Saturday, January 09, 2016

Seeing Beyond Ourselves

Do you have family goals?  One of our goals as a family is for our children to see beyond themselves to the needs of others near and far. Part of this goal is recognizing how people are all born into different situations and to be aware that not everyone has the same opportunities.


Some of the ways that we do that locally are: support the food bank, being a foster family, and trying to be kind to everyone we meet. In regards to recognizing needs of others internationally, we sponsor a girl in Guatemala through Compassion, we financially support missionaries, we travel to other countries, and we talk with our kids about what life is like around the world.



Every Friday is pizza and movie night in our home. This week, we decided to watch "On the Way to School"with the boys. This documentary on Netflix follows four children from various parts of the world on their journey to school; it shares the obstacles in getting there safely while dealing with great distances – one girl had to travel 22 km! Kai, our nine-year-old, is a great age for this documentary as he can easily read the subtitles. They found it fascinating to see how the children washed their uniforms, the meals they ate, the homes they lived in, and the great lengths they travelled. Although it is slow-paced, I thought it was a great way to give our kids a glimpse into the value that is put on education (and how fortunate they are to have a 10-minute car ride to school!)The boys asked great questions as we were discussing it while watching.



Gary and I have both taught overseas; he was in Korea and I was in Kenya. Both of these experiences have opened our eyes and we hope that our own children will have be able to volunteer or work internationally as well. I have seen how far children need to walk, the sacrifices their parents need to make, and how difficult it is for the kids to learn with few resources. Above all that, I have seen just how important the hope of an education is.


If you have other Netflix movies or activities in your community that you'd recommend to teach our children more about the world around them, I'd love to hear your suggestions!

Love,
Louise

(**I love Netflix.  I do have some perks being part of the #StreamTeam but these opinions are my own and I'd write about Netflix anyway!**)

3 comments:

  1. I love that the girl you sponsor is in Guatemala :)

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    1. I think of your and Edwin every time I write to her!

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  2. You actually inspired me to chat with Noah last week about our sponsored child! Thanks Louise :)

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