I have been reflecting a lot on a message that pastor Andy Stanley shared at the beginning of the year called One, Not Everyone (definitely worth watching). He shared that it is often so easy for us to get overwhelmed by all of the needs that we see around us that we become frozen and overwhelmed and we just don't know where to start. Often in my line of work (helping foster kids and their families) it does become overwhelming when I look at the "big picture" at all of the barriers that stand between here and the kids being able to go home. Fortunately we have a process, a series of steps, that forces me to put one foot in front of the other to move into and through a case and systematically work through the problems. Without this process I would be lost. Sometimes even with this process I get lost among the heartache and chaos. I have to step back sometimes and re-focus on the next step and drown out the big picture because frankly - the big picture is distracting and overwhelming - like trying to untie a knot that has a thousand ends sticking out - how do you find the right one to pull?
When I first went to Ecuador I experienced a poverty that I had never seen before. Just walking the streets I was inundated with children - little children - begging for money and food. Right and left, not just on corners and back alleys but all around me: a thousand little brown hands waving in front of my face. And even now that I'm back in the States I still often feel like I have a million little hands being thrust out in front of me, wanting a piece, wanting just a little, wanting help - my help. Ever feel like that? Ever feel like every time you turn on the TV there are sad puppies staring at you to the tunes of Sarah McLachlan, children wading in ditches while Joan Collins talks about walking to the well 10 miles each day, not to mention all of the political action group commercials that "want your vote" - all that make you feel a little overwhelmed? I hear that.
It may seem that the problems that lead to the breakup of families and kids ending up in foster care and then the numerous problems that plague the foster care system are overwhelming. And they can be. But what I want to encourage you to do is, in the words of Andy Stanley: "Do for one what you wish you could do for everyone." It is not just a nice quip - I mean it. In fact, I firmly believe that if each one of us just did for the one - just one person, one family, one child - that the community that used to surround our families would blossom back to life and we could get kids out of foster care.
In my first post I shared that the statistics say that there are over 400,000 children in foster care in the US right now. How do you fix 400,000 hearts? Well, YOU can't. YOU can fix just one. But YOU and 399,000 of your closest friends - well hot dog, problem solved! Okay, just kidding on the last part. You don't have to have 399,000 friends but you get the idea. Andy shares that it is ridiculous to say that "I'm not going to do for no one what I can't do for everyone" - it makes no sense to help no one just because you can't help everyone. Especially because you don't know the impact that you could have for just the one - just your one might cause a ripple that you can't even foresee. But even if it doesn't have any ripple at all well, at least you helped the one.
Each year May is celebrated as National Foster Care Month. However, I'm pretty sure that the only people who know about it are already working with or are part of the foster care system. I'm also pretty sure that the whole idea of "national months" is to get the word out about your cause and I am not sure why that doesn't happen more often for foster care. But hey - now we have you! And maybe, just maybe, your "one" that you do is re-posting the link to this blog. Sure, you can't re-post the link to every blog you hear of but you can re-post this one! Help us get the word out. And not just the word that we need help - everyone knows orphans and foster kids need help. Rather that we need the kind of help that everyone can give which is to say, help in whatever way you feel called to do. Small helps stack up. Help us find some more people to stack up their "helps" along side yours. Do for the one that you wish you could do for everyone and you will make a difference, I guarantee it.
Stay tuned for the next installation which includes a great story - I'll Miss You Too Much - coming this weekend.
Until every face is seen and every story known...
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