NEEDy

When I looked up and saw a chicken walk through the living room, I knew this was going to be a different kind of visit.

It wasn’t a pet chicken. There were several wandering around their yard. No one made an effort to get it out of the house. I guess they knew the chicken would come back in!

The only doors in the house were flimsy at best. In fact, inside the house the only doors were curtains that had been put up for a little bit of privacy.

The elderly woman who was my patient was the grandmother of the two children who lived there. A young boy was there, as well as a teenage girl around the age of fourteen.

It seemed like the woman was nice enough to the kids, but I was sure that just about every kind of abuse/neglect had happened to them. They went to school and seemed to have enough food (not that any cooking took place), so I knew other people were in their lives.

In situations like this, it’s sometimes hard to know exactly what to do. I can report them to the state’s child protective services, which I am obligated to do if I suspect current neglect or abuse. Getting families food is relatively easy due to church and community food pantries. And clothes can be provided, if needed.

But the one thing I couldn’t give to these kids and their grandmother was reassurance that tomorrow would be any better. They were stuck in the cycle of poverty, and all I could do was help them with necessities.

Matthew 26:11 quotes Jesus by saying, “The poor you will always have with you.” I know it’s true, but when you see it firsthand, it’s a difficult pill to swallow.

Through the years I’ve realize that what makes a difference is how I help the people God puts in my life. I can’t “save the world,” but I can ensure a family has food for the week and clothes to wear.

One day I was in a McDonald’s, standing in line for my standard Diet Coke. I noticed the man in front of me was dirty, had a worn-out backpack on his shoulder, and just looked down and out. At that moment I felt God whisper to me.

“When he asks for a cup of water, buy him lunch.”

Before I knew it, he was at the counter and asked for a cup of water.

He was so appreciative of getting a hot sandwich and cold drink. I can honestly say the food was from God.

The Bible encourages us to “Be doers of the Word and not hearers only.” (James 1:22) I know that God sometimes puts us in the lives of people to help them. What a privilege it is! I know there are times I’ve failed to be helpful., and that’s very sad to me.

I want to keep my eyes open and be available when he puts someone in my path.

The apostle Paul tells us in Acts 20:35 that “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'”