Faith
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Child-Like Faith: A
Child's Example
Children have been very powerful in my life in showing me what faith is all about…for it is the child like faith that we all need to have in order to accept God’s word & surrender to His will to fulfill our baptismal promises. I have been volunteering at a local pregnancy crisis center recently opened by Catholic Charities. During the time I was training, my youngest child seemed to be in an especially troubled mood. Things came to a head around the week that I finished all the training, and finally our child shared with us what had been so troubling. A friend of a friend got his girlfriend pregnant. The boyfriend’s parents forbade him to see the girl any longer and said, “She better get an abortion!” The girl lived with an alcoholic, physically abusive mother, and her father was in prison. The mother told her to “get out.” Where would she go? What would she do? And how would she do it without any money?
With tearful eyes the question came, “But how much money does she need to move out or to get help?” I said, “Oh, honey, she doesn’t need any money at all.” There was a heavy burden lifted from this child’s heart as I explained exactly what the Pregnancy Help Center does and can do for someone like this girl. (Our Pregnancy Help Center’s mission is “to give love, support, information and aid to anyone facing an unplanned pregnancy.” This help includes sometimes coordinating the help of other resources and public assistance agencies.) Excited to have this information & equipped with the phone number, office hours, etc., a phone call was made to spread the news. We were pleased to hear that the information was embraced. Our child felt much better. What we didn’t know until this night is that Friend #1 doesn’t believe in God. Apparently, there have been ongoing debates over the existence of our Lord & since Friend #1 can’t prove it, he doesn’t believe. He hasn’t been brought up in a God-Centered home. He has no religious affiliation. As yet another purpose was revealed, we sat in awe and praising the Lord that this experience has worked for the Glory of God in more than one way. This phone call was an opportunity for the faith of a child to be shared with another. Friend #1 was told, “This is why I believe in God. It is NOT a coincidence that my mom started working at the Pregnancy Center.” This year, resolve to quit over analyzing everything. Surrender to God with the faith of a child and accept & serve Him willingly & joyfully. He is working miracles right under our noses. Sometimes it takes a child to point it out!
About the Author: Christine Bower shares: "My mother told me all
through high school that I should become a journalism major. I didn't take
my talent seriously enough to follow through on that. I am now nearly 40
years old and wish that I had listened to my mother, because I find myself
more and more drawn to expressing myself in print. After spending several
years in corporate jobs, I have finally listened to the Lord's call to focus
my life on Him and ministering to others in His name. I quit my job last
year, and have become more involved in the lives of my children and devoted
husband, in Church religious education, high school youth ministry, and
crisis pregnancy counseling. I have only one official "published" work (a
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This conversation revealed to our family one of the many reasons why I felt
called to work at the Pregnancy Help Center. My heart melted with empathy
for my child & at the same time I was overjoyed that I had answers!