Wednesday, August 20, 2008

An uncle's commitment to education

I read this commentary by Roland S. Martin, Don't whine, get involved in kids' education, and I thought, "how awesome is this man?!" Martin, married seven years with no children, recently encouraged his sister to send him her four kids for an undisclosed amount of time. Martin's sister is dealing with marital struggles, and the family unit is suffering greatly. As a consequence, two of Martin's four nieces (only two are school age) are struggling academically. As godfather and uncle to these children, Martin decided that he was not going to let these young ladies fall behind anymore. Instead, he decided to invest his own (and his wife's) time, energy and resources into the academic success of his nieces. 
Wow - that is amazing! It really made me think about my commitment to the young people in my life. Am I willing to take on something that great in order to see them succeed? I hope so.
All my thoughts and prayers are with Martin, his sister and those very-much-loved girls.
*Please don't misinterpret this post. I absolutely believe that what Martin's sister is doing is equally powerful. She is willing to let her brother help out in a time of great need. In doing so, she is behaving in a way that communicates her love for her family. So many times we judge parents because they seek assistance, but I believe that what she is doing is an act of courage and love.

1 comment:

Alyssa said...

I couldn't agree with you more. Great blog.