Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth.
Luke 21:34-35
I would like to share about a former student of mine whom I taught in an elementary school. Very intelligent and friendly, she came to school neatly and cleanly dressed. I encouraged her to join some of the clubs we had after school but she said that she could not because her stepfather picked her up after school and she had to do things according to his schedule.
To make a long story short, the student was being sexually abused by her stepfather in the presence of her mother. Finally, she was removed from the home and placed in the custody of her grandmother. Her parents were placed in jail.
When Mother’s Day was drawing near, I had the students make cards to give to their mother or caretaker. The student made a card for her grandmother and when finished, she asked me if she could have materials to make a card for her mother. I was touched deep down that she could forgive her mother and loved her enough to make a special card for her.
She did not let the worries of this life catch her off guard. However, her loving response caught me off guard. To think that a child had to live with the dissipation and drunkenness of her parents which caused her to worry each day she was with them and yet give it all to God (this is what she told me) was nothing short of a miracle. It gave me pause to think of how we need to cast our worries on God because He can handle them for us.
O God, please help us to make choices that will make us happy in your sight; then we won’t be weighed down by the worries of this world. Amen.
Sister Anne Kelly is a resident at Paul’s Run Retirement Community.
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