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Sticky Kisses
Scripture:
Jesus said, “Let the children come to me and do not stop them, because
the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.
(Matthew 19:13-14)
Meditation:
As I pulled my car into the
parking lot at the shelter, I saw another car follow me into the small
lot. The car was crowded with children
and belongings. It looked like the
family had endeavored to strap every last possession on the car’s roof, and the
trunk strained with the remaining items.
As I sat and watched, three children climbed quietly out of the car, but
it was clear that another child remained inside the car. He was engaged in an animated conversation
with his parents. All of a sudden the
car door swung open and the young boy burst out, tears streaming down his face.
He was barely 12 or 13 years old. He began to walk briskly down the sidewalk,
screaming and crying that he did not want to stay at a shelter, asking his
parents, “How could you do this to me?”
As he walked away his shattered and defeated parents stood with their
heads bowed, holding back their own tears.
Parents
know how tough the years of a middle-schooler can be as they seek to venture
out on their own and gain the acceptance of their peers. Can you imagine being
a young boy living in a shelter? How do you invite your friends over after
school? How do you even tell your
friends where you live?
Homelessness
is hell for children, and it shapes their lives for years, if not for a
lifetime. A study by the Interagency
Council on the Homeless (now the U.S. Interagency on Homelessness) revealed the
sobering statistic that more than a quarter of all homeless adults had been
homeless as children, and many others had experienced similar childhood traumas
of abuse, foster care, or institutionalization.
Every day that we allow children to be homeless on our city streets
increases the likelihood that they and their children will find themselves on
those same streets years from now. We
must find a way to imbue this generation of children with hope for a future, or
their hopelessness will consume them and diminish us.
Prayer:
We pray for children
who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
who sleep with the dog and bury goldfish,
who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money,
who cover themselves with Band-aids and sing off key,
who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink,
who slurp their soup.
And we pray for those
who never get dessert,
who have no safe blanket to drag behind them,
who watch their parents watch them die,
who can’t find any bread to steal,
who don’t have any rooms to clean up,
whose pictures aren’t on anybody’s dresser,
whose monsters are real.
By Ina J. HughsFor additional information about our Advent devotions and their authors, click here.
View all episodes
By Tabernacle Baptist Church
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Scripture:
Jesus said, “Let the children come to me and do not stop them, because
the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.
(Matthew 19:13-14)
Meditation:
As I pulled my car into the
parking lot at the shelter, I saw another car follow me into the small
lot. The car was crowded with children
and belongings. It looked like the
family had endeavored to strap every last possession on the car’s roof, and the
trunk strained with the remaining items.
As I sat and watched, three children climbed quietly out of the car, but
it was clear that another child remained inside the car. He was engaged in an animated conversation
with his parents. All of a sudden the
car door swung open and the young boy burst out, tears streaming down his face.
He was barely 12 or 13 years old. He began to walk briskly down the sidewalk,
screaming and crying that he did not want to stay at a shelter, asking his
parents, “How could you do this to me?”
As he walked away his shattered and defeated parents stood with their
heads bowed, holding back their own tears.
Parents
know how tough the years of a middle-schooler can be as they seek to venture
out on their own and gain the acceptance of their peers. Can you imagine being
a young boy living in a shelter? How do you invite your friends over after
school? How do you even tell your
friends where you live?
Homelessness
is hell for children, and it shapes their lives for years, if not for a
lifetime. A study by the Interagency
Council on the Homeless (now the U.S. Interagency on Homelessness) revealed the
sobering statistic that more than a quarter of all homeless adults had been
homeless as children, and many others had experienced similar childhood traumas
of abuse, foster care, or institutionalization.
Every day that we allow children to be homeless on our city streets
increases the likelihood that they and their children will find themselves on
those same streets years from now. We
must find a way to imbue this generation of children with hope for a future, or
their hopelessness will consume them and diminish us.
Prayer:
We pray for children
who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
who sleep with the dog and bury goldfish,
who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money,
who cover themselves with Band-aids and sing off key,
who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink,
who slurp their soup.
And we pray for those
who never get dessert,
who have no safe blanket to drag behind them,
who watch their parents watch them die,
who can’t find any bread to steal,
who don’t have any rooms to clean up,
whose pictures aren’t on anybody’s dresser,
whose monsters are real.
By Ina J. HughsFor additional information about our Advent devotions and their authors, click here.