Shedding tears

I made a grown boy cry today. I feel horrible. It started as an everyday confrontation - I was taking away his phone - the school's policy when a student has their phone out in class.

He was more reluctant that I expected - especially because this is one of my most stellar students - the kid that actually asks for homework and does everything possible to make me a happy teacher. He said he needs to call his parents during the day...

But dear student, unless there is an emergency, you can not do this. And he surrendered the phone  and apologized. But I could tell he was becoming increasingly  more upset.

Towards the end of class, some 40 minutes later, he was so upset that he left the room. And when he returned he was full out bawling. He wouldn't talk, or couldn't really because he was so upset. And I finally got him to say a single sentence.

Teacher, I no have parents.

And he lost it. I wanted to lose it too...the pain that was written on this boy's face. And I was confused - he said he needs to call his parents...is he calling to listen to a voice message? Maybe they are in Mexico while he is here. And when he returned to my room at the end of the day to get his phone, he clarified. No. No esta aqui - no esta alli - no esta. He lives with a guardian.

How hard this obviously is for him, I told him I can't begin to comprehend, and that I'm so sorry.

So I re-learned a valuable lesson today - how blessed I am to have parents that love me. And I remembered how infinitely blessed I am to have a Father in heaven that loves me. I want this child so desperately to know he is not alone. All of the students in my school need this message. I've seen that acutely these past two weeks, because you see, this is not the first grown boy to have cried in my classroom - it is the third.

The first cried because other boys are picking on him and he can't tell his family - he is living here with his uncle and his mother and father are in Congo. He is lonely. And he cried in my class and told me so.

The second cried because he had an earache and his eyes were searing but he has no healthcare. He is a refugee here and his family is past the 6 month period where the government provides refugee support. His father can't afford health coverage for all 8 people in his family. So he sat in my class and cried until I sent him to our school's free clinic.

In a world where boys try so hard to hold in their emotions, it has been heart wrenching to see three young men cry this week and last; a poignant reminder of how broken this world is.

Yet there is hope, and this is what sustains me.  

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

I promise my next blog will be a happier post. But for now, I rest and reflect, to remember yet another deep lesson I've learned from my students.