Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world—
Red, brown, yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight;
Jesus loves the little children of the world!
Bible School song
Red, brown, yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight;
Jesus loves the little children of the world!
Bible School song
The Children in Our Lives
The young children in our lives are such a blessing, aren’t they? We have eight grandchildren ranging in age from 15 months to nearly 18 years, and we treasure each moment we spend with them. Recently I spent most of the day with two of our eight grandchildren—my daughter’s two youngest, ages 15 months and four years. The day was filled with fun and laughter, and an exuberant amount of energy! No matter which of the grandchildren we share time with, we can count on lots of snuggling, the approval of art masterpieces, silly books, adventure books or school books, walks in the park, or a very competitive card game. There is always a big hug and kiss or two when our time together comes to an end and we have to say goodbye, at least for awhile.
There are children, however—perhaps in our own neighborhood and certainly in our region, our state, our world, who have rarely felt much joy in their lives. They encounter loneliness, fear, hunger and despair, neglect and abuse beyond what any of us can imagine. They may appear to live a “normal” life, but they may never feel the deep love and joy the children in our lives share every day.
The happiness and well-being of the children in our lives make it hard for us to think about these other children. It’s just more comfortable not to. And it’s easy to just take for granted that all children are like our own—happy, well-adjusted kids who have an abundance of toys and entertainment, eat three good meals a day, have a bath before bedtime, sleep soundly in a clean, comfortable bed, and start again the very next morning.
We hear about incidents of abuse and neglect, and we are shocked and saddened by the horrific story on the news. What we’re not aware of are the daily calls to Child Protective Services which hold no interest by the media because they’re too common. But abuse and neglect at any level is just that--abuse and neglect.
As a court appointed special advocate (CASA) volunteer I have learned first-hand what many of these children have gone through in their young lives. While I can’t share the stories of “my kids”, I can tell you that their sad encounters have been permanently imprinted on their lives. The court process of determining their future can be overwhelmingly long and frightening for them. I sometimes question my ability to be of any real help to them.
Jesus, however, tells us that we all can be of help to them by simply praying for them. We can pray for their safety and well-being; we can pray for the CPS workers who may have a case load of 30 to 40 kids; and we can pray that God will give us insight in learning other ways in which we can help. The power of prayer will open our hearts to these fragile kids, and they will also become the children in our lives. May we, through prayer, remember the thousands of abused and neglected children in our world.
"God does nothing but by prayer, and everything with it."
John Wesley
We hear about incidents of abuse and neglect, and we are shocked and saddened by the horrific story on the news. What we’re not aware of are the daily calls to Child Protective Services which hold no interest by the media because they’re too common. But abuse and neglect at any level is just that--abuse and neglect.
As a court appointed special advocate (CASA) volunteer I have learned first-hand what many of these children have gone through in their young lives. While I can’t share the stories of “my kids”, I can tell you that their sad encounters have been permanently imprinted on their lives. The court process of determining their future can be overwhelmingly long and frightening for them. I sometimes question my ability to be of any real help to them.
Jesus, however, tells us that we all can be of help to them by simply praying for them. We can pray for their safety and well-being; we can pray for the CPS workers who may have a case load of 30 to 40 kids; and we can pray that God will give us insight in learning other ways in which we can help. The power of prayer will open our hearts to these fragile kids, and they will also become the children in our lives. May we, through prayer, remember the thousands of abused and neglected children in our world.
"God does nothing but by prayer, and everything with it."
John Wesley
Diane Feaganes
No comments:
Post a Comment