--- title: Seeing the Real Need description: Filtering through the swirl of emotions this pandemic brings, Claire McGarry realizes she needs God's help to work through it so she can help her kids do the same. image: https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/beautiful-gate.jpg --- [![catholic-mom-logo-v2](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/images/catholic-mom-logo-v2.svg "catholic-mom-logo-v2")](https://www.catholicmom.com/) [![facebook](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-facebook.svg)](http://www.facebook.com/CatholicMomCommunity) [![twitter](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-twitter.svg)](http://twitter.com/CatholicMomCom) [![instagram](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-instagram.svg)](http://instagram.com/catholicmomcommunity) [![youtube](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUqHCVPDzyMgSMaMZxxug?view_as=subscriber) [![search-icon](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/search-icon.svg)](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2020/05/06/seeing-the-real-need/#) # Seeing the Real Need May 6, 2020 6:30:45 PM  |  by [Claire McGarry](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/claire-mcgarry) ![featured image](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/beautiful-gate.jpg) [caption id="attachment_171367" align="aligncenter" width="1180"]!["Seeing the Real Need" by Claire McGarry (CatholicMom.com)](http://catholicmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/beautiful-gate.jpg) Image: [Pixabay.com](”https://pixabay.com/images/id-1557417/”) (2016), CC0/PD[/caption] We are living in a time of extremes. While some people are losing loved ones because of the pandemic, others are growing closer to theirs because of it. It seems that whenever the stakes are high, there's no room for gray, just black and white. > And a man crippled from birth was carried and placed at the gate of the temple called “the Beautiful Gate” every day to beg for alms from the people who entered the temple. (Acts 3:2) In Acts 3:2, a crippled man is placed at the gate of the temple every day to beg for alms. His handicap is juxtaposed against a gate so stunning, it's literally called "the Beautiful Gate." Where the beggar lives in the gray, simply asking for money to get by, Peter and John see things differently. They see things in black and white. They know money won't solve the man's deep need; healing him will. So, they do so, in Jesus' name. As the world shifts around us, it also shifts for each one of us, and our kids. I'm sure we're all exhibiting wacky behavior because of it. That behavior, however, is just the gray of the situation. Like symptoms pointing to the larger disease, our behavior, and our kids', are just the result of the bigger needs we all have. Like Peter and John saw the real need of the beggar, we need to look beyond the gray to identify our own true needs. There's so much we've lost that we need to mourn. There's so much uncertainly we need to come to peace with. In the midst of it all, there's an invitation to new growth we need to embrace. As the one true Healer, God is at the ready to help us through it all. Similar to putting on our own oxygen masks first, once our own needs are identified and met, we'll be able to help our kids. They need us centered. They need us strong. How else are we to accompany and lead them to what is beautiful during this not-so-beautiful time? [tweet "Similar to putting on our own oxygen masks first, once our own needs are identified and met, we'll be able to help our kids. By @clairemcgarry2"] --- *Copyright 2020 Claire McGarry* ### Share this article [![Share on Facebook](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/facebook-24x24.png)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2020%2F05%2F06%2Fseeing-the-real-need%2F%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook) [![Share on Twitter](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/twitter-24x24.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2020%2F05%2F06%2Fseeing-the-real-need%2F%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2020%2F05%2F06%2Fseeing-the-real-need%2F%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&source=tweetbutton&text=Seeing%20the%20Real%20Need) [![Share on Email](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/email-24x24.png)](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2020%2F05%2F06%2Fseeing-the-real-need%2F%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail%20&body=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2020%2F05%2F06%2Fseeing-the-real-need%2F%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail) ** #### About the Author ![Claire McGarry](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/Claire%20McGarry.jpg) ### [Claire McGarry](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/claire-mcgarry) Claire McGarry is the author of [Grace in Tension: Discover Peace with Martha and Mary](https://amzn.to/3w2ZEgR), and the Lenten family devotionals [With Our Savior](https://www.creativecommunications.com/Products/FM3TV/with-our-savior-family-devotions-for-lent.aspx) and [Abundant Mercy](https://catholic.creativecommunications.com/Products/AM5TV/abundant-mercy-family-devotions-for-lent.aspx). Claire is a regular contributor to *Living Faith*, and her freelance work has appeared in several books, magazines, and devotionals. She blogs weekly at [Shifting My Perspective](https://shiftingmyperspective.com/), and lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children. Follow her on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/ClaireMcGarryAuthor), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/clairemcgarrywrites/), and [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Claire-McGarry/e/B07NCB7ZKL). 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