Beyond the work accomplished through wages, there is a whole world of action based on people simply helping people.
We make commitments to each other, offering time, service and/or resources.
Sometimes these commitments carry us to exhaustion, irritation and depletion. Other times, more fortunately, they carry us to joy, accomplishment and new energy for sharing and serving again.
When do we say yes? When is no, in fact, the better yes?
It was September, 1990. With my own kids in 7th, 5th and 1st grades, I was principal of a brand new middle school. I noticed his name on the roster--Nash--simply because it was unusual. I couldn't have known how he would change our lives.
Within days of school opening, he was present, along with his older sister and brother, when his dad shot his mom to death. These were PTA-type parents, prominent in the community. This more than took everyone's breath.
We did all we knew to do to help Nash. His siblings were in the high school next door. As an 8th grader, Nash and my son became fast friends. By late fall, as Nash struggled to make sense of his world, I became somehow riveted on this child. All I know to say is that God gave me love for him that one usually knows only through birth or adoption.
By February, he came to stay with us. (How awkward to live with your principal!) It is a love story that our family knows was from God, though my kids when young might have argued that a time or two. It made all of us more generous, more giving. In our two years with him, we became part of his story that today finds him a terrific husband, father and contractor.
I know that, in this instance, yes was God-driven. In fact, the January before he arrived, I got up in the middle of the night pleading with God to understand my heart for him. I somehow heard these words: Nash is in peril.
I can only say I felt God was leading us into that commitment. But just as easily, we can be led into yes by guilt and the need for others' love and approval. Tomorrow we'll look at this yes and yes, these instances should usually lead us to no.
Footnote: There were those who questioned my yes to Nash. For me, I said no to the logic and reasoning of a single parent with a busy job embracing three more kids (the older brother and sister hung out with us often--what a gift!). "Normal thinking" should have taken us off the yes ramp.
God-driven rarely makes sense, but it is the steering mechanism of the best no and the best yes. We are always blessed when we enter in.
Comments are welcome at feedyourstrength@gmail.com.
