Monday, January 5, 2009

How do we reach them?

Recently my clothes dryer just decided to quit. Just like everyone else over the past month, I have been extremely busy and have not made time to fix it or have it looked at. So I drag all of the dirty clothes to the laundry mat. Usually it is pretty quiet and no one really talks to anyone else. However, tonight turned out to be a little different. I am not a big "gamer", so I don't usually play video games, but I decided to play a game tonight. While I am doing so, two young boys walk up and start watching me. They seemed to be interested in playing and with me not really caring about the game, I let them take over. I had an extra fifty cents in my pocket and give that to them as well to share. Not realizing at the time that I was missing an opportunity, I walked away and made a call on my cell. I was wrapping up my call as my clothes finished drying. I proceeded to retrieve my clothes and started folding them. As I did this the older of the two boys walked back up to me and started talking. I learned that he is 13 years old. His brother is 9, and he has a sister that is 6. He talked to me about his life and how he hated his sister. He also told me that all three of them have different fathers. He is the only one of the three that sees his dad. Apparently he doesn't see him often and it was pretty clear that he didn't feel loved. His sister's dad used to beat him until mom kicked him out. I looked around to see where mom was, and she was there with a guy. I am almost certain that he isn't much of a father figure either. So I just started talking to this young, impressionable boy. I asked him about church and if he ever goes. Naturally, his reply was no. I asked him if he loved his family and again he said no, not really. So I talked to him about God and his love. I talked to him about the importance of family. And I talked to him about being a role model to his younger siblings. He was partially receptive, but I could tell he wasn't sure if he could trust what I was saying. Even though he felt that way he was still crying out for attention and love. Reaching out to a total stranger who showed the slightest bit of kindness. This hurts my heart that there are so many kids like him out there. Wanting and craving the love of someone. Wanting someone to show them the right direction. But we fall short because we are too busy with all of the other things that we do. My question to you is this: What can we do to help these kids? I am asking myself this same question and I hope I can find an answer. I would love for you to respond to this question and look inside yourself to find what you can do as well.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This brought tears to my eyes...seriously. You're such a great man, your daughter is so lucky to have you!

Now, I have to go hug my princess, even though she just went to bed!