She’s Learning to Read

I was brought to tears the other day during our reading lesson. It’s been about two weeks now. I’ve been teaching her to read. She finally has all her sounds down, recognizes all the letters and can write them all with tedious care. She is 44.

When she was just eight, her mother sent her off barefoot to work for a family with three small children. She earned Q8 ($1)/month. She bought her first pair of shoes with that money. But she suffered much. Her dad was extremely abusive to all her siblings and mother. He was hard working. But a drunk.  She was always always hungry. This same year, her dad died. There was no sorrow. In fact, they were all rather relieved.

Every lesson, I hear a new story of her life. There are few that make me smile. It’s been a hard hard life. But this day, I wept. She turned to me, looking deep into my sympathetic eyes and said, “Chico is a good good man. You have been blessed with a really good husband.” My bottom lip quivered and I couldn’t hold it back. Why is it that I am so fortunate to have found such a man as he? I just continued listening, distracted by her statement. She watches us. They all do. She sees how he treats me. She sees how I react. She sees how he treats our kids. Other people. He truly loves people. And it’s real. People are drawn to him for that reason. I was drawn to him for that reason when I was 17 years old.

I’ve known her for nearly three years now. She is dear to my heart. I long for her to know my Savior as I do. For her to see my Lord as a father. A father she never experienced. Someone who loves her personally without any expectations or demands. I want my life to reflect to her one who has that very father. Enough so that she will want him too. This is my daily prayer.