Tuesday evening one of my students came for her last class. I arranged with her to finish the work she needed to before she returns to her home country. She is a bright gentle spirited young woman who came here to study English while on break from her university in her home country.
She brought joy into the classroom and all of the students adore her. We had fun joking about how we are the same age of 20 years old even though I have a white beard and definitely look old.
Her bright cheery smile and personality hid a pain she carries in her heart. She confided in me that her father had died a few years ago. She was born here when her father was a graduate student here, so she is a U.S. citizen. We talked about what she would need to do to bring her mom and sisters here. She carries a big burden on her small shoulders.
As I prayed Tuesday morning, I prayed about what I should say to her in her last class with me.I felt led to tell her something that evening. Tuesday evening I set aside time towards the end of the class period for the students to say goodbye to her and take pictures. After most of them left, I asked her to come up to the front where I was. She came up and I looked into her eyes and said,
“I am so very proud of you”
She welled up with tears and had to walk away. One of the women she sits with gave her a hug. After she cried for a bit, she was able to smile her bright smile again and thanked me.
Sometimes we get so caught up in trying to come up with the big thing to do that we can overlook the power in simple small things such as sharing a few words of encouragement.
Thank you for reading. God Bless.
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