally misunderstood by the wide-eyed toddlers. For example, a teacher in the second hour recently informed Sarah that, following Sarah’s lesson on John the Baptist, complete with visual aids that included desert flora, the children continued during the playtime to recount the adventures of the prophet in the wilderness known as “John the Cactus.” Note to be outdone, but absent from the body fluid super-Sunday because she was on a summer youth trip, Leah took her turn later that week. As a helper at the American Red Cross Safety Town for pre-kindergartners, Leah missed the announcement of the recent unplanned release and subsequent clean-up. Apparently, a child had sprung a wee-wee leak, which was cleaned and followed with a puddle of sanitizing fluid. Later, Leah entered the area and sat squarely in the puddle of sanitizer.