Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Reality Check

I work with a student intensively that has very little English. He is from Guatemala and originally spoke an Indian dialect. Between his broken Spanish/English and my poor Spanish we manage to communicate.
Today I brought a globe into the class and was talking with him about where Guatemala was and where Indiana was. He told me he had walked from Guatemala to Indiana. Frankly, I thought it was a speaking error, but he was adamant.
After talking with the pastor who also works with him, I found that he did travel from Guatemala to Texas on foot. Part of this trip was through the desert. He is 10 years old! When he got to Texas someone paid for him to fly to Indiana.
I was humbled. Here is a mom and son that so wanted to be here, that they walked near a thousand miles through harsh terrain. Here is a boy on his third language, in a new place, struggling to succeed in school, that is so sweet and puts forth so much effort.
Though our family has had their fair share of struggles lately, it is nothing compared to this little boy's! The next time I feel like whining, I will give my self a reality check and think of this little boy's story.

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