Action

I am on my 3rd read-through of Nehemiah, studying this wonderful book of the Bible in depth and it is really speaking to me, especially in the midst of certain situations we are in right now. Today I went through and read all of the notes up through chapter 5 in my study Bible, and reread the chapters themselves. A few things really jumped out at me today as I was reading, this being the one that relates specifically to us right now.

Nehemiah 1:4
"When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said:..."

The notes for this verse are what really stood out to me: When tragic news comes to you, first pray. Then seek ways to move beyond grief to specific action that helps those who need it.

A few days go I asked for prayer for N, X and T. Frank and I continue to be involved deeply and are in the process of taking action to help those who need it. I still don't want to reveal any specific details, but they are in a situation where God has made it apparent that we need to support, love, and care for N the best way we can. She needs help, she needs someone to love her enough (not just her kids) to take action. She loves her children. She doesn't make the best decisions about raising them, but if there's one thing we're certain of, she loves them. Sometimes she doesn't know how to love them best. She has 5 kids, and is raising all of them on her own. Even if poor decisions got her into the life she has, we can't condemn her for that, we must love, lead, and guide her and her family to do better.

Tomorrow Frank and I are going to help her and the kids clean, I mean really clean, their house. It is in BAD shape, Frank was over there the other night (actually has been over there twice this week) and said it was just awful. It needs to get cleaned, it needs to be kept clean, the kids need to be in school regularly, on time. N needs support, she needs someone to be there for her, we're feeling God tell us that right now we are to be there for her. So it will begin tomorrow with cleaning, we are praying about making it a weekly check in every Saturday, so that she and the kids know we are supporting them and there to help and assist.

Pray for us as we try to listen to God's guidance in this situation. It is very easy to step in and take control and try to FIX things in a situation like this. We are feeling very called to act as Nehemiah did; slowly, prayerfully, surely, We want to take specific action to help N, tomorrow is the beginning. Only God knows where it will lead next.