Things have gotten interesting in the past 24-hours. Yesterday I was seriously challenged by one of the kids here in what could have become a heated altercation as it involved shouting and cursing, but it was quickly quelled. Today started with a 2-3 hour mop-the-floor-my-way-or-doing-it over-again session. I had an unfair advantage though since I realized that he had no other options but to obey me. It was just a matter of giving more consequences until the only choice became clear to him. Later I gave my first assignment to the same student who broke his social restriction.

The highlight of the day had to be when one of the older boys thought it would be a delightfully fun thing to do to come up behind me and attempt to put me in a full nelson. It wasn’t. He ended up getting dropped in a matter of seconds on the tile floor with me riding him all the way down. All who witnessed the event grilled him for being so quickly dropped by someone with a gimpy knee. I didn’t maliciously slam him; it was just an instantaneous reflex. He shook it off and “pounded it” (hit the rock) to affirm good will between us. Less than two minutes later another poor soul, who did not witness his friend’s earlier misfortune, attempted a similar feat and met the same fate. He was then grilled by all who had seen me drop the last fellow a moment earlier.

I kind of wonder if things like this make me a legend or a target. I’d like to stick with the legend idea, but knowing these boys, anything is possible. Now here I sit in the office of the boy’s dorm wondering if there’s anything else I could wish for. I’ve got an awesome job, an even more awesome family, and an infinitely more awesome God.

This is the life.