John Griffith was in his early twenties. He was newly married and full of optimism. Along with his lovely wife, he had been blessed with a beautiful baby. He was living the American dream. But then came 1929—the Great Stock Market Crash—the shattering of the American economy that devastated John’s dreams. The winds that howled through Oklahoma were strangely symbolic of the gale force that was sweeping away his hopes and his dreams. And so, brokenhearted, John packed up his few possessions, and with his wife and his little son, headed East in an old Ford Model A. They made their way to the edge of the mighty Mississippi River and found a job tending one of the great railroad bridges there. Day after day, John would sit in the control room and direct the enormous gears of the immense bridge over the mighty river. He would look out wistfully as bulky barges and splendid ships glided gracefully under his elevated bridge. Each day, he looked on sadly as those ships carried with the...
LOVED. SEEN. KNOWN. HEALED. These words have become very important to me. They are words that come to me in prayer often when I sit before God. My prayer life no longer is a one-way conversation where I only examine my heart before God, but it also is a conversation where I imagine how He feels about my coming to Him. He loves it when I come. He sees me when I come and there's now a deep familiarity between us where we can be with each other with or without using words. The simple invitation is just to "Come!"Don't get me wrong some days there is too much talking, there is the shadowy, sinful awareness of myself that can keep me from coming. Yes, He wants us to see and know what is true of ourselves, but in recent days it has been more simple. I just "Come" and hold my heart in all of it's good and bad before Him--the God Who Sees, Loves & Knows. Why is this important to me? I think because for most of my days I wanted this s...
A year ago around this time I sat with a Youth who became very angry and volatile at the drop of a hat. One evening she came to sit in a space with me to "cool off." Honestly, I was anxious about it as soon as I got the text she was coming! Even though I knew this was the job I had signed up for, I was tired of being yelled at and sworn at for no apparent reason. It was a harsh reminder of what happens when kids in care have lives of not learning love, not learning trust or true family and blame those who try to give them glimpses of anything different. If you are a group home worker, social worker, foster parent or youth worker reading this I know you know what I'm talkin' about :) High fives to you when you do your job well--for caring long hard hours and enduring such emotional stress! I pray your heart stays tender with a "thick skin" that gives you courage to continue to do your work well! I also need to give a few fist bumps to you i...
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