SOOOOO I just got back yesterday evening from a WOOONDERFUL AMAZING trip to NYC. To rewind a little, I spent the last year living in Queens and working at Mercy Center in the Mott Haven section of the South Bronx. Mott Haven is one of the poorest congressional district in the nation and is home to many immigrants, mainly hispanic, both legal and illegal. I worked with the local children mainly running an after school program for children from 1st grade through 8th grade. I was so sad when I had to leave because I made some true connections not only with the children, but also with their parents and the other staff and friends I made in NYC. I sure did learn a lot from spending a year here and one really important lesson that I learned was how you may touch someones life by something so ordinary. It is amazing to me the things that touch peoples lives without you realizing it. This was discussed at church today and it is so true.
There is a little boy (Benjy) who was too young last year to join us in most of our youth programs. Throughout the year I only had very little contact with him, however towards the end of the year we went on a weekend retreat with about 8 families who participate at Mercy Center. His family was on this retreat. Last year Benjy was in pre-k, he has two older sisters, one who is in 4th grade now and the other is a junior in high-school. Well this family weekend that we had, I must have really done something that impressed this little 5 year old because for the rest of the year anytime he came to Mercy Center he would get so excited to see me. Well then I left and you figure that they will just forget about you…. nope that is not the case at all. I ran into his mother when I arrived at Mercy Center a week and a half ago and one of the first things that she told me was that Benjy was asking for me and when I was coming back. I would have expected this from the sister in 4th grade, but not from him. I was so touched that he would remember me. All week he came in and every day he would run over and give me a big hug and would be so excited to see me. At the end of the week, his whole family thanked me for letting Benjy have the opportunity to come to camp this year and that it made such a huge impact on him. (you see he still is a little young because we open it to 1st–8th graders but since I knew he was a good kid I let him come). To think that the simple words “of course Benjy can come to camp” would have such a profound impact not only on his life but on the whole family…. wow really puts my life into perspective to not take ANYTHING for granted.
God sure does work in some wonderful and mysterious ways to teach us things and I feel so blessed that God was right there by my side this week helping me to continue to grow. I am so blessed and I feel that even though I am still young I have learned many important lessons in life and I am excited to continue this processes of growing and changing.
Just thought I would share a little of what I had been doing since I left.
