There is something about the start of a new year that gets me excited. Maybe it is the thought that things can start over. Sometimes it is a new opportunity to right the wrongs done in the past year. It is chance to explore optimism for the future year.
When you are doing the Lord’s work it is an exciting to see what God has in store for the up and coming year. Every year I wonder where the Lord is going to take me; how He is going to stretch me; and who He is going to bring to me to minister to about the love of Jesus. Sometimes I wonder what hurting children He will place before me this next year. And to be truthful, sometimes I worry that I might miss those children. That is a huge concern for me!
What if a child is trying to reach out, but they have masked their worries so much that I don’t recognize they are reaching out? Kids of divorce are very good at saying one thing but meaning another. They are good at hiding their true feelings. I guess since they have to be careful living in two homes, keeping secrets from “the other parent,” that they learn to hide their problems so well that when it comes to asking for help, they might not know how. That is where children’s ministers and church leaders are going to have to be vigilant to read these children.
I realize most of you don’t have time on Sunday to try to “read” how every child is feeling. I also realize that many of you don’t know which child is living in a single parent home. You may not know that a child has listened to his parents fighting. Or that the cute little blond seemingly happy-go-lucky little girl is worried about her dad who moved out a few weeks ago.
For those of us that work with hurting children, another year has come to pass and hopefully we have made a difference. I have been thinking about the children the Lord has placed in my path to minister to this past year. There were some happy and joyful times, and there were some very sad and difficult times. I think about the children whose mom committed suicide and the kids whose dad died in an auto accident. I also think about the children of divorce. There were so many of them.