I just want to love your kids!
Shrove Tuesday, or Fat Tuesday as Mardi Gras aficionados like to call it, is today. Shrove, which comes from the word Shrive, means confess. In the context of church liturgy, it is the act of confession prior to entering into the repentant season of Lent. So here is my confession…
I just want to love your kids!
I often contemplate my call to ministry with children and youth. Usually it happens when I'm struggling with apathy among today's youthful generation regarding issues of faith. But lately, it is the things I hear from you and what I read in the news. Yesterday was a particularly difficult day for me.
The news told a horrific tale of parents caught prostituting their 13 and 14 year old daughters at a local Wal-Mart. Yes, right here in KY. As I read the story my stomach twisted in knots. I know these poor children are forever damaged: innocence lost, trust broken, betrayal, shame, rage, guilt, self-esteem…and so much more. I just want to love your kids!
I had a conversation with a local school employee. She told of an area in the school office which now looks like a mini grocery store. She had to deal with a student's emotional breakdown because they were going home for a three-day weekend to a home with no food…literally none. She rallied support from teachers and family, went to the store and then delivered the groceries to the home. She said when she opened the refrigerator it looked like a display model–no condiments, no butter, none of the things still there when you and I need to make a trip to the store. Teachers now bring in bags of food to distribute to 6 youth at Bourbon County High School each Friday. I just want to love your kids!
We spoke of Operation Backpack and the great program this is…(just as a reminder, we support this program that feeds nearly 300 children and youth in Bourbon County). I've taken our youth to the Extension Office to help pack bags for this program. For children we suspect of not having adequate nutrition on the weekends, this is a typical offering: 1 pkg peanut butter or cheese crackers, 1 fruit cup, 1 pudding cup, 1 pkg animal crackers or pretzels, 1 granola bar, 1 juice box or fruit roll-up. I applaud this program because otherwise these children would have NOTHING! But this is still inadequate. Furthermore, I've heard from both a local bus driver and a substitute teacher that children will often eat the food before going home. If they take the food home, mom or dad will eat it. I just want to love your kids!
Rev. Jeff Bell tells me of a new program the Pulaski County school system implemented. All children in the public school system now receive 3 meals a day: breakfast, lunch and at 3 p.m. soup and a sandwich. And they have a backpack program too! This is because the school board suspects close to half the children in the school system are not receiving an evening meal. I just want to love your kids!
With all the programs in place, both federal and local, why is this happening? The federal government has programs like food stamps, WIC and welfare. Here we have Operation Food Basket, Operation Back-pack, a local church does canned food give-aways and several other churches serve free hot meals. Why? The answers are horrifying. Food Stamps and WIC vouchers are sold illegally so addicted parents can get their fix. Sometimes poverty is rural and a family lives too far out to take advantage of offerings in the downtown area. Sadly, there are apathetic parents who no longer care to provide for their children. And, there is the prideful parent who cannot bring themselves to ask or submit to these programs. I just want to love your kids!
Everyone has ideas about today's youth and culture: unhealthy television influence, ineffective parenting, attitudes of entitlement, internet, cell phones, economy, education, etc. Regardless of the reasons why, one fact remains: CHILDREN ARE SUFFERING!
I cannot help but think… If Jesus were here today, and tomorrow begins his 40 days in the wilderness of fasting and prayer, he might be saying himself, "I just want to love your kids!"
Perhaps this is what we should be thinking ourselves as we embark upon our own wilderness journeys…
Blessings,
Tracy