Yesterday as I was standing in line, I met a very nice young man. He was by himself and was enrolling for the first time into a new High School. I thought it was strange because most kids go with a parent and he was alone. Meanwhile, I noticed a woman flitting from kid to kid and she came up to him as I was talking. She started telling me that she had 12 children to enroll. She was young and this was High School. I asked, "Are they all yours." She answered, "No, they are in independent living." I wondered what it was so I asked the young man. It's a place for teenage kids that are in foster care. They are on their own. Okay, anyone else see the wrong in this picture.
As I talked to him, he told me that he would be going to a local college and had scored a very high grade on the ACT, which is a college entrance exam in the US. He also told me that his college was fully funded. After further discussion, I found out this was his 3rd school during his High School career. Sad but true. It got me thinking about orphans in the Bible. It also got me thinking about how we are really not responding to the youth in our communities if we are putting them into independent living, making them go to court by themselves and hoping they will make the best choices for their lives when their 16,17 and 18 years old. Their kids not adults.
I have to say it made me quite sad to think about these lonely, unnurtured young men and women. They didn't choose their parents and yet, at such a young age they have been dumped on a system we all know doesn't work. I haven't decided what I'm going to do about it yet but I'm going to God and asking. He called us to protect the widows and the orphans and I'm ashamed to say; I haven't done my fair share. I assumed that all foster kids had a home. Wrong? We have teenagers running around with no parental nurturing, its a business in these independent homes. I'm sure there are caring, loving people there but are they Christians. I wonder? Anyway, it's something for us all to think about and pray about. We can't abandon the lost and although he seemed to be doing well, he's still lost. How do I know, he talked to me for 30 minutes and he's 18 years old.
Needless to say, I want us all to pray for the orphans. We have them in every country and we need to do something about it. They are birds with no home and it's our responsibility to see how God wants us to minister and love them. My prayer is that young man will grow up and be a wonderful person, full of Christ and proving to everyone that he means something. My heart goes out to the lost but when it's a child, it breaks.
2 Corinthians 13:14 NKJV:
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all, AMEN.
Psalm 68:5 NKJV:
A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation.
John 14:18 NKJV:
I will not leave you orphans; I wil come to you.
My prayer today:
O, Lord, grant your lost children a home with people that love and nurture them. Surround them with Christian people that will take care of them and show them their paths. Give them encouragement to be their very best and put them on our hearts. As we go about our days, remind us that their are orphans who need us and that we should be praying for them. Thank you for reminding me that we have children everywhere that are alone and fighting as adults. Thank you for saving that young man and giving him a future. My prayer today is that we as women would pray for the children of this world. That we would come before you as their voice and that we would not stop praying. They are yours Lord, please lead them to shelter and a place where they will be loved. I can't stop the evil in this world or the lack of caring. All I can do is come before You and ask that You protect these children. I lift them up to You today. Bring people into their lives that will show them You. In Jesus name, AMEN
Until tomorrow...
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