Lately I’ve been getting a lot of flack for being a millennial. I try really hard not to instagram every artisanal meal or talk about my side hustle (even though I totally have one.)
But I am a millennial inheriting a broken world. And there are so many ways I want to affect change. There are so many dreams I still have for my community both local and global.
I got the opportunity through my job with Child Protective Services to attend a symposium held at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. The people in attendance of this conformance were members of state congress, DEA, FBI, Prosecutors, Doctors, Counselors, and me. The conference was about the Opiod Ciris in Washington State and really in the whole of the US. If you are not familiar with the opioid crisis, basically its the rise of people becoming severely addicted to heroin, oxycontin, fentanyl, and other street opioids. Throughout the conference many graphs were shown, all of them illustrating how the death rate of opoiate overdose has skyrocketed, prisons can’t accommodate all the people being charged with drug-related crimes, and many many children are entering the foster care system due to their parents’ addiction.
Right now in my Washington children entering the foster care system faster than ever before . The most common demographic currently entering foster care is newborns prenatally exposed to heroin. In the last 12 months I’ve had a handful of babies on my case load born severely addicted and whom have had to detox for 4-8 weeks in the NICU. Its a rough way to come into the world. Many of these babes are very uncomfortable and need to be held extra long. There is something about these sweet babes, this immediate instinct that kicks in that makes you want to cuddle these little ones until they are feeling better. I’d like to think that is a Jesus reflex of the heart.
Back to the Opioid Summit. It was remarkable being an audience member watching professionals in the community dialogue with the senators in the same room. Together people new legislation proposed right before my eyes. All these brilliant minds in one big room together trying to figure out how to solve this colossal problem. I felt like a small fish in big waters.
Its seems odd to sit and watch all these big ideas unfold and know that you have the secret weapon to miracles and change within you. Being a Christian in the arena of being a government worker is a complicated thing. I have the love and joy of God who made this world and yet its hard to communicate this love in a way in which people can hear you.
In my day to day work with children in families I am still not able to look them in the eye and tell them Jesus is the reason I keep coming back for more. Without Christ I would have thrown in the towel a long time ago. More than morning coffee, more than a bi-monthly paycheck, more than even the rare “thank you” or joyful moment, Jesus is the reason. He is what drives me forward to want to figure out how to get people off of heroin.
I have learned so much from my work with CPS and with families and kids who are on the margins of my community. I am mourning leaving this job and all the good work God has allowed me to do alongside Him. I am going on the World Race knowing there are families I leave behind markedly different because I was in their lives. Some of the kids I worked with went home to their moms, dads, grandparents, and other family, and some where adopted. My heart has stretched in torn during the time of this work. I will forever have a different mindset for the hurting kids in my community.
Spending time in the room full of law makers and brilliant prosecutors and justice workers made me realize my work is only beginning. And its going to be a long road, a long and joyous, hard, tear-filled, passionate road ahead.
