Andrea Shirey speaks to her Rotary Club about hosting an exchange student.
By Andrea Shirey
On a summer day at my weekly Rotary Club meeting, a simple yes changed everything. A series of events and conversations over several weeks had led a fellow Rotarian to ask me if our family would host an exchange student. Somehow, the word yes fell from my lips as my brain lagged behind just long enough to realize I was committed. Soon, the questions formed:
What if the student is weird? What if my kids don’t get along with her? What if she won’t eat anything I cook and she dislikes America because of me? The doubts were endless, the fears considerable.
A few weeks of shopping to turn a spare bedroom into a guest room and many prayers later, our student joined our family on a Monday afternoon. That was in August.
Our simple answer of yes to hosting a Rotary Youth Exchange student has brought us an experience we didn’t even know we needed. From nights of dinner conversation, TV-watching on the couch, and even a road trip under our belt, it’s remarkable how quickly another person can become part of your day-to-day life.
We have laughed …read more
Source:: Rotary International Blog
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