Friday, April 30, 2010
Qualification
Not only were these stories of Bolivian children on my mind, but there was something else burdening my spirit. While I was at my desk one day, a young girl came to the front doors asking for help in a rental deposit. Her and her 3 month old daughter and boyfriend were living in the hotel across the street. She began to tell me that they had moved from Baltimore and her boyfriend's aunt had kicked them out. He had gotten a job, but all their money was going to pay for the hotel. I told her that we didn't have any type of resources for her, but I gave her number after number to call in order to receive help. Two weeks later, I see this girl walking down the street and into the hotel again. My spirit was immediately grieved for this girl. I don't know her story, and if what she told me was true, but I knew that she needed help. I called around Springfield to see if there was any help for her, and found a few places that could help. I'm praying that God will bring her into my path again so that I can give her the information that I found.
I say all of this because sometimes as Christians, we think we have to qualify people before we will give them help. Take for example the Bolivian children. These are innocent children who have been born into poverty by no fault of their own. They are living in these situations because of something someone else has done. Many of us would write a check right now knowing their situation. However, how many of us would help the girl that came to my office? We would say things like "Well, she needs to get a job", or "It's her own life choices that have brought her to where she is", or even still "I don't know what she's going to do with that money. She might go and buy drugs with it". So many of us are quick to judge and place qualifications on people before we will help them.
Jesus didn't qualify anyone!!! He reached out to the hurting, broken-hearted, lonely, poor, and sinful people of His day without ever condemning or judging. He didn't come to this earth to do that. He came to seek and save the lost. Where would many of us be without the grace and loving kindness of the Father? Psalm 113: 7-8 says this, "He picks up the poor from out of the dirt, rescues the wretched who've been thrown our with the trash, seats them among the honored guests, a place of honor among the brightest and best. " (The Message) Just like a hospital is for the sick and not those who are well, so is Christ for the broken-hearted and those in need.
I write this blog today to encourage you to look at your life and see if you are qualifying people. Next time you see that person standing on the side of the road, my prayer is that you don't qualify them, but you instead see their need and do what you can to reach out.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Spring Is In The Air!!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
The Break
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Article for the MOPS Newsletter
One of the most difficult decisions for moms is if they should return to work after having a baby. I grappled with that same question when I had my daughter three and a half years ago. I had always told myself that I would be a working mom. I’m not the stay-at-home type that likes to spend hours on end wiping snotty noses, changing poopy diapers, or sit on the floor playing with Winnie-the-Pooh figures. I’m a go-getter, and like to be involved in something that challenges me. Now, don’t get me wrong, motherhood is an extreme challenge, but it’s not the challenge I am constantly seeking. Yet, here I was sitting at home, doing the exact thing I had told myself for years that I wouldn’t do. Why was I doing it? Honestly, I was doing it a little out of necessity and a little out of guilt. I knew that my new baby needed me, her mommy. I also knew that if I went back to work, I would sit in my office feeling guilty that someone else was “raising” my child. I had been listening to too much Dr. Laura, and had heard her say so many times that women need to be their child’s mom, and that’s it. Yet, I was dissatisfied. Of course it was satisfying to see my daughter take her first steps and hear her first words, but the monotony of the day-to-day drove me nuts. How could I do this for 5, 10, maybe 12 years, depending on how many children my husband and I had? That’s when I decided that I needed to switch it up. When my husband and I moved here almost a year ago, I decided it was time to go back to work, at least part time. I knew my daughter, who is now three and a half, would be fine in preschool. It got her interacting with people other than me for eight hours a day, seven days a week. She needed it, and I needed. I wasn’t going to let Dr. Laura or other moms dictate how I was going to feel about this decision. Now that my daughter is three, we are trying to decide when to have another child, and I find myself in a similar situation. If I have another child, I will have to stop working, and for a little while, give up my desire to have a career. It’s a terribly hard decision, and frankly, I don’t know if I’m willing to go back to that yet, but I do know this, no matter what we decide, working or not working, my child will grow up to be wonderful human being who contributes greatly to society. He or she is not going to grow up scarred because his/her mom didn’t stay home with them as a child. Many of us grew up with working moms, and we turned out fine. So here’s to you working mom, stop feeling guilty!!!

