"a time to be silent and a time to speak", Ecclesiastes 3:7b
No blogging for 3 years? It didn't start out as 3 years of silence, but that is where it ended up. Why am I back? Good question.
Recently, I found myself sharing something on Facebook and declaring that it was time to blog again. I don't think I realized how "fired up" I had become over this subject, but lo and behold, I was. Why? Because it affects me and the people I love. It's an area where the devil has basically tried to harass me on every level.
On the way home from school one night I had been halfway listening to NPR's Talk of the Nation. Sometimes I like to listen to music, and sometimes I just want to listen to someone talking and this particular night, it was talking. What caught my attention was the host sharing about an upcoming story on single mother's and the stigma that was hard to shake. It caught my attention for obvious reasons, I'm an only parent. But, it also caught my attention because I have been wrestling with this myself for some time and have found myself somewhat preoccupied with my plight (never a good thing to become preoccupied with your own plight)
So a survey was conducted and 99 percent of the people responding agreed that single mother's were bad for society. Can I just stop here and interject something? We don't need a survey for this! We know it and for the single mom's reading my blog, you know how people feel, right? This is not new! Really, why couldn't they conduct a survey that asked whether or not people thought deadbeat - absent fathers/mothers were bad for society, they probably have, but that is not what I heard on radio that night. After having lived most of my adult life as a single mom, and having worked with kids of single parent homes, I have come to my own conclusion, and it is that society can be bad for single parent families!
Let's face it, the world we live in today is tough on every level and we don't need each other to make it any tougher.
I am not advocating for single parent homes, but it is what it is and were seeing the trend continue to move away from the direction of the nuclear family, making it more important than ever that we don't ostracize the single mom's or their children (or any people for that matter), especially in the church!
The thing is, if I were to ask anyone..and I mean anyone, they would be able to tell me stories about feeling left out, or ostracized. If our eyes our fixed on that we will become discouraged and isolate even more. How I respond to my circumstances and treat others is up to me - and I needn't get to fired up about it because it will distract me from what God has called me to be and do, especially at home! Unless, of course I get fired up about the right thing.
When I do get fired up it should not be because of how society feels about me or my family, but it should be because the devil has been relentless in his efforts to destroy me and countless others by attacking the circumstances in our lives. We belong, I belong, you belong. How do I know? The same way that all others can know,
5 A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.
6 God sets the solitary in families;
He brings out those who are bound into prosperity;
But the rebellious dwell in a dry land.
Psalm 68
God has made a way. A way out of every rejected, discouraging feeling I have. And not just me but my children too! God has provided for us and it is simply a choice away from being a reality for me and you! I get fired up about a lot of things, injustice, crime, drugs, prostitution, abuse, and more. Earlier I wrote that i was fired up about something that affects me and the people I love, it's not societies lack of acceptance of the single parent homes...it's the enemies relentless pursuit and strategy to isolate and crush the human spirit.
It's an old strategy and as my spiritual mom always said, "he always overplays his hand", so if there is an injustice or unfair treatment that has a hold on you today, be encouraged friend, the one who is faithful has an answer for your plight, and in that you will find the strength to lift others from theirs.
Lastly, I want to thank so many amazing people in my church family and YWAM community, plus friends who have continued to make me and my family a part of theirs! We are blessed and strong because of love.
So it looks like I'm back and praying we will all know!
here is the link if your interested:
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/24/134031175/For-Single-Mothers-Stigma-Difficult-To-Shake
remember..it's not the last word on the subject!
