Through the Eyes of Children

As you know, we have been hosting Honduran retreat groups in our house on weekends. This weekend we had a group that has been coming for several years. One of the women that was attending the retreat brought her three young kids along. As I have the natural habit of befriending children, they were my buddies throughout the weekend. Basically, that means I had four boys following me around for three and a half days. They were some of the most adorable and sweet children I have ever met, which made me willing to let them use our games and watch movies.

I was particularly impressed by an eight year old boy named Daniel. One night, I was walking to my room and he was laying in a hammock. He said hi to me and asked me a question, so we started talking. He said, "tell me about your life." I asked him what he meant and he said he wanted to know all about my life in the United States and in Honduras. He was genuinely interested in my life, not just asking questions the way kids do. I told him all about my life in the states and he hung on every word and really tried to understand about snow, my big family, my job, etc. I seriously felt like I was talking to an adult. He even clarified what I was saying by saying, "oh, so you mean..." Those are listening skills that most adults don't even have.

I asked him what he wanted to be when he grows up and his answer was probably more well thought-out than most high schoolers. He told me he wanted to be an artist (the way he colored showed me he was a good artist). He said that is what he loves to do and he can't imagine doing anything else. However, he also said that he knows that he has to make money for his family so he will be a taxi driver too. But he will work for himself because the taxi drivers that work for the companies have to give some of their earnings to the boss. He will drive taxis in the day and paint at night and sell his paintings to different people. I mean, really. This kid has his whole life planned out and he is eight! I know that some kids have dreams about what their future will be like, but usually they are about being a movie star or professional athlete. This little boy's dream is actually realistic and given the way he carries himself, I think he will achieve it. At first I was kind of sad because I thought that part of a being a kid is having big dreams and believing that you can be anything you want to. However, when I thought about it, I realized that part of it has to do with what you consider being a successful person. In the US, many kids think that you have to be famous or rich to be successful and happy. But doing what you love and still being able to make money for your family is considered success in the eyes of this little boy, so in a way, this is a dream just as big as those of kids who want to be famous. The difference is that this little boy is much more likely to achieve his dream than those kids who dream of being famous. And I firmly believe that this little boy will be doing just what he dreams and I pray that achieving this dream which others may seem as simple will make him and his family very happy in the future. I also pray that we all learn a lesson from this little boy about what makes a person successful and happy.