If you didn't see 60 Minutes last night, you should check this out. Hard times for so many yet I see survivor material especially in these kids. They show gratitude for their lot in life, even living in a truck.
We are among many who have been hit hard by the construction downfall in our area. But thank the Lord, Bill had already paid off our home by paying a little extra each month so we retired our mortgage early. We have not walked a mile in the shoes of the homeless but this program gave a good idea of the suffering that so many are experiencing.
I urge you to please watch this video and also rethink how you perceive the homeless among us. My husband Bill has always said many families are just a few paychecks away from the threat of this. Many of us have family members that have been out of work for months or even years. This is the reality of American families today. Pray, pray and pray some more and then count your blessings today if you have a real roof over your head.
I was in tears when I watched this one:
In our own back yard; http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57330802/hard-times-generation-families-living-in-cars/?tag=currentVideoInfo;videoMetaInfo
I think an old devo I wrote goes along with this.
Christmas Shoes
If you walk a mile in my shoes, you know how I feel, what makes me hurt, what gives me joy; and I, if I tried your shoes on would I say, “These aren’t so bad? These are nearly pain free, nearly a perfect fit?” But are they? Have I walked a mile in a widow’s shoes, as she longs for the familiar comfort of the one who used to lie beside her at night? Or a mile in the shoes of someone who has had the health stripped from their body and would give anything to have a portion of the quality of life I enjoy? Have I walked a tenth of a mile in a homeless person’s worn shoes as he endures the scorching heat coming up from the pavement and bathes in the cold water of public restrooms for lack of better?
Have I lived through losing family at the 9/11 tragedies or had my home demolished by the flooding waters of a hurricane? Looking over the local obituaries it seems that a higher number than usual of deaths are recorded. It seems to be even sadder when a hit-and-run driver takes one suddenly in their youth, as happened recently to some friends. Christmas coming dose not alleviate the normal pains of life that we go through.
We celebrate the birth of One qualified to know what it feels like to walk a mile in our shoes. Born lowly, he lived a life of submission to God’s will, and took what should’ve been our walk up a lonely hill to death on a cross. He has walked more than a mile and left a trail of tears; His tears intermingling with mine, we share sorrow, we share love, we share life.
Some Christmas’s are painful. When the tears I have cried are stored in His bottle, and I am drained, He becomes my Restorer, my Strength. When I complain, the way is dark, and not what I expected or hoped for; He shows me a new path out of the wilderness. A new path for the world-weary shoes that I wear-- that He wore first.
We are among many who have been hit hard by the construction downfall in our area. But thank the Lord, Bill had already paid off our home by paying a little extra each month so we retired our mortgage early. We have not walked a mile in the shoes of the homeless but this program gave a good idea of the suffering that so many are experiencing.
I urge you to please watch this video and also rethink how you perceive the homeless among us. My husband Bill has always said many families are just a few paychecks away from the threat of this. Many of us have family members that have been out of work for months or even years. This is the reality of American families today. Pray, pray and pray some more and then count your blessings today if you have a real roof over your head.
I was in tears when I watched this one:
In our own back yard; http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57330802/hard-times-generation-families-living-in-cars/?tag=currentVideoInfo;videoMetaInfo
I think an old devo I wrote goes along with this.
Christmas Shoes
If you walk a mile in my shoes, you know how I feel, what makes me hurt, what gives me joy; and I, if I tried your shoes on would I say, “These aren’t so bad? These are nearly pain free, nearly a perfect fit?” But are they? Have I walked a mile in a widow’s shoes, as she longs for the familiar comfort of the one who used to lie beside her at night? Or a mile in the shoes of someone who has had the health stripped from their body and would give anything to have a portion of the quality of life I enjoy? Have I walked a tenth of a mile in a homeless person’s worn shoes as he endures the scorching heat coming up from the pavement and bathes in the cold water of public restrooms for lack of better?
Have I lived through losing family at the 9/11 tragedies or had my home demolished by the flooding waters of a hurricane? Looking over the local obituaries it seems that a higher number than usual of deaths are recorded. It seems to be even sadder when a hit-and-run driver takes one suddenly in their youth, as happened recently to some friends. Christmas coming dose not alleviate the normal pains of life that we go through.
We celebrate the birth of One qualified to know what it feels like to walk a mile in our shoes. Born lowly, he lived a life of submission to God’s will, and took what should’ve been our walk up a lonely hill to death on a cross. He has walked more than a mile and left a trail of tears; His tears intermingling with mine, we share sorrow, we share love, we share life.
Some Christmas’s are painful. When the tears I have cried are stored in His bottle, and I am drained, He becomes my Restorer, my Strength. When I complain, the way is dark, and not what I expected or hoped for; He shows me a new path out of the wilderness. A new path for the world-weary shoes that I wear-- that He wore first.
