As a mother myself, my heart has been aching for one of my fellow sisters at Joshua Station.
I will go ahead and give a brief description of her life without sharing names. This is a long one, so bear with me.
She is in her late twenties, with two little girls- almost 6 and 3 years old.
After raising her girls for the first few years of their life in a state of intoxication and drug use, they were taken from her, put in foster care and she was sent to prison. The father has not been mentioned.
She explained that she had been in juvee (juvenile detention) for a few years before also, before children.
She just recently got out of prison, got her kids back and now lives at Joshua Station, trying to re-establish her life.
Up till now, there has been no discipline, no accountability, and no structure in her two little girls' lives.
How do you start being a parent when your kids are already 6 and 3? How do you start fresh when your daughters have felt the weight of your choices? How do you start a relationship with Jesus when you can't enjoy your children? How do you live in community with daughters who don't listen to you? How in the world do you find your own way of disciplining when there are 5 other people are telling you how to do it, in front of your daughters?
On top of all this, she is trying to go to school so she can eventually get a job that pays enough to support her and her girls.
I watch her with her girls and see how frustrated she is. I can tell by the way she yells, by the way she huffs around saying, "I just don't know what to do!" I can see how she plays the victim role with her whining and complaining.
But I can also see her heart breaking when others get her daughters to listen, or when those folks remind her that her daughters listen to them. I can tell she just doesn't know what to do. She has almost given up. She takes token tries when someone tells her what to do with one of her daughters but I can see the defeat in her eyes, knowing this really isn't her doing it. So many habits to break, so much work, so little time, so little energy.
Her daughters are desperate for her attention and love. They are so desperate and so confused that they instantly go into tantrum or crying/melt-down mode. They both need structure, safety and love.
So, I see all of this. I observe it every time they have been in my presence. I cringe every time she yells and screams at the girls and I wonder if I should step in. Everyone else does, why shouldn't I? And actually I did a couple times, knowing nothing would happen if I didn't do anything.
But my question is, how do we love this little family (and so many other families just like her)? It is a situation I know only Jesus can restore and heal, but in the little everyday things, what do I do as a follower of Jesus?
So far we have seen quite a bit- not nearly as much as some. And as we travel, we are seeing things from an outsiders perspective- sometimes good, sometimes not. We try to be the outsiders with open minds and hearts who wait, watch and listen before we speak.
We have seen a few of folks who are starting to understand the heart of God, concerning His children and action is taking place. But we are also seeing the overwhelming task of pointing the lost and broken to Jesus. (With God all things are possible. Matthew 19:26) And so we are anxious to see the Body of Christ stepping up and taking action, together.
These tiny little groups of people are doing a LOT of work and some feel overloaded and inadequate to dive deep enough to help facilitate REAL life change, healing, and transformation of the heart and mind. The folks who are seeing the heart of God are crying out for help from the rest of the Body. They cannot be Jesus all on their own. Without help from other parts of the Body they can only do part of a job.
Let me tell you, this is dirty, hard work. You won't always see the end result and you have to trust in God. But this is the work He has called each and every one of us to- to be the Body of Christ. Not individual parts alone but together, as a unit.
Gosh, too much to write about- this is just the beginning of my thoughts and prayers. I'm learning just like the rest of you. We are honored to see and be a small part of these little groups. We have done our best to encourage, fan the flames, and ignite the hearts of everyone we have met.
So we must do the same for all of you who read this. God's children need the hope, the faith, and the friendship you have to give. No matter how big or small you think you might be, your hope and faith in Jesus WILL increase as you step into this call.
So, I see all of this. I observe it every time they have been in my presence. I cringe every time she yells and screams at the girls and I wonder if I should step in. Everyone else does, why shouldn't I? And actually I did a couple times, knowing nothing would happen if I didn't do anything.
But my question is, how do we love this little family (and so many other families just like her)? It is a situation I know only Jesus can restore and heal, but in the little everyday things, what do I do as a follower of Jesus?
So far we have seen quite a bit- not nearly as much as some. And as we travel, we are seeing things from an outsiders perspective- sometimes good, sometimes not. We try to be the outsiders with open minds and hearts who wait, watch and listen before we speak.
We have seen a few of folks who are starting to understand the heart of God, concerning His children and action is taking place. But we are also seeing the overwhelming task of pointing the lost and broken to Jesus. (With God all things are possible. Matthew 19:26) And so we are anxious to see the Body of Christ stepping up and taking action, together.
These tiny little groups of people are doing a LOT of work and some feel overloaded and inadequate to dive deep enough to help facilitate REAL life change, healing, and transformation of the heart and mind. The folks who are seeing the heart of God are crying out for help from the rest of the Body. They cannot be Jesus all on their own. Without help from other parts of the Body they can only do part of a job.
Let me tell you, this is dirty, hard work. You won't always see the end result and you have to trust in God. But this is the work He has called each and every one of us to- to be the Body of Christ. Not individual parts alone but together, as a unit.
Gosh, too much to write about- this is just the beginning of my thoughts and prayers. I'm learning just like the rest of you. We are honored to see and be a small part of these little groups. We have done our best to encourage, fan the flames, and ignite the hearts of everyone we have met.
So we must do the same for all of you who read this. God's children need the hope, the faith, and the friendship you have to give. No matter how big or small you think you might be, your hope and faith in Jesus WILL increase as you step into this call.
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