"We see in the homies what they do not see in themselves... until they do." Father Boyle. I have kind of adopted his words as my teaching philosophy. After 12 trips to Biloxi, the juniors sometimes are not aware of their gifts or how they can impact those around them. They are wonderful, polite young women who do well academically, but it takes a little courage to step into the world. Especially when the world they step into, is just a step or two behind. That is what we are trying to do here, is to help, in any way possible, people gain a step. That might be all they need. Or they might need several people helping them along the way. So today, Meg and Claire were to go to the Micah Center and help the homeless. Maybe just to listen to a story or to give them a little dignity along the way.
We have so many wonderful people here, and the community they build brings young woman to their best. So my hope for Meg and Claire is that something happens down here that sparks their own gifts. And the path then takes care of itself, Meg and Claire can become a Mare or a Caroline who then strive to be a Maggie or a Hayley who then look to Sam and Megan as their role models. By the way I could have said they become Kylee or Devin who strive to be a Shelby. And the joy is that they lay on each other and braid hair like they have been friends for years. One of the secrets is that they learn hard work and the satisfaction of fixing broken things or taking a "paint brush and painting over doubt." Meg and Claire started the day with a great story. We went to the Waffle House on the beach. We were taking the beach road back home. We saw an elderly lady running down the beach trying to hail the public bus. We watched behind us as the bus drove right past the woman. This is Biloxi, so we turned around but I could not find a safe place to stop on the beach road. I finally found an inlet 100 yards down the road. Meg and Claire walked down the beach explained to the woman why we were here and offered to drive her to her destination. Gloria, our new friend, got into the front seat, Meg and Claire folder up her rolling case and we were on our way. We always thank God for our blessings, but he also gave the 3 of us this morning an opportunity to help--also a real gift.
Meg, Claire, and I came back to the Mission House and one of us tried to microwave a biscuit for 3 minutes. It kind of smoked up the kitchen, 5 hours later I can still smell it. But soon they were off to work, I visited their job site several times in the afternoon. They both were working hard, painting, climbing up and down ladders. God has given me the blessings of seeing young women become phenomenal adults. The selflessness of the people in this room is contagious, hard work is not a rarity, but a habit. Meg and Claire have only been here 2 days, but I am so proud of them.
I hope they see in themselves what we see in them. Sam and Megan have known Claire since she was two. I hope Meg and Claire see that they have the talent and the skills to be anything they want to be. And I hope when they find their paths, that they figure out a way to be in Biloxi at the beginning of the summer.
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