For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jerimiah 29:11
Time and time again, life throws curveballs. Sometimes the curveballs are your own fault, but sometimes they’re not. You’re left asking, “Why has God put me in this situation and do I have a purpose?” The everyday life of a child that has been taken away from birth parents is all too familiar to me, so understanding the mindset of a child at St. Joseph’s Home for Children, comes natural. Sometimes, in short, we are just left asking WHY.
As a child, I was taken away from my mother due to my lack of self control. Anger ravaged me and controlled every instance that I breathed. I guess you have that when your mother is doing everything she can by working three jobs to keep you fed at night, and your father contacts you once every few months. All you can be is angry. The swollen desire to break everything in site controls your life because all you want is someone to sit down and listen. Rivers of tears roll down your face while you are left yearning for affection that isn’t present. This was my life, and also the lives of the children I’m doing ministry with.
Eventually, in time, you are put in a state of confusion because you are taken away from what used to be the norm. Out of reaction comes anger and strife towards the ones that are trying to love you the most. For me it was Show Me Christian Youth Home. I mean it’s not their fault that they love you where you are at. They have Jesus so deep in their heart and walk in the spirit daily. You are just used to the everyday difficult life of anger, so you have to adjust.
The children at St. Joseph understand this logic because they have gone through it. Maybe not the same story but a similar outcome. An outcome that you would think of as sad because of the past, but in reality it’s something beautiful. A magnificent artwork orchestrated by a wonderful artist. The Spirit of God uses dirt to show His presence in the darkness of past situations.
The beautiful thing for me is that I have already been through the dirt and have come out as a broom. A broom that was sent to St. Joseph to show the children around me what cleanliness looks like under the dirt. As the Spirit speaks through me in each breath, I exhale the Spirit into them. The dirt of their path soon will become clean and the understanding of a difficult life will soon become easy.
Children who have a tough past aren’t screwed up. They don’t have awkward habits that need to be broken or special counseling. What they need is to know that they serve a purpose and they are loved by an almighty Father. One that loves them and is always present, and His is the story that they will learn to share from their story. Amen!
