You Take the Good, You Take the Bad…

If you’ve ever worked with kids, or had kids, or spent any time with kids you know that they can be super sweet, or uhh not. When you spend any significant amount of time with the same kids you learn their patterns, good or bad. Today in Segundo Paso I shared with the kids about Thanksgiving and why we celebrate it in the US. I then asked them to share some of the things they were thankful for… learning, my little brother, my nephew, learning about God, chocolate, etc… When I shared the stories I did it with a couple of pictures that I colored and then let them know that they would have the opportunity to color their own picture a little later after they finished their homework (if they don’t bring their own we give them some to do).

One girl, who is normally very sweet, came up to me and said she wanted to color, I asked her if she had done her homework and she said she had. When I asked her to show it to me she kinda looked around a little, I told her she had to do homework before coloring. A little while later she came to me with a completed math homework sheet, but I recognized it as the homework of another girl so I called her out on it and told her she had to do her own. She ended up not completing any homework, nor did she get to color. A sad day for this girl, although when it came time to leave she said she was going to stay at the church with me and hugged me, so she must not have been too upset with me.

Another young girl who is always a handful came to me and asked for a picture. I told her that she had to do homework first, she put up a little fight and when I repeated the conditions she said “okay” and did a homework page quickly and then came to me to get her picture to color. This girl has learned how to manage her behavior a little through coming to Segundo Paso. It’s been a long road with her, and there’s still much to learn but I’m continually encouraged to have patience with her and continue to encourage her to improve despite her difficulties (which, unfortunately, are many).

It’s not always easy to have patience with the kids, but it’s always worth it. Here are a couple pictures of some of the kids that come to Segundo Paso. Next week we’ll be having a celebration with the kids and one select member of their family as we give certificates of completion, book-bags with school supplies, and certificates of achievement to the kids. It’s been 7 months of learning and growing and frustration and joy with Segundo Paso. I can’t wait until we can start again next year and make it bigger and better!!