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Let There Be Light!
Through partnering with schools, we can bring light and hope to children locked in darkness and despair.
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Many times I've watched the blue sky over Lake Michigan turn gray. Soon after, the rhythm of playful waves yields to a low grumble and growl; prelude to bad weather and consequences my community must endure. Too often, lightning causes lights to flicker. Sometimes all goes dark. And quiet. Life makes a sudden, dramatic change when the power goes out. We hear: "Our crews will work around the clock to get the lights back on." We trust they'll fix the problems. We believe life will return to normal. If only life worked like that for children. For too many kids, the light never returns after a storm. Eventually, they abandon hope that it ever will. And life's noise keeps others from noticing their silence. A missing parent or parents from divorce, death, illness, or incarceration. Desperation caused by short- or long-term poverty. Strained or strange relationships with adults. Frequent moves, meaning infrequent friends. Emotional challenges. Behavior challenges. Loneliness. Every child arrives in this world with a bright light of hope inside him or her. But storms arrive. Sometimes children's lights flicker. Sometimes they go out. To no fault of their own, the power turns off and life goes dark for kids from Orange County, California, to my home in Ottawa County, Michigan. Try to read with only a faint light or in the dark. It's just not possible. Even at school. Participate in a lesson to learn about God? Seriously? It's not going to happen. Reality check: A child with a stormy life will not sit at his desk Monday through Friday, or in a Sunday school classroom at church, and think: Okay, let's forget all that stuff going on in my life and think about what the teacher is saying. Instead, he will arrive with his ability to learn and live and thrive locked up tight. Think about this darkness whenever you hear or read about America's education crisis. Or the challenges faced by those who seek to serve kids—whether in schools or at churches. Budget cuts. Faculty cuts. Facility cuts. Swelling classroom sizes (schools). Shrinking class sizes (churches). School personnel and church personnel face similar, perfect storms: children who arrive with greater needs into a setting with less of everything to do anything. Both crews work around the clock to get the lights back on in kids. But as this storm builds strength, light after light in child after child continues to go out—and the lock snaps shut. But you and I hold a key. We can do something. We can help change lives, one at a time. Especially when churches and schools combine energy. A children's pastor told me about the relationship she's built with the principal of a nearby elementary school. They swap information about behavior policies and practices, and also share appropriate information about children who face rough seasons. Their combined compassion helps kids more than their solo efforts. |        
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