Resiliency

Kids are so resilient.  I say this because I have three of my own, and I see them bounce back from setbacks so easily.  I say this because I am a teacher, and I see kids day after day walk into my classroom and try, adapt, and progress.  I say this because I am in a ministry that sees kids smile and laugh after being broken and hurt by the ones they love.

I have recently been working very closely with a newly homeless young man.  He is somehow so optimistic about his future, yet when I see the path that lies ahead of him I see nothing but struggle and strife.  Then again, what do I know....I know what I have, and what I have lived through, and what I have been blessed with, and my goals are not the same as his.  His priorities are very different from mine, and while some of that comes from age and wisdom (or lack thereof), it also comes from living in a culture that I will never understand because I have never really had to go without.

And the truth is, I know he can overcome what is before him, because I have seen it happen.  My husband recently had the opportunity to meet with a young man that we ministered to over four years ago.  He aged out of foster care, and had no where to go.  He got in trouble, spent some time in jail, and went down some dark roads.  Eventually learned how to make the best for himself.  He just proposed to a girl, who he recently had a baby with.  He has a full time job and is trying to do right by his new family.

Resiliency is a gift from God.  I pray that this new young man will find his way like my other friend did.  I pray that he will lean on God during the hard times, and trust that God will get him through the struggles.  I pray that in a few years, I will be writing about his successes because he was able to rise above the unfair hand he has been dealt.  I pray that he will be resilient.