Brown muscles pulling, leading the way . . . a young lad adding encouragement and strength as they pass tables, making their way up a slope of steps.

“Dis?” Comes the query of the curly-haired, young man as he aims for the wall.

“No, over there, by the wall.” Laughter. “No . . . the other wall.”

“Wall?” queries the young man placing his hand on it as understanding dawns in my son’s eyes.

“THIS is a wall,” he affirms, and two boys grin at each other.

“WALL. See, I learn English, too.”

THIS, this understanding and working together and crossing cultural divides . . . this is what I am thankful for each year we host an international student.

My son, who thinks one day he might be a missionary, is learning now in a safe way how hard language barriers can be. He’s learning now the importance of hand gestures and good enunciation. He’s learning the chower is also shower when accents come into play. For this specific-minded lad . . . this is a GREAT thing to learn.

Opening our homes also means opening our hearts to being patient with a boy from far away when you want to work hard and get stuff done . . . and he sits beside you grinning and pointing to things . . .

“and dis?”

“Say THIS not 'dis.'”

. . . and now snake, laptop, table, budgie, bird, chicken, rug.

It means the setting aside of yourself for a while. A good thing, yes? To learn to set one’s self aside?

This, too, I am thankful for. It reminds me that I don’t just serve myself, but I serve a lad and hopefully open his eyes to a bigger picture, too. I love to do that. I’m not the greatest host parent by far. I don’t do many gifts; I encourage independence; I don’t give all that is wanted, but I do give what is needed (I think). I teach new skills (Cooking, anyone? Doing the garbage, washing floors, and moving furniture). All useful good skills that make a lad feel needed. And so, again, I am thankful I have skills to teach, experiences to share, and that's a good thing, eh?

Having a student draws out my thankfulness, making me aware of the bounty in my life and how I can share that with those coming into it.

How do you remember to be thankful?