The impact of stories

My heart is so heavy for the kids that I have the opportunity to work with on a daily basis. I continue to learn more of their stories each day I'm with them. They are so broken. They come from broken homes. They have low self-esteem. They are told they won't go anywhere, that they won't ever be smart. I often get frustrated that they aren't working or that they are saying certain things, and then I take a step back. When I start to learn their stories it makes so much more sense. They don't want to do their work because their parents have told them they will never be smart. They are disrespectful to me because whatever it is that happens at home, they think everyone is out to get them. They mess up in the first hour of school and so they think that the rest of their day is going to be bad, they don't understand second chances. This is what I deal with every day and every day my patience is tested, and yet my heart is broken. These children are all precious, yet most of them are being told the complete opposite of that. I wrestle with feeling like I can't do anything to change these kids circumstances, but am learning that my job is just to teach and love them as best I can for the 30 minutes a day they are with me. I might not be able to rescue them from their homes, but I can offer them patience, grace, consistency, encouragement, and optimism for the short time I am with them. As hard as this is some days I am so thankful that God chose me, also a broken human, to be a part of these lives.  

It makes me sad to think that after this school year I will be leaving that building and the kids that I have gotten to know over the year, but their faces and stories have impacted me and will forever be ones that I remember. It just reminds me of how we are each loved by our Heavenly Father, me included, which is not something I have always been able to believe.