Well, it’s finally started. For years I knew it was coming but I didn’t know when. I didn’t even really know what. All I knew is it had something to do with God. An important job He had for me and was using my entire life to prepare me for.
Now I’ve been a busy person in this waiting period, very busy. I was married at eighteen and went on to have six children in our first nine years of marriage. Use your imagination here and know that my hands have been fastened to the plow of hard labor. Not to mention I am a sucker for volunteering. I am addicted to the needy so my hand hasn’t been idle. But in all of that busyness I knew “it” still hadn’t happened.
Many of the things I was doing were noble and lofty things. I dare to say they were. So much so, that no one seemed to understand why I carried an excessive need to begin this other, mysterious work. People scratched their heads in wonderment, thinking I was already doing my part. How could it be I was still waiting to do something of significance? All I know is that from the time I became a Christian at the age of eighteen, that my heart was bound and pulled by invisible stings - though strings seem too insufficient a word to describe the strength of it. The power had an intensity that mimicked God. It led me to a firm belief that God Himself had a very important work for me to obtain to. And I was filled with an obsessive determination and longing to see that it was accomplished.
I just didn’t know what “it” was.
The joy of it, and it did carry a joy, was a force of power on its own. It was as if every setback I encountered in life was sealed in a promise that it too would be used to accomplish this purpose to which I was called. The bumps on the road became more bearable and my faith more steady. That is the strength that hope lends. And even though time ticked by without any visible trace of an emerging promise, I became even more confident that such a promise existed for me.
And then it happened.
And it wasn’t what I thought it would be. And I didn’t even recognize its approaching on the horizon. But when my life touched it, I knew. Just as much as not knowing can be a mystery, so it is with knowing. When it happens you can’t always explain the hows and the whys. You just know when something is missing and you know when it’s been found.
And do you know what it was? It was a bunch of children.
Ironically, I have been surrounded, and I mean surrounded, by children for the last sixteen years. I am a child magnet and being a stay at home mom means you help out with all the kids whose mother’s are at work. Twelve kids in my home? No problem. I’ve been a second mom to countless kids. So why didn’t I see this coming?
It began with a death of a young girl, thirteen years old to be exact. She lived two doors down from my mother in law. I would see her outside almost every time I took my children to visit their Nana. She intrigued me. I noticed the same poverty that had plagued so many years of my own life seemed to linger over hers as well. I felt compelled to go speak with her. I wondered about her life. What she wanted to be when she grew up. I wondered if she ever visited that church right behind her house. I thought maybe I should encourage her to do so. Her unknown potential always mesmerized me and I felt maybe, just maybe, I could somehow inspire her.
But then she died.
She was killed in a car accident days before her fourteenth birthday. It was like a punch in the gut to me because I know I never took those few steps over into her yard. I never had any of the conversations I had imagined us having. I didn’t seize the moment before me, and a few blinks later the moment was gone.
But I have found that death often sparks life. And I knew that if I would allow it, the significance of her loss would compel me to significant action. And that really is how I met all the children.
No longer could I just allow myself to pass by all the needy children roaming the streets. I needed to know their stories and contribute whatever I could to make sure their stories all had good endings. In an effort to connect with them, my family and some of our friends decided to put together Friday Fun Night every Friday night in the gym of our church.
Each week we raised the money to buy hotdogs, chili, nachos, cheese, drinks, cotton candy and ice cream…enough to feed a small army. We put up the volleyball net, brought out the basketballs and blew up the big bouncy house. Then I would jump in the church van and go hunt for kids to invite. The first week I found one kid. But that connection was Providence. The following week that kid showed up with his adult friend named Cheryl.
Sometimes when you’re telling a story, you have to stop to tell another story. Well, this is one of those moments. It’s about Cheryl. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to do so. Surely, my entry is one of longest ones submitted to which I apologize but in all fairness there was no word limit.
Let’s get back to Cheryl. Cheryl has cerebral palsy. I don’t know the extent of all her disabilities but she is much like a young child in a thirty three year olds body. She has no awareness of people’s personal space. She’ll hug you to an inch of your life. And she’s a gift person. If you’ve known her for longer than twenty-four hours, chances are she’s given you something. The last gift she gave me was a framed picture of no other but Cheryl herself. The best gift to date though has to be my birthday gifts. And, yes, that is plural.
Cheryl showed up on the second Friday Fun Night. The first one we had a great turn out of volunteers but the second one it seemed most people had already lost their steam. I was a wee bit discouraged about this and because I had been dealing with some crazy personal issues I felt like a failure. Cheryl made all the gray skies disappear. Her energy matched a team of horses and she was bent on helping me find some children.
It was Cheryl’s suggestion that I go to the Lodge. And that’s really when “it” happened. The Lodge is what we call the motel a few blocks from the church. It is filled with drifters and impoverished people who pay by the week or day, fighting tooth and nail not to be kicked out onto the streets. But many are. At one time I opened my home to a young girl for this very reason. She became homeless and was pregnant and it felt like the right thing to do. And it was the right thing. No regrets, give God praise because anyone would know opening your home to a homeless person you barely know can be….well, a lot of things besides good. But miracles happen so it was good and it stayed good.
So even though I had been to the Lodge before I didn’t realize it was flooded with children. Lots and lots of children. And when I saw them I instinctively knew this was the place casting directors should go when filling rolls for their movies. It’s where NBA coaches should scout for their next world renowned player. These are talented children. These are beautiful children who could grace the cover of any magazine but instead are immersed in poverty, neglect and all the woes those imposters usher in.
Anyone with any perception at all would recognize an encounter with these children, is an encounter with the heartbeat of God. No one upon the earth has had the pleasure of seeing God smile, but whenever you’re with these kids you can feel His smile. There’s an absolute knowledge that when I am treating these children well, I am treating God well and He in return will treat me well. It’s much like living a scene out of the Bible. Jesus tells us to store up treasures in heaven. When you’re working with these children, the Lodge Kids is what we call them, that’s exactly what you feel like you’re doing - amassing treasures untold in the heavenlies. And the pleasure of it transcends heaven and falls upon our hearts.
When my heart touched their potential everything clicked. Their depth of need seemed to match my depth of desire to serve. The unknown became the known and I realized I was encountering the very thing I waited my entire life for. Their vast problems were overshadowed by the overwhelmingly obvious treasures each child possessed within them. And I was compelled into action for our mutual benefit and pleasure.
It was as if I birthed another fifty children in a single day. And all the concerns and plans I had for my own children were transferred to them as well. This is where the goals/conflicts arise:
Getting them to come to church was rather easy. Getting enough adults to be there to spend time with them was tougher. Now I understand why Jesus said the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Challenge: Learn how to recruit good volunteers.
Many of the children have lice and bed bug issues. Boy has my world changed. My family home schools for crying out loud but we have had lice four times since working with these children. We need to set up regularly scheduled lice inspections at least once a month and TREAT children with lice shampoo and pull out nits for them because many of their parents aren’t willing to do it. And we need to educate them about bed bugs and encourage them to report bed bug infestations to the proper authorities.
Transportation is tough. Many lodge kids have moved or invited other children to Friday Fun Night so it takes about two hours to pick everyone up and another two hours to drop them off. The same thing happens on Sunday mornings, Sunday nights and Wednesday nights because a lot of the Lodge Kids have also begun to attend church. Since I already have six children it is tough for me to take the children out on special outings because I need a larger vehicle. Challenge: We need more vehicles that seat at least fifteen passengers.
I am concerned about the children doing well in school. I would like to set up after school accountability and help with school work. I would like retired teachers and college kids to get involved. I want to set up these outreaches in churches close to the schools the kids are attending. I want to call it T.A.P. Tap Another’s Potential.
I would also like to begin working with summer camps across the nation, asking them to host children based upon their needs, gifts, talents and abilities. Meaning, I would like to be able to place a child who’s good in basketball at a basketball camp, etc. Again, this is to reinforce positive direction and help the children develop their potential.
When my heart touched their potential everything clicked. Their depth of need seemed to match my depth of desire to serve. The unknown became the known and I realized I was encountering the very thing I waited my entire life for. Their vast problems were overshadowed by the overwhelmingly obvious treasures each child possessed within them. And I was compelled into action for our mutual benefit and pleasure.
It was as if I birthed another fifty children in a single day. And all the concerns and plans I had for my own children were transferred to them as well. This is where the goals/conflicts arise:
Getting them to come to church was rather easy. Getting enough adults to be there to spend time with them was tougher. Now I understand why Jesus said the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Challenge: Learn how to recruit good volunteers.
Many of the children have lice and bed bug issues. Boy has my world changed. My family home schools for crying out loud but we have had lice four times since working with these children. We need to set up regularly scheduled lice inspections at least once a month and TREAT children with lice shampoo and pull out nits for them because many of their parents aren’t willing to do it. And we need to educate them about bed bugs and encourage them to report bed bug infestations to the proper authorities.
Transportation is tough. Many lodge kids have moved or invited other children to Friday Fun Night so it takes about two hours to pick everyone up and another two hours to drop them off. The same thing happens on Sunday mornings, Sunday nights and Wednesday nights because a lot of the Lodge Kids have also begun to attend church. Since I already have six children it is tough for me to take the children out on special outings because I need a larger vehicle. Challenge: We need more vehicles that seat at least fifteen passengers.
I am concerned about the children doing well in school. I would like to set up after school accountability and help with school work. I would like retired teachers and college kids to get involved. I want to set up these outreaches in churches close to the schools the kids are attending. I want to call it T.A.P. Tap Another’s Potential.
I would also like to begin working with summer camps across the nation, asking them to host children based upon their needs, gifts, talents and abilities. Meaning, I would like to be able to place a child who’s good in basketball at a basketball camp, etc. Again, this is to reinforce positive direction and help the children develop their potential.
Any momma, and that includes me, wants to expose her children to beautiful things and places. I have that same desire for these children. I would like to take large groups on outings, mission trips and general fun things around town. Money is an issue because most of these children can’t afford to do much, if anything at all.
These are some of my dreams for the lodge kids. We'll see what God does.
