I wanted to share something with you that was a huge encouragement to me. I hope it will be to you as well.
As you know, 10 years ago our family hosted a girl from Korea while she attended our school. Last Wednesday she came back and visited us. We had such a precious time with her back in our home. As some of you have experienced, often these kids that we "adopt" head out from our homes after graduation, seemingly never looking back. The world is their oyster, and they are hardly in a grateful or reflective time of their life. You might rarely hear from your student for a few years. Sometimes these young people don't know how to reconnect after they have let much time pass, and/or they may feel embarrassed if their college/career path doesn't go as they had planned. A host family is left to wonder, "did we make a difference?", " Was it worth it?"
I cannot tell you how sweet it was to welcome this lovely 27 year old woman (!) back into our home. It warmed my heart to see her join in as if she were just another sister/daughter. We sat around the table laughing and reminiscing about those years she had been with us. Later she sat on her old bed with my girls sharing pictures and stories. And when I dropped her off she gave me a beautiful heartfelt letter she had written to me. She was full of gratitude and very reflective of the impact we had on her life. As my youngest said "it was like having a big sister come back home."
In a nutshell: we did make a difference, and it was worth it. So as we gear up for another year I just want to thank you (past HFs) and encourage you (current HFs). Keep making those connections and building those memories, you ARE making a difference.
