My grandparents immigrated from México to the United States of America. They have beautiful accents, they make delicious food, and they worked hard for everything they have. My immediate family was all born in America, and most of us can speak Spanish.

We have been blessed, and I believe we are a blessing to those around us. Similarly, people who have immigrated from other countries are a blessing to me! I have friends from Africa, Korea, Dominican Republican, Sweden, and other places. I am grateful for each of them.

For that reason, it pains me when people bash immigrants. It is certainly true that there are people who come illegally and stay here undocumented. There are immigrants who commit other crimes, and I do not approve or justify any of those actions because I do believe in justice.

Yet, we must pause for a moment to remember that the people who are immigrating today are not the first ones to do so, as I am sure you have heard before. As far as we know, Native Americans are the only people who did not immigrate to the United States. That means much of the U.S. population has immigrated in some way or another because their ancestors at one point in time decided that they wanted to seek new opportunities.

I raise this topic because this matter is close to my heart, and it was a point of discussion in our recent election. But I want to reiterate the fact that having diversity is good. In fact, there is much data do describe how we benefit from diversity! We can enjoy the different types of food, language, dance, music, celebration, and more. Think about it: the larger, more exciting cities in the United States are wonderfully diverse! These cities draw in large numbers of people because they have an abundance of different restaurants, religious centers, economic prospects, and festivities.

As I have been teaching students in downtown Grand Rapids the past few months, I have have become acquainted with a wide variety of superb students. Teaching these children has opened my eyes to how diversity in a classroom provides an engaging learning environment where students from various backgrounds can prepare for their futures.

Furthermore, we can look to the example of the city of Los Angeles (LA) located in the state of California. LA is more diverse than any other city in the nation, being home to the largest population of Hispanics in the U.S. (47.9% of the LA population or 4.9 million people). Additionally, the rest of the country has followed suit and has become more diverse over the years according to the U.S. Census which showed the number of children under five years of age were predominately non-white.

Now, as we approach the holiday season, we will see the mainstream U.S. traditions that most people enjoy or avoid (Santa Claus, reindeer, Christmas songs, treats, etc.), but if you take the time to look, you will also notice the traditions that are celebrated by other cultures. A specific example is the Mexican tradition of making tamales (shown above). This corn-based food is traditional during the holiday season for many Hispanic families like mine. There is also a German tradition to hide a pickle on the Christmas tree.

To expand more on the assortment of blessings in our nation, we may look at the college experience. While in college, I have come to know many people from all over the world who decided to attend the same college that I do. We have compared our different customs and beliefs based on where we grew up, and it is always fun learning about the values of another place and people group.

All of this diversity has filled my soul and made me wonder what God is like if we were all created in His image. Getting to know different types of people not only opens my eyes to more of the world; it allows me to know more about the One who created it.

Thus, immigrants are not a burden. They can be marvelous blessings just like people born in our country. Yes, we can enjoy Dutch food, piñatas, quinceñeras, Polish sausages, spicy curry, egg rolls, Ethiopian food and coffee, German chocolate, omelettes, tacos, horchata, Boba tea, pad thai, pizza, pasta, and the list goes on and on, but we can also appreciate the people that bring these amazing objects into our lives.