Who's Teaching Who

If you’ve talked to me about my time in Peru, you’ve probably heard about Benyi (pronounced Ben-jee). He’s eleven years old and has just enough charm to sweet talk me without being a flirt. He gels his hair into a faux-hawk and always wears a silver chain around his neck. While most of the boys have dry, ashy faces, his is smooth and clean. On top of all that, he’s cute as a button. Actually, button’s aren’t that cute; he’s way cuter.

Whenever I walk into the school, I look forward to Benyi’s greeting. Besides the usual pecks on the cheek, he always wraps his arms around my neck as if he hasn’t seen me for a month. He then attempts to drag me to the ground just for the fun of it. I couldn’t suppress my giggles if I tried.

During class, Benyi is always making jokes. Although I can’t always understand them, his mischievous smile gives him away every time. I can never hide my grin when he says something silly, even if he’s deliberately ignoring my command to be quiet or to raise his hand.

Although Benyi would definitely be considered the class clown, he is not one of those kids that's all brawn and no brains. He always excels in class. His assignments never fail to be neat and organized, and he often decorates them with colorful pictures. I love watching him work out his sentences with a Spanish dictionary in one hand and a tightly gripped pencil in the other, and I love seeing him jump up and down in the midst of a conjugating competition, eager for his teammate to get the spelling right. I love hearing him belt English songs that he doesn’t understand just because he likes to sing, and I love watching him dance even when there's no music. When he grabs my hand after class and begs me to go play soccer with him, my heart melts like ice cream on a sunny day. Just watching him smile fills me with joy because I love him to DEATH.

But even though he’s smart and funny and athletic, Benyi is by no means perfect. After school yesterday, I got out my red pen and a stack of exams, and started grading. The first test was a 12/24...not good. I wrote a note on Jenny’s test that she could make it up but shrugged it off. Jenny never does well on tests. However, as I kept going, I became more and more frustrated. Every test was between 10 and 15 out of 24. There wasn’t a single good grade. Finally, I got to Benyi’s paper, thankful for an escape from Ds and Fs. I graded his test with dismay. He got a 9.5 out of 24, the worst grade in the class. I nearly cried. My favorite little boy, whom I loved with all my heart, had completely failed me. My disappointment, though, was accompanied by a realization. Benyi may have ignored my command to study, but my love for him hadn't changed. I’d still marry him if he was a little older. I’d still adopt him if I was a little older. And I’d certainly still pour out my love on him every time I got the chance.

Looking back on the day, I was finally able to understand God's unconditional love. He loves spending time with us and blessing us and making us smile. But despite the fact that we bring Him joy when we succeed and love on him, we also break His heart when we fail. Yet no matter how many times we disappoint Him, His love for us never becomes any less.

It’s amazing what you can learn from an eleven year old boy.