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A CALL TO ACTION

Could you lend a helping hand?

By Jennifer BrownPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
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A CALL TO ACTION
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

While reading The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, I was moved when he described applying our gifts and abilities passionately and from within. I began to ponder what activities bring me excitement. What captures my attention and reveals the true nature of my heart? I realize that I feel most accomplished, and utter joy from within, when I can help a person in need. “If I can help somebody, as I travel along….”, sings Mahalia Jackson. In my years, I have taken many people from all walks of life into my home. Even when I have had nothing to offer but shelter or a few words of advice. Some were family, some friends, and others have been strangers. I could not always give a person the help they needed and had to point them on to other alternatives in the right directions; but never because I did not try. As I look back over my life, even to the present, I realize that I was made to serve others. This has been my calling all along. My struggles of life prepared me for a future of knowing who to try to help, how, and why they were in my path. Everything happens for a reason.

I could provide the names and stories of many who had crossed my thresholds. Only One knows the real reasons why. I only know that there is a feeling you get when you just know that a thing is meant for you. Is there a word for it? I know there is a Word for it: “...What is for you is for you”. I know there has been a reasoning behind every person that I have sheltered, fed, advised, or otherwise meet long enough for interaction. I no longer take for granted any encounter because what IF He was one of us? To date, there are at least twenty individuals that could attest to my character, and the fact that I was there for them when not many were. To date, I have people wanting to know if they can come live with me long enough to make a new start on life.

I always want to say yes, but my struggle continues as well. I am currently in a relationship with a wonderful woman I met through my church family. A woman who was ready for change. A woman brought to my door by the pastors, let in by me, but placed in my life by purpose. We are currently dealing with prior issues involving her children, so that soon we may get them home with her where they should be. We live in a two-bedroom apartment with my young adult daughter, who is undergoing her own processes in the change of life, that we as the adults of the home must currently deal with and figure out how to resolve. So, my hands are full. However, He has the whole world in his hands, yet still finds the time for us all. Now, I know I cannot save the world, but I can help each one who comes to me for guidance in the best of my ability. He will never put more on me than I can bear.

I am a accounting student in college, learning about starting small businesses, financing deals, and becoming a successful professional. While thinking about the reading, my own passions and abilities, and the skills I have learned in my educational journey I have come up with an idea of continued service to people who are down on their luck. I am going to find someone to help me come up with a business plan to get a loan to get a large house; big enough for 2-4 individuals, or 1-2 small families. I can take in clients for a predetermined amount of time, after working out detailed planning for each one, and help prepare them for success on their own. This way, I am not introducing my family to unsusceptible harm by allowing strangers into our home. I will also be able to staff the facility with security, an overseer, counselors, as well housekeeping and maintenance to provide efficient monitoring and daily operations.

I am sure that there are other facilities geared towards this notion, but that target specific people. The facility in mind would be for any person who has heard of my prior work and wish to be a part of my program. A word-of-mouth venture, so to speak. Being as how I already have people in line for a space that I do not yet have, I am sure that the line has not yet ended. What I need now is for someone to stand with me. See the vision that I have written and attempted to make plain. As Matthew West sings, “If not us then who? If not me then you. RIGHT NOW! It’s time for us to do something!” Who wants to take a stand with me? Today we can make a difference. Change without change is not change.

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