john 3:30

its 11pm and i haven't packed yet for my trip tomorrow. johan and i are always very last minute, so this is no different from other trips we've taken. hehe. im making my mom's secret eggroll sauce for samsona & blong's youth group's fundraiser this weekend. since i'll be gone from friday-monday, i told samsona i'd make it tonite for them.

then i have to write a thank-you card for a professional contact i met this week, send a letter to my aunt, and write a check for rent. then after i've done these things, i have to pack. i'll probably pull an all-nighter and crash on the plane! haha.

today i felt incredibly humbled at work. i had an older client come in who couldn't read. i helped her sound out some sentences and gave her some tips on reading and writing. i encouraged her to take things slow and look at one word at a time. don't rush because she'll only harm herself and no one else by doing that. i even gave her homework to do and tried motivating her that she knows how to sound the words out, she just has to take her time. i rescheduled another appointment with her two weeks out to check on her progress. at a few points during the conversation i felt tears welling up in my eyes, but i fought the urge to cry...

when i told johan about it, he mentioned how we take things for granted, like a grade-school education. wow. let that statement sink in. some people come from countries where they've never had a chance to go to school as a child. i just felt so humbled and i just held so much hope for her deep inside. i want to see her succeed and feel proud of herself. when i volunteered at schools in high school and college, teachers would tell me that i would be a great teacher. i take that as a huge compliment! i hope that i can relay to people a confidence in themselves that they can't see.

today was truly a hectic day at work. i met with 5+ clients back-to-back and didn't eat lunch till 4pm. as hard as work is sometimes, i run into some amazing people. refugees and asylees who come from war-torn countries and have absolutely nothing. they can't read or write and if they learned, they learned in record time. they are parents who buried their children. they lost loved ones in the war. they have siblings they can't find.

this job humbles me. i pray it will make me a better person. as john 3:30 says: "He must increase, but I must decrease."

one of my clients offered to buy me lunch today. he said Christmas was coming up and wanted to thank me for my work. i thanked him and said his thank you was enough already. wat a kind gesture. this man has less than i do: he's not working and watches his kids, but i'll tell u his heart is bigger. as hectic as it was today, this job can be really rewarding sometimes.

-p