My heart hurts. I just wish I could scoop up all of the broken babies around me and keep them for my own. I do not understand how a person could have children, and only do "just enough".
We have lived up the street from a boy for four years now. In that four years, we have seen him wander the street, in blizzard weather, without a jacket. I have been in the principal's office with him (by chance) because he got into trouble for his attitude. All the while, his parents just sit back. Pleasing themselves.
Everywhere he goes, he is transparent. He has been passed grade by grade, just to get him out of their hair. He is allowed to wander so his parents can do as they please.
Finally, after three years of relentlessly inviting him to come in, he has. He has been coming over after school to work on homework. It is amazing how a child, that has once terrified a teacher, can turn into mush at my kitchen table.
He starts the afternoons out quiet. After a drink and a snack, he begins to open up. Not just his books, and mind, but his heart. He has melted mine. I want nothing more than to jump up and cheer (like I often do for my own children) when homework finally "clicks"! After a little praise, (I don't want to scare the kid), he continues. He now sits a little taller. His conversation drifts from the paper to giggles.
This broken boy, sits in my kitchen as I pray that God will mend him. That through my family he can see the love of Christ, and know that he is special, and loved. That he has a purpose greater than that of wandering the streets in search of anything to fill his void.
I wonder how many transparent people I pass in a day. How many more walk past me, while I rush to meet a deadline? Many, I suppose. For now, I focus on him. The one God set in my path, and turned my heart to see. I pray for strength, and trust that He will equip me. I trust that He will take my weakness and make them perfect in Him. I pray that I am the transparent one. That the only person he can see is Christ in me!
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