Do I know anything about surfing? Nope, nothing. So why do I find myself today in a wet suit for two hours helping orphans surf? In moments like this I ask, “How did I get here?” Seems to happen a lot on this trip, but regardless here I am on the surf of North Africa.
Me and a few of my teammatess job was to get the kids on their surf boards and push them on the waves so they could try and stand on the boards. A few did here and there, but most of them loved just riding the waves in. One guy I worked with in-particular was mute, he could grunt and make noise, but could not speak. Not like it would have mattered, I can’t speak Arabic.
I never did find out his name, but I found his spirit to be so sweet, it was refreshing to my soul. We would get him on the board and he would wait patiently for us to pick a wave and send him in on it.
A lot of the time we would get the timing just right and he would fly towards the shore grunting all the way in! When he stopped he would look back at us and give two thumbs up and grunt loudly! Getting him on a wave just right was only part of the time, the other part he would go side ways and fall in the water or slip off the board. But when he emerged from the water his response was the same! Two thumbs up and a lot of happy grunts! He loved to shake my hand and give me a smile!
I learned something that day. What is my response when I totally fail? I do what a lot of the other kids did, get mad and kick the water. How about instead I get excited, because it’s the journey that is the fun part, not the results.
-Luke
