Homes and Dreams

I'm sure you thought that I probably typed the Post Title wrong.  It's supposed to be Hopes and Dreams, right?Nope.  Not today.  Today I'm very, very grateful for homes and dreams.

Lets start with Homes.

Today while I was teaching a voice lesson in my cozy house, a man came to the door asking for money to pay for a hotel for the night.  He went on for more than 5 minutes in this huge monologue about his daughter attending college and his 7, 4, and 2 year old kids.  He talked about how he used to teach Sunday School for the Christian church over a few streets.  He kept talking about how women are more Christian than men.  He kept saying how women understand the circumstance he's in because women have compassion on children.  He even cried real tears as he was giving us this speech.  Now, I have no idea if he was for real or not.  I don't know if this was all rehearsed and he does this every day and he actually lives in a house here in town.  Maybe he does.  But maybe he doesn't and even if he doesn't, it reminded me of how many people don't have homes.  Lots of people don't have a roof over their heads to keep the rain, that is currently falling, from soaking them through.  Lots of people don't have an extra pair of socks to keep their feet dry and warm.  Lots of people don't have a refrigerator to open up whenever they want.  Lots of people don't know what it feels like to be locked up in your house with the curtains drawn and a cozy blanket to snuggle up with.  So, whether Ron was for real or not, I'm grateful for today's reminder of how huge of a blessing having a home is.

Onto Dreams.  

Today I taught 3rd grade.  The teacher left about enough material to fill about an hour and I had the students for 3 hours.  There was a lot of improvisation going on.  Anyway, we read a story about Ron McNair who was one of the astronauts killed when the Chellenger space ship exploded.  In his youth, he had been refused by a librarian to check out a book because of the color of his skin.  He decided that day to work for his dreams.  He wanted to be a pilot, and a pilot he became.  He then, obviously, because an astronaut.  

So, the conversation went like this:

A: Ok class, lets close our eyes and think very hard about what our very biggest dream would be.  Once you've decided your very biggest dream I want you to make a plan of how to achieve that dream."

We then went around the class and each student stood up and told us their biggest dream and how they planned to achieve it.  Naturally we had lots of Professional Soccer Players and several Doctors.  One of the boys wants to be a Kindergarten Teacher and another student wants to fulfill her dreams by becoming a Vet.  Finally, it was Ailin's turn.  She stood up and said:

"My biggest dream is to become a cleaning lady like my mom."

Bless her little, sweet soul.  I hope she achieves that dream and many, many more.

So, I'm grateful for dreams and that I was encouraged to dream the wildest dreams.