Learning to walk

Yesterday, I got to go and talk to some homeless people around Copley. I don’t exactly know what I was expecting, but I am so glad I went. Ethan and I first met a lady, who’s name we still don’t know. But man did she have a lot to teach us. She was so open with us, talking about her husband who she hasn’t seen for a long time. She gave us life lessons, and I feel like I want to listen to her more because she has had so much experience in her life. She taught a lot, but one thing that stuck out to me was her advice to us to teach. This lady did not graduate from high school, but she loved school. She told us to not take our education for granted, because knowledge is what keeps this world going. So she not only told us to learn, but also to teach. She wants us to give back what we got. Since we’re lucky enough to get such an amazing education, we should pass our knowledge down to others. The last thing that she kept on saying was, “Go to the library.” It’s a place where everything in it, no matter how dumbed-down the world gets, stays knowledgable. 

Later, one of her friends, named Chris, came and joined us. His advice was to know what I want to do with my life. He told us that he went to U Penn, but racked up so much credit debt that he couldn’t afford to finish college. He told us about his favorite class, theater arts. So he told us to know what we want to do, and to have a purpose in life.

It hit me that he was just like us. Both Chris and the woman noted that they did not see it coming. They never thought that they would end up homeless when they were our age. It got me thinking. What if that happens to me? What if I end up just like them? I don’t see it coming, but it could happen. The woman was born and raised in Newton, and this was pretty much her home. As we sat at the park just outside the Boston Public Library, she told us that this was where she met her husband. Where was he now? Life can take so many different and unexpected turns, but I know that I have to put my trust in God. I need to accept whatever His plan is for me. If he wants me to end up homeless to share with others, then I have to be okay with it. Yesterday was really eye-opening, but God showed me a lot, even through two non-Christians who were suffering so much.