Pray? Hope? Do something?

The last several months have been challenging for me.  Things were going so well in ministry and suddenly it felt like God unplugged me.   There were less calls...e-mails...connections.  It was a sad time for me because I care so deeply about people left in the margins, specifically those with a disability that are in the margins.  My closest friends could see my anguish but I don't know that they understood it.

I had passion.  I had commitment.  I had time.  God wanted me to be still.  As a dear friend told me, "Relax and enjoy your children and grandchildren and wait for God's timing."  Being a woman that always has a cause and a goal, that is tough.

In the last several weeks my view of who is in the margins has expanded.  Youth struggling with their sexual identity are in the margins...and so are their parents.  Youth struggling with mental illness are in the margins...and so are their parents.  Youth that, for whatever reason, have made a decision to attack their school and take the lives of their peers have been in the margins.  I cannot even fathom the feelings of their parents.  They are incredibly alone in their pain.  Please know I am not making light of those choices, they are heart-breaking, but I do think about the marginalization that got them there.

I don't know what God's plans are for me but I keep thinking about what I can do.  The situation with our schools is tragic and URGENT.  Prayer is a powerful tool.  Hope is a powerful tool as well but as my daughter has on her Facebook wall, "Hope doesn't get the job done."

My intent is not to get political or choose a side. As a country we are all heart-broken over the loss of life in our schools and the lingering fear of more.  We can pray, we can hope, but we can also do something.

I know for me, I am making a commitment to engage with people more.  Some of our high school students are so in the margins that they are never greeted, included in a group or invited anywhere.  I will never forget the young man that lived across the street.  He always had his head hanging low and was dressed in dark clothing.  I told him hello once but I never had a conversation with him.  He committed suicide.  Shame on me for never extending myself to him.  What deep regrets I have!

I am working on a plan, but in the meantime, I plan to pay more attention and reach out to those around me.  I have to educate myself a little more and meet with a few people but I will let you know how God's plan unfolds.  In the meantime, think about what you can do.  Always remember there must be grace in the margins, just as grace has been extended to each of us.