A friend of mine related a story about a young girl that we both know. I'll call her "Suzy". Suzy has grown up on a wing and a prayer without any guidance from home. Consequently she has no direction and her choices have proven it. She became pregnant very young and in short work the baby had to be taken away by social services. Within a year she is pregnant again and called my friend asking for money, saying that she was homeless, in another city, and hadn't eaten in 24 hours. My friend was going to send her some help until Suzy mentioned not sending the money in her name but in the name of some man because "she didn't have any ID." Really? Seriously? The story went on and on until my friend told her "Look, I will set you up at a shelter so you can rest tonight out of the cold and get something to eat and I will arrange transportation to get you there, but no cash."
She didn't hear from Suzy after that.
That whole situation is enough to make you sick. Not only for what is happening presently, but what transpired before. What I mean is children come into the world perfect, precious gems ready to be filled with goodness, having all the bells and whistles necessary to become everything they were born to be and the people in their lives screw them up. At some point Suzy's family dropped the ball; She barely had a chance from the moment she took her first breath and here she is passing the baton to another generation heaping the burden of brokenness onto the back of another little person. Broken people, break people. How can you stop that cycle? Where does it end?
Some people live their lives like tumbleweed blown across the desert, picking up riff-raff (who are all too eager to join this expedition to Nowhere) like a giant dysfunctional lint roller. They drift on the breezes of life, getting stuck on fences, cacti or rocks, living at the mercy of the elements until there is nothing to show that they ever existed, except a mound of dust where roots should be.....and little seeds scattered everywhere exposed on the desert floor, baking in the sun.
Here's the thing: It is never too late to make a good decision. Some alterations may need to be made to the original plan, but the right thing on Monday is still the right thing on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, etc especially if you wake up one morning wondering, "How the heck did I end up here?"
One of my favorite Bible stories is that of the Prodigal Son, not because of the father's faith, but because the son (after making many very public missteps) had the courage to acknowledge that he had squandered his life to the point where he was literally living and eating with pigs. "You know what?", he said, "This isn't working. I am going home." I know it's not always that simple but, most of the time, pride and courage are the only things that stand between us and better circumstances. This is especially significant if there is a child in your life watching and making mental notes, who will oneday use your decisions (or lack thereof) like a blueprint. It is OK to begin again, and in the successful life it will happen often, if we allow ourselves to learn. Things only go sour and stay that way if we stand in the muck of the sty, ignoring the overwhelming stench, determined to put our pearls on a pig.
She didn't hear from Suzy after that.
That whole situation is enough to make you sick. Not only for what is happening presently, but what transpired before. What I mean is children come into the world perfect, precious gems ready to be filled with goodness, having all the bells and whistles necessary to become everything they were born to be and the people in their lives screw them up. At some point Suzy's family dropped the ball; She barely had a chance from the moment she took her first breath and here she is passing the baton to another generation heaping the burden of brokenness onto the back of another little person. Broken people, break people. How can you stop that cycle? Where does it end?
Some people live their lives like tumbleweed blown across the desert, picking up riff-raff (who are all too eager to join this expedition to Nowhere) like a giant dysfunctional lint roller. They drift on the breezes of life, getting stuck on fences, cacti or rocks, living at the mercy of the elements until there is nothing to show that they ever existed, except a mound of dust where roots should be.....and little seeds scattered everywhere exposed on the desert floor, baking in the sun.
Here's the thing: It is never too late to make a good decision. Some alterations may need to be made to the original plan, but the right thing on Monday is still the right thing on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, etc especially if you wake up one morning wondering, "How the heck did I end up here?"
One of my favorite Bible stories is that of the Prodigal Son, not because of the father's faith, but because the son (after making many very public missteps) had the courage to acknowledge that he had squandered his life to the point where he was literally living and eating with pigs. "You know what?", he said, "This isn't working. I am going home." I know it's not always that simple but, most of the time, pride and courage are the only things that stand between us and better circumstances. This is especially significant if there is a child in your life watching and making mental notes, who will oneday use your decisions (or lack thereof) like a blueprint. It is OK to begin again, and in the successful life it will happen often, if we allow ourselves to learn. Things only go sour and stay that way if we stand in the muck of the sty, ignoring the overwhelming stench, determined to put our pearls on a pig.
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