posted by Jessica Lynette on Family, Missions

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I took my Littles {who adamantly proclaim they are NOT little!} to Niagara Falls on our way home after visiting my parents. Such beauty should be admired, even if the admirers are only 2 and 3. And even if said admirers appreciate yellow school buses more than the magnificence of the Falls. I am sure, tucked down somewhere deep inside they are suppressing the urge to say;

“Thanks mommy for taking the time to lug us out of our cozy car seats, make us walk a 2 mile round trip to see the Falls in order to save the $20 parking prices and for not buying us the over priced food we so urgently desired. You rock!”

Even if they never thank me for that. Even if they never care that they got to see the beauty of the Falls. Even if their little feet ached after walking so far. I am so grateful for the timing of our trip to Niagara Falls.

While we stood near the Falls a group of 5 Korean women surrounded us. 4 of them were fresh off the plane and spoke no English. The 5th one could speak a few words of English.

These women swooned over the boys. They touched their hair. They hugged them. They kissed them. And then they repeated the process. Over and over again my boys were gently poked. Their “personal space” was invaded. Their hair was marveled over and the curls were tugged. And literally hundreds of photographs were taken of them.

They both looked at me, bewildered at such treatment and confused as to what they should do. It was so un-North American. And to be honest, it was overwhelming for me, and I wasn’t even the one they were showering the attention on!

I smiled at my boys and told them it was OK, these ladies were excited to see them. I told them these ladies loved them and wanted to be friends with them. I explained that these ladies were from another country, far, far away – like Nigeria was far, far away. Only that these ladies were from a country called Korea. I told them that they likely hadn’t seen little white boys with curls and that these ladies were admiring the beautiful creation God had made.

My boys made me proud – They hugged the ladies. They told them their names. They attempted to  say “Hi” and “I love you” in their language. They tried telling them that they wanted ice cream from the nearby man.

The boys stayed close by me – always touching me. They were most certainly baffled at the abundant attention. And confused that the ladies could not understand them. But, with me right by their side, they embraced the very different culture and loved those ladies despite the fact that they were uncomfortable.

I have thought a lot about the incident since last weekend. Specifically in relation to our upcoming trip to Nigeria. I have had these lingering thoughts ever since we decided that the three of us would embark on this adventure in November;

How will my boys react to being in Nigeria as the only white children?

And how do I protect them from being overwhelmed by overly affectionate and curious people?

The one incident with the Korean ladies made me realize something – I shouldn’t worry about making sure my children are comfortable.

My children need to be loved. And they need to be kept safe. But within the confines of love and safety they do not need to be comfortable.

We want to leave our children with the legacy of stepping out of their comfort zone.

We should all be pushing and challenging ourselves to step outside our comfort zones. To love new people. To serve others.

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Tags: children, family, mom moment, Nigeria, thoughts