by Samantha Stroh, ’13 Fall Semester Intern
Recently I was asked to help find resources for a woman named “Barbara” and her three young children. Barbara had recently left her husband because of his drug use. Though she and the kids always have a friend’s floor to sleep on or a bed for all of them to share, Barbara was beginning to feel herself slipping into the ways of the streets. So, I started looking for transitional housing programs, longer stay shelters, food and clothing banks, and any thing I could think of that could help provide a more stable way of life for this family. I was beginning to feel that sense of crisis. It seemed in my state of urgency I forgot to look towards God for help, and instead turned toward my own “ability” to solve the problem. While I might be able to find a “quick-fix” for her immediate needs, I quickly learned that I can not solve the depths of any one’s problems over night. On an even deeper level, it seems that I had forgotten Dry Bones’ whole mission and motivation! We are here to walk alongside our friends, to offer encouragement, in hopes of them realizing they have worth and are loved immensely!
I had to ask myself, “Am I frantically trying to find help for Barbara because I believe she is worthy of a safe, happy, home? Or, am I more motivated by trying to enforce what this world tells us we must have in order to obtain value and worth?”
I needed to experience that shift in my heart so that I could move closer to loving people as Jesus does. Owning a home or having a well paying job does not give us worth. Being made in the image of the One True God gives us the inheritance of an unsurpassable worth!
