EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!
A
series of Tsunamis have completely devastated the infrastructure of the United
States of America. In an effort to
assist the country, other countries are willing to accept refugees.
My
children and I have barely survived the devastating events. What will do? Where will we go? Which country
will accept us? Permanent residents in another country, how will we survive?
Refugees, is that what we are now called? My mind is racing a million miles a
minute! I have been given the daunting task of packing one set of clothing for
each us. Additionally, I am able to take
only three small items with us. What we
take?
For
starters, we will take a bible. God has
given us his word to live and grow by.
We will use the Word to guide us through a daily devotional study. If allowed, we will share our faith. We will memorize scripture to teach and
comfort us when we think that we are unable to make it through this
catastrophe. We will use the teachings
of the disciples to teach us how to live, love and grow.
Secondly,
I will take a family portrait of us to help remember what was normal to
us. We will collectively reminisce of
the time we took the picture, where we were going and why we were going there. This is a picture of me and my twin
boys. We were about to go to church to
worship God. After the service, we went
to Chucky Cheese’s for an outing. Just a
regular Sunday filled with sharing and fun times—a sense of normalcy.
Finally,
we would take my boys’ favorite book “Five Little Monkey’s!” I read this book
so much to my boys when they were infants by the time they were able to speak;
they were reading it to me as my night time story. Now at four years old, they find high
frequency words in the book. Literacy
has been a part of their lives early.
As
we approach the border of the country—we cannot even identify where we are—we
overhear others saying that we cannot bring anything but our clothing and one
personal item. I panic! I hurriedly
prepare myself to leave everything but the picture but then I have lost it in
all of the rush. The reason I chose to
leave the other items are because I believe we have enough scripture in our
hearts for us to remain faithful to God.
Leaving the boys book would be okay to leave because we have memorized it
anyway.
From
this activity, I have learned that to be blessed with a loving family would be
all that I need to make a new start in a foreign land. Things are nice but things can always be
replaced. Our love for each other will help
us through the tough times and the good times.
Yolonda Honore'Houma, LA
Special Education Teacher,
2nd - 6th Grades
Yolanda, I think it is a good idea to take your little boy's favorive book. A piece of home that he will never forget and always has it in his posession to remind him of how the world and his family used to be.
ReplyDeleteThink about us, wouldn't we want to have a little piece of home with us abroad?
DeleteI love how you wrote this. And you are right, it really doesn't matter if you can't take these items because you have your family and that's all we need to feel safe, loved and happy.
ReplyDelete