Pink Flowers On My Wedding Day

    It has truly been such a blessing to be involved in what I am involved in.  I've been learning so much about teaching, working with young teens and kids and what I can do to help these kids grow.  But this week has been the the first time that I have realized just how serious all of this is and just how important it is to be doing what I am.  I had a glimpse, today, of the reality that these kids live in.  Many of them live in homes where several types of abuse are present and many are from broken families.  This project is a place where they receive safety, security, love, attention and care.

    I am seeing just how beautiful God has made these kids, just how beautiful their hearts are and how much they mean to God.  And it is so awesome to be a part of their beauty, to be a part of their blossoming.

    Last Friday, I helped out with the 7-10 year olds Portuguese grammar class.  As the kids are coloring pictures of birds and fishes and trying to spell the names of some of the many species, one boy (10 years) colored the one and only flower in the picture completely pink.  I've heard it's not very popular for males to appreciate pink in the area because of "machismo."  Machismo is somewhat the opposite of feminism.  One of the girls questioned why on earth he had colored the whole flower pink, of all colors!  She was even more astounded when he said that he liked pink flowers and wanted to have them at his wedding.  "I'll be the one paying for the wedding and I want pink flowers."

    You can't help but smile.  How many 10 year old boys say they want pink flowers at their wedding?  It really is a sweet, yet simple story.  But to me, I see something of beauty here.  God has given him a beautiful heart, and I could see it through something so simple.  The cool part of all of this is that these kids are like trees or flowers and we're here to sow and plant in their lives; to take their beauty and give them opportunities to cultivate it and become an even more beautiful person than they already are.