Full house

Older kiddos were home for spring break last week, so we had many siblings join us for CUMC's weekly indoor play area. All together, fifteen children showed up with their parents!

So much going on!

Not only the little ones are proud of their tall towers (this one was taller than me--we checked!):

Chutes and Ladders!

A new toy gifted to us by a participating family:

What great fun!

Secure Communities conversation April 5th

Are you concerned about cooperation between local police and Immigration?

Want to know more?

Come to a

Community conversation

about

Secure Communities

a program that would mean more communication between our jails and ICE

(US Immigration and Customs Enforcement )

Tuesday, April 5th, 6:30 p.m.

Cornelius United Methodist Church, 1095 S. Beech.

For more info: call Mira at 503-828-7444

For more background on and concerns about Secure Communities, click here.

Sweetness

I got to be the informal interpreter for two 3-yr-olds who do not speak each other's language but who were sweetly inseparable at CUMC's indoor play area this morning.

"He's asking if you want to play soccer." She nods, enthusiastically.

"She's offering you one of her crackers. He says 'No, thank you.'"

The two also worked together to roll up a smallish rug and return it to the storage area together and it was hard to not laugh out loud as they tried to walk the rug horizontally, one at each end, through the doorway without realizing that one of them would need to enter the door first.

The moms of these two sweeties each shared how excited they had been that morning to come play. One turned down an offer to go to the Children's Museum (wow! that's one of his favorite places) and the other looked outside at the pouring rain, and back at her mom's doubtful face, then said she was packing her little purple backpack because they had to go to (what she calls) "la escuelita de Mira" (Mira's little school).

On top of all that goodness, some of the moms asked about the Secure Communities program (which would facilitate cooperation between local law enforcement and immigration) and then shared with me what it's like for them and for their family members to live her without documents. I feel incredibly honored that they would be so honest with me, and also feel that it was a blessing for us to share deeply and walk together on the journey, attempting to take on a little bit of the burdens of others. And one of those moms wants to help me organize a community gathering where we can learn more about Secure Communities and strategize about how we can respond together. A bitter-sweetness, but a sweetness none-the-less.