OPEN YOUR EYES
Yesterday I was waiting to go to work when one of my roommates came in, laid her head on the table, and just started sobbing. I walked over to her and asked her what was wrong.
She had just finished a phone call to her sister. She told me that her mother-in-law was in a coma, her mom was in the hospital, and social services was probably going to take her son. Her sister is overwhelmed with everything going on at home. My roommate was at her ropes end. She doesn't know when she will be released, and there is nothing she can do to help her family.
Another woman on my wing called home to chat and was told her mother had passed away. She was devastated.
One day this week I was talking with a woman at work, and she was terrified as she had to go before the parole board the next day.
All of us have something in common. We put on our we've-got-it-all-together face as we walk out the door each day. Those around us do not know our real struggles, our heartbreaks, our worries, and our fears. They don't know we are one minute from losing it.
How many of us go to church, to work, visit family and friends, and so on, and when we are asked how we are doing we smile and say, "fine." Maybe we are the ones asking, "Do you really want to know the truth?"
We live in a hurting world. People are suffering untold horrors. Do I really care? Do I want to care? It can be exhausting and emotionally draining. Am I willing?
Back to my roommate. . .I listened to her. I rubbed her back while she was sobbing. I told her I was so sorry, and I understood how helpless she was feeling. I then told her I would pray for her and her family. Last night she looked at me and said, "Thanks Joy, for caring, for listening and for praying." She told me she would keep me updated on her situation.
As I think about these women and their stories, I am humbled that God is using me in a small way in their lives. I have hope in a hopeless situation because I'm a child of God. I know I couldn't face what I'm going through without Him.
So as you are running errands, as you are sitting in church, as you spend time with your family, look at the people around you with open eyes. Many of them are hurting or struggling with something. Will you be the one to reach out and help?
James 2:15-16
"If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body what doth it profit?"
Joy
She had just finished a phone call to her sister. She told me that her mother-in-law was in a coma, her mom was in the hospital, and social services was probably going to take her son. Her sister is overwhelmed with everything going on at home. My roommate was at her ropes end. She doesn't know when she will be released, and there is nothing she can do to help her family.
Another woman on my wing called home to chat and was told her mother had passed away. She was devastated.
One day this week I was talking with a woman at work, and she was terrified as she had to go before the parole board the next day.
All of us have something in common. We put on our we've-got-it-all-together face as we walk out the door each day. Those around us do not know our real struggles, our heartbreaks, our worries, and our fears. They don't know we are one minute from losing it.
How many of us go to church, to work, visit family and friends, and so on, and when we are asked how we are doing we smile and say, "fine." Maybe we are the ones asking, "Do you really want to know the truth?"
We live in a hurting world. People are suffering untold horrors. Do I really care? Do I want to care? It can be exhausting and emotionally draining. Am I willing?
Back to my roommate. . .I listened to her. I rubbed her back while she was sobbing. I told her I was so sorry, and I understood how helpless she was feeling. I then told her I would pray for her and her family. Last night she looked at me and said, "Thanks Joy, for caring, for listening and for praying." She told me she would keep me updated on her situation.
As I think about these women and their stories, I am humbled that God is using me in a small way in their lives. I have hope in a hopeless situation because I'm a child of God. I know I couldn't face what I'm going through without Him.
So as you are running errands, as you are sitting in church, as you spend time with your family, look at the people around you with open eyes. Many of them are hurting or struggling with something. Will you be the one to reach out and help?
James 2:15-16
"If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body what doth it profit?"
Joy
Praise God. HE can use us for HIS glory anywhere and at any time. Donna
ReplyDeleteThat is so true, Donna.
ReplyDelete