Whew! What an Afternoon and Evening!

There were four little ones for us to watch.  Their Mothers were very excited to see the show, Joseph, at Sight and Sound.  These ladies are all in a halfway house attempting to be free of the addictions that have such a tight hold on their lives.  My mother and Georgia have been getting to know them for a while now and it is so touching to see how the relationships are building.  As I mentioned briefly in my post yesterday, I had gone along the first week of the Bible Study and so I had met three of the five ladies that went yesterday.  

I had not met their children.

But that has changed!

Oh, let me say first that I will never forget the time spent with these young ones.  It was wild and crazy but they are imprinted on my heart.  I hurt so much for these children who have seen more pain and strife in their short little lives than I have in my forty plus years.  

I am also struck by the enormity of the drug problem in our

Country. Knowing that in our county alone there are 

thousands who are in bondage to chemicals.

There are so many, many children who 

begin life behind the curve

through no fault of their own.

Praise God for ministries such as these women 

are involved with who 

work to make a difference!

Anyway, to say that these children were active would be putting it mildly.  But add to that the hitting and throwing of things at each others heads and I was just about at a loss.  As we had just met, the children I had no foundation for the behavior that I was about to require of them.  But over the four hours spent together we built expectations and relationships.  It was out of desperation that I found myself with two very active boys out in the lobby, one on each hip.  That was where Warren found me and I was so happy to see him that I allowed him to take one right away...lol.  The heavier of the two...I might add.  The "Cry Room" as they call it had run its course and there were other Moms in there trying to see and hear the show on the one TV made available for them.  

One lady in particular kept giving me glares.  

I felt terrible, as I understood that she had no clue 

how we had come to be there.

She had no idea that these little ones are victims.  Victims of addictions.  Victims of their parents poor choices.  She had no idea that I had just met these little ones and that they felt absolutely no responsibility to me....although, at least one of these children had no sense of this with his mother either.  

He is three, that was so very sad to me.  

This mother had loaded her little guy up 

on cotton candy and chocolate 

which didn't help. 

Do you have any idea how much I would 

love to mentor her and help her raise this boy in a Godly way?  

Not that I am the perfect mother...

I would never claim that!  

I want this because I know it is the 

desire of her heart to be a good parent.  

To restore relationships with her older children. 

But she appears to be clueless as to how to go about this.  

Oh, please pray for B.  

She is no longer in the program that 

allowed us to meet her but has asked 

for permission to continue 

coming to the Bible Studies.

I think God is at work in her life.  

The story of Joseph and the reconciliation 

of the family touched her deeply.

Another little guy and I became good friends.  

Not that he didn't make me work hard. 

Oh no!  

He got into mischief and laughed 

with the most adorable smile and 

sparkle in his large brown eyes.  

Little Z was fast and busy.  

But in the end he fell asleep 

on my shoulder and has wrapped his 

dark little fingers around my heart.  

His mother is a dear.  

She is a natural mother and cares 

so much for all of the children.  

She and I shared a Bible at the first Bible Study 

and I was thrilled to see her again.  

She greeted us with hugs.  

We were not out of the parking lot after the show 

before she was on the phone 

telling her family about it.  

It moved her to tears.  

J. and Z. have a very hard road ahead of them, 

I pray that they come to Jesus

and find the freedom from what will come

if they don't.

Mom came and took two of the 

busiest ones outside for nearly an hour.

This allowed me to get the younger two to nap.

That was a real blessing.  

My mother has a real gift with children.  

She loves them and they love her back.

That is just a taste of what our afternoon held 

but I wouldn't trade it for the world.  

There were definitely times 

when Chelsea and I wondered if we were 

going to last the next couple of hours 

but I reminded her that we were 

doing this for Jesus.  

Not for anyone else.  

Honestly, 

I kept repeating this silently to myself.  

What a challenge this was.  

It is very obvious the difference

between children who have had training

from infancy and those who have

suffered the trauma these little ones have.  

We went directly from Sight and Sound to dinner, 

where relationships continued to be built upon.  

The ladies were blessed so much by what they had seen.  

They also enjoyed the dinner so much that we were blessed.  

The children enjoyed the meal 

to the point that it was actually quiet 

for about a half an hour.  

They just dug in and filled their

little tummies right up 

with nutritious food. 

Thank you, Jesus, for providing this opportunity for blessing to all of us.  

I pray that you will continue your work in these ladies.

Bring a hunger for Yourself and Your Word.

May the lessons they have learned from the story of Joseph reach deeply 

into their hearts and change the course of their lives.

I pray for those who daily interact with these women and children.

Give them the wisdom to guide and the patience to serve.

I pray for your peace and joy to shine through your servants.

In Jesus Name.

Amen.