Ma'am, can I have a quarter?

I recently watched The Blind Side for the first time the other night. Oh, it was so good, and struck several cords in me. What made me the most emotional, was in the end, when she was showing the shots of the young men, that hadn't been so lucky in life. She said how these men came from the same background as her son, and how he could have easily have been one of them. I thought of my sweet babies. DHS gets a bad rep a lot of times, but in my eyes, they have saved my babies from a life of abuse, drugs, crime, living on the streets...who knows what.

I recently read this post, and it is so well said, please take the time to go read it. It is titled "Living Life with Eyes Wide Open". Because what she said hits home so hard, and brings me tears every time I read it, I want to include 2 paragraphs here...

"When I train pre-adoptive parents, I tell them to consider the part of society that most of us in middle class spend our lives trying to avoid. Those who are involved in drugs or alcohol, domestic violence, mental illness, poverty, and crime. I tell them that becoming a foster parent, or adopting out of foster care is inviting "those people" into our lives-- because "those people" live in the minds and hearts of our children. Our children are "those people".

And so, as time goes by, embracing those that are different and whose lives are glaringly imperfect, changes us. It becomes more difficult for us to tolerate injustice, racism, or intolerance. "Those people" become "our people" and we are forever changed. "

I was also reminded of this bible verse the other day, Matthew 25:40 "the King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." My friend referenced it in caring for foster children. I haven't ever thought of it this way, of them being "the least of these" b/c to me they are just sweet beautiful babies. But, when you think about those paragraphs above....it gives me a whole new look at it. And those words struck a cord with me, b/c I do look at the world differently.

Today, I was in Pine Bluff, and as I went into a store, I had a man come up and ask me for a quarter. Now, there are people in LR that do that from time to time, so I am used to it. There was a time though, I would have just said I didn't have any money, and went on my way.

I dug into my purse and said, how about a dollar instead?, and went on in the store. But I kept thinking about it all through the store. Yes, he did make me a bit nervous, mainly b/c I was alone and he was a man, and he looked rough. He kept sitting there, was there when I came out. There was no coke machine, so I am sure he was just needing money, and was asking different people. And I know there is a good chance it was for drugs or alcohol. I am not naive to that. As I thought of him though, I just thought about the life he probably has. What life must be like to have to ask people for a quarter at a time. What was his life like growing up? Did his mom abuse drugs and alcohol? Was he in the foster care system, with no family that ever loved him like I love my boys? Poverty, drugs, alcohol....are all hereditary in their own way. Did this man even stand a chance from the beginning? I only gave him a dollar. I could have given him more, so this post isn't about that. All I could think about is how just a few years ago, I would have selfishly told him no. My mind would have thought all sorts of things about what he would use that money for, what kind of person he was to ask for it, thinking he was only up to no good. Society teaches us to think this way. I just became very aware of how differently I think now, b/c as in what Sandra Bullock said in The Blind Side, he could have easily have been one of my boys. (now, I am sorry that I didn't quote her in the movie totally accurately, but it was very late at night, and hey, I have 5 kids, so my memory aint so good :) Once upon a time, he may have been a cute little boy that only needed a good home, a family that loved him, thought he hung the moon.