Nothing Too Small

I think we all fall victim to thinking that in order to do something really meaningful, it has to be something big and grandiose to mean anything at all. If there's anything that the children of Glorious have taught me, it's that that couldn't be further from the truth. I think back to my first time I traveled to Tanzania, straight out of college tasked with teaching a group of restless 5 and 6 year olds. There were 12 students in my class and I hastily wrote out their names with a blue dry erase marker on 12 white pieces of paper that I used as name tags so I knew who my students were. At the end of the day, I picked up the name tags intending to throw them away and start again with a tidier and better written name tag for each child and was met with angry cries and sad faces. I had done something terribly wrong. I couldn't believe that taking away these now dirt covered and ripped pieces of paper, could stir up such heated emotions from these kids. I quickly changed gears and handed out the name tags to each of the children, and watched them happily skip and run home. I stood there trying to digest what had just happened. Emotions of surprise bewilderment, and sadness passed. These were kids that were going home with no toys to play with, no crayons and coloring books to entertain themselves, no TV. And I realized in that moment that I had just made their day. Our gestures don't have to be grandiose to make a difference. Even the little things we do can mean a whole lot. I didn't know that helping out these kids would turn into an organization that would ultimately help more and more kids just like these... but I knew I had to start somewhere. These children are worth it - every single last one of them. We have the unique opportunity to make a difference in our everyday lives, we can make a choice to wait until we have something big to give back, or take small steps each day to bring happiness to those around us. Even it it's just a tattered blue name tag, nothing is too small to be meaningful.

This is me teaching a group of 5 and 6 year olds that changed my life forever