Jesusluvsall's Blog

I hadn’t planned on posting today because with my evening classes finishing up last night, it feels like time to relax, unwind and just be for a day. But I had a wonderful conversation with a young woman from Iran that got my mind to kick in, so here we go.

My young friend is from Iran and from a minority group that did not have rights because they are not part of the majority group religion. She came here three years ago speaking little English. She worked hard in high school, graduated and now is in college. That in itself is impressive considering she is studying in her 3rd language.

I know her parents, grandparents, sister, and  brother. In a way I feel her family is family for me. I have helped a few times to study for her Spanish class, her 4th language, and we talk about college. I already admired her before today, but watching her today gave me even more respect for her.

She needed to get a financial aid situation taken care of with the school. I offered to go with her, but she was hesitant. Then she called to check if she should make an appointment. She had the phone on speaker, so I could hear the other end of the conversation. She was able to get the problem taken care of. I listened as she took care of the problem. She handled it perfectly with the right amount of assertiveness while also showing respect to the person she was talking with.

When she finished her phone conversation, I told her how proud I am of her. I told her she handled it well and that I believe she can handle things well and if she ever needs my help to let me know.

This scenario today is a good example of how I have learned to step back and empower but not try to enable people to stay dependent on me. Empowering others means to help them have the ability to handle things without me, to teach them how to handle things or offer advice, but to step back and let them handle it.

The only person we should ever be totally dependent on is God. Yet God empowers us. There are so many wonderful examples of Jesus teaching and training his followers to empower them.

At the end of our time together, I shared with my young friend that I am proud of her and admire her for the person she is. I encouraged her to never let anyone take her power away from her and reminded her that she has rights here. I told her that I hope she continues to be the confident young woman she is, and will be a confident woman all her life. I also shared with her that if she ever needed me, just let me know.

I am not sure how many others will read this today, but I am writing for small audience, my young friend and her mom.  My young friend knows who she is, so let me say again- I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!!!