Overcoming Brokenness

Had a lot of moments lately where I am reminded how good my life is.  Good marriage, family, home, job, friends, church, relationship with the Lord and pretty good health.  I have it all.  At 29, I have it all.  I have everything I NEED and more.  Sure, I want a new kitchen floor, a trip to Fiji and Bora Bora, but I have all I need to be content...Philippians 4:11.

In recent outreaches with those less fortunate, I realize the lessons I was taught about hard work, delayed gratification, honesty, and needs vs wants from my parents got me where I am.  I realized those were values that allowed my parents to be successful, and their parents, and their parents.  I've been reading a lot in the articles on facebook about the on-going oppression for other races and socio-economic groups.  I agree there is not a level playing field.  We are divided into several different cultures, and sometimes even a city block is the difference between these people groups.  We are one nation and one city, but two very different ideologies.  More like several different ideologies.  And while I sit here comfortable with my life, I recognize and almost feel guilty that there is a population going hungry, a population without health care, a population without Christ, and populations of brokenness beyond things money can repair.

I can't say that I didn't work for what I have.  I worked hard in college and grad school.  I found scholarships and went without fancy things.  I chose to avoid drugs and excessive drinking, so I could focus my time.  I studied, learned, went to class every day.  But before that, my parents instilled in me that anything else was unacceptable.  We weren't going to be a family of drug users or a family of lazy kids.  We earned an allowance and we were corrected and rebuked when we lied, cheated, or didn't work our very best.   There is value to that parenting that has no dollar amount, and a value to that commitment to the next generation that money and programs cannot buy.

As I look into the faces of the next generation, I see a lot of children who have been their parents second, third or even last priority.  Sometimes I have worked with children who parented their siblings and even their parents before they were out of elementary school.  Brokenness negates brokenness.  I think the only exception to that is those rare kids that have a passion in them for life.  Those kids who say, "I want better" and they seek out support, mentors, and leave behind what they used to know.

I think, and this is solely my opinion, that our nation has lost it's true American Dream to "pull yourself up by your boot straps" and work for a better reality.  Instead, families often utilize social support as a social crutch and hand out without regard for the sacrifice that it takes a nation to provide those supports.  And while the social stigma to use social supports has decreased so many families are utilizing the help that's out there, there is another continuum of people who doesn't know life without those supports.  There continues to be a disparaging gap between being able to make it and not.  And while those supports are necessary for many life long, most people in our country and our world are healthier, happier and feel more passion for life when they are working and doing something in life that they were created to do even it means that they don't make a ton of money.  (I am aware there is a percentage of people that work super hard and still can't afford to live without these supports and that's another population and social issue that I am not referring to).

I worked with a beautiful single mother at one of my inner city schools.  She had her son early in life and the dad wasn't around to help.  He had "his own family".  But she worked two jobs and went to college to provide for him.  She never once asked me for support financially.  But I saw how hard she worked for her and her son, so I found people to sponsor him for Christmas.  I felt so much compassion for this mother because she turned to her faith and quietly went about her life trying her best.  She was open to help but didn't depend on it.  She was willing to take suggestions and she followed directions well and I saw so much growth in her son's behavior because of it.  She knows the Lord, depends on him, and wants a better future for her son.  She was so appreciative but she didn't see the help as a dependence.  She saw it as a gift and she was open to taking it but didn't come back wanting more and more until the well was dry.  And that made me want to help her even more.

There are millions of people in the world who struggle.  I see at least a half a dozen in my office every day, but I wish I knew why God doesn't light a passion in all of us to try to help one another, love one another, work hard, so we can have our best life.  Today, I am thankful for all I have been given, but I mourn for those who don't realize what they have.  We all have the power to make our lives better.  We all have the power to see the world however we want.  And we all have the power to have the life we dreamed of.  Some people will have to work harder, but it makes the reward all that much sweeter.