Then, over a bacon rich breakfast in a beloved local haunt, a friend told a story about a struggling family. A family who fights some mighty enemies that I have never faced.
Life long drug addiction and fledgling sobriety, sex abuse recovery, fetal alcohol syndrome, broken childhood homes, extended family judgement and rejection, job loss, home loss. A brand new marriage combining rebellious teenagers and other children into this mix. That is in ONE family. Two new Christians with all of this baggage trying be faithful to God and each other and combine themselves into one moderately, functional family.
Wow. It sure puts my own struggles into perspective. Life treats me quite well, really and I have SO much for which to be thankful.
These folks look like regular, every day people. Do you wonder, ever, when you are standing in line at the grocery store; what's the story on the folks in line with you? What kind of home does that woman with the three screeching kids have? Are they on the verge of collapse? Does that grocery checker, the one who remembers your name and teaches you Italian, have enough money to feed his family tonight?
There are people fighting huge enemies all around us. Enemies about which I know very little.
What am I going to do about that?
I recall standing in line at Freddy's the night my dad died and wondering if anyone in that store knew what feelings were enveloping me in that moment... of course no one did. I've never forgotten that some people desperately need a knowing smile or a kind "thank you so much" or a little extra room to "lose it" in public.
ReplyDeleteI told a mom at Taekwondo class this week that I'd call her cell phone if her son had a major problem... he was breaking down in tears and she needed to go but he wouldn't let her. There's something we can do right?
I think sometimes we need to trust that others are going to give their greatest efforts to help those drowning around us... and all we can do is give our best as well. If only we could heal the world. Thank God our maker does this for us... if only we saw it happening now.
All the time. I think about that all the time. It's why I liked "American Beauty" so much, though it was hard to watch at times. Beneath everyone's exterior that they polish up for publish consumption, there are struggles and wounds and insecurities. The opposite seems just as true. The people who can't polish up there exterior and instead are laid bare for all to judge often hide a beauty greater than most.
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