Jesusluvsall's Blog

Thursday afternoon, I went to the elementary school where I teach English for moms who have children at the school. My class finished last Friday, but there was something important yesterday. There was a 5th Grade promotion ceremony. I went to congratulate children of my moms and other kids I often see in the halls. It seems obvious to me that we live in a day and age that children need blessings from us.

I think of Jesus when he blessed the children. His disciples tried to stop the children from coming to him thinking Jesus was too busy and important to be bothered with kids. But Jesus told them not to stop the children from coming to him and then he proceeded to bless them.

The school where I teach is in a low-income neighborhood and each year about 50% of the kids are ELL students, English Language Learners. The kids are aware of the negativity expressed by some about refugees and immigrants. The kids are also aware of how their parents sacrifice for them. I remember how it felt for me when my parents didn’t bother to show up for my 6th Grade or my 9th Grade promotion, so I went to show up for the kids I know.

I pray for the kids and each morning during the school year I say a quick hi in the hallway to the kids and stop and wish some of them a good day in school. A few of them I know well because their moms are my students, which has led to some interesting conversations.

One such conversation was with Brian the son of one of my moms. He saw me in the school and asked me, “Are you a teacher?” I told him yes, so his next question was, “What kind of teacher are you?” I explained that I teach moms English in the school, so his next question was, “Is my mom in your class?” I asked him who his mom is and he told me, Alicia. I told him that she is in my class and then he asked me a question I will always remember, “Is my mom doing good in your class?”

One girl Ro’aa came here as a refugee with her parents three years ago. Her aunt was in my class at the time and Ro’aa would stop and greet me in the hall every day. Sometimes she would stop at the door of my classroom to say hi. She is a sweet kid. I know her family and when I see her at special events we take a selfie and I send it to her older brother. a soon to be college student, who I am friends with on facebook.

These are just two examples of my mornings as I interact with the kids before my class. With all of the negativity some of them hear about in the media, and all of the dark things in our culture that would pull them down or pull them in a wrong direction, I feel it is important to bless children as they start their day. They need to know they are valued.

One thing I love to do is encourage the kids to be proud of their culture and first language. With the Hispanic children I like to say, “Yo pienso que es muy bueno tu puedes hablar ingles y espanol.”- I think it is very good that you can speak English and Spanish.

I have found that when I bless children, it is actually me who ends up being blessed because to see them smile is worth everything with the way the world is these days. To see Ro’aa smile, who was so shy at first because of being a new refugee, is priceless. To see Brian smile when I tell him each week that his mom is a good student makes my day.

How else can we bless children? I would love to see ideas shared.