We Can All Make A Difference

We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.

I don't often think about what I am doing to make a difference. Sometimes I focus on how I get weary in well doing. Right now I have been trying to come up with a network to help the boys in our community who are being released from Correctional Facilities. We have ten young men who will be released into an apartment, they will have a job, $35 a week for food and a set of Parole Guidelines. We can't keep up with them all, so we have to do something now. So I am scrambling to set up something soon. I have a meeting at the PD this week to see how we can get some of the community's neighborhood groups involved, as well as I have contacted a group of me in Dallas to come to our area once a week to meet with them to just talk, take them to eat once a week and be a support group.

The boys I have taken into my home are doing great, they know they are loved, they have guidance and support and they are flourishing. One came from a home where his parents never had a job, they sold drugs and were in and out of jails his whole life. He also lived without electricity or running water at various times.

The other boy doesn't know his father, has never had a chance and when he speaks he has a hard time getting the words out at times. He is very intelligent and loving. His mother is alcoholic and very controlling, wants him to care and provide for her and he is telling her he has to help himself before he can help her or anyone else.

This week we were helping another boy and the boys in my home asked if they could help to. They were telling us the only way they could learn is to do for others too. I was amazed, because I have had many young men our home and this is the first time we have had some who really wanted to help others.

In saying all this, I am humbled as I think of how sometimes I forget where these boys really came from. I remember the drugs, the gangs, the jails, but I forget they didn't have alot of their basic needs. Both of them asked me if they could have a cross necklace and one wanted a ring, so I got it for them. When we got to the car, they were thanking me and said they had never had anything like that before. Wow, I take alot for granted.

So now I am still seeking God as to which direction to take and what I need to do, to help the boys who aren't coming to our home, because they don't have the love, guidance and support. We are there and working toward getting it together, but so far we haven't gotten it up and running. So anyone have any ideas out there and a suggestion on what we could name this network? I am all ears!!