Seeking support

2:50 p.m. Today's project was to seek the assistance of either Steve's long term care insurance or his Care More Medicare plan for acquiring a wheelchair.



Am I being hasty? Or pronouncing doom on my husband's ability to walk? Not at all. The Lord has shown me to move forward for safety's sake, in the wake of the falling episodes Steve has had in the last two days. I am awaiting word from his neurologist as to what could be causing the falls, and from his primary care physician for a written request for the equipment.



I realized from studying Proverbs 8:12,



I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge and discretion,



that I need to apply wisdom, prudence, knowledge and discretion! There is no reason to delay when the Lord's Holy Spirit is guiding, teaching and leading. Also, considering the bureaucracies in both private and public insurance sectors, one needs to be wise in allowing them to sort through their regulations, policies, and layers of administration, to make services available.

Much as we need service and support, I met a young mom who needs much more. She has never gone on public assistance, but her children have never had a Christmas tree or any gifts, except one year through a school program. She's new to the area, and has just one year left toward attaining her nursing degree. I began sharing with her about the difficulty our own church has had meeting food donation needs because so many are out of work now, but they still help as many as they can. People who used to give, are now asking. She and I talked about the Lord, I shared about tough times my kids have gone through on their own, and the ministries they are involved in. She was amazed that my youngest son and his girlfriend go street witessing in the worst parts of Fresno. We even got onto the falsehoods of the Mormons and Jehovah witnesses that come to her door in a low income area regularly.

I did mention to her that if she inquires in the local welfare office, they should be able to connect her with churches that are helping the poor. In her area, there happens to be a very strong coordination between the County and the churches. There is even a monthly food giveaway with large boxes given to each family in her neighborhood. I believe that program is headed up by a local church. Familiarity with our county's social safety net came from my leading the First 5 program for the Jurupa Unified School District. My meetings included all agencies whose work impacted families of preschoolers. I love the way we believers are placed by the Lord in areas of most need! Joseph said to the brothers who had sold him into slavery, after he had become vice-regent over Egypt and saved the nation and surrounding peoples from 7 years of famine:

But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. (Genesis 50:20)

But what about those in other lands, especially India, who have no social safety net? Filth, degradation, prostitution and early death are the fates of children born into the Dalit, or Untouchables. Parents sell and abandon their children as a matter of practice. One mother sold her newborn for 10 pounds of rice, while admitting that she would still eventually die of starvation...I read this tragic story, as well as that of the toddler who was nursing from a mother dog in the street, in No Longer a Slumdog by K.P. Yohannon, distributed at our church preparatory to his teaching on November 13th.

My concerns are God's concerns, and certainly the concerns of the impoverished mom I met today are God's concerns, particularly that she come to know Jesus as her Savior. But how much more deserving of prayer and support and salvation are those who have no one! Their children are raped, enslaved, beaten and murdered with no recourse whatsoever. It reminds me of what Lamentations 3:45 calls (in regard to the exiled Israelites) "the offscouring and refuse of the earth."

Not all of us may be called to go to the mission field, but we all are called to learn of the conditions of those Jesus called "the least of these My brothers" (Matthew 25:40), pray and support those who are called to go!

Like Steve and I have discovered, even comfortably established Christians never know how soon they will need the support, prayers and assistance of others. So let us not trust in ourselves, or other human devices--let us pray and look to the Lord!

P.S. There's good news for us just now--our doctor approved a walker for Steve to start with!