(This is an article I wrote for my office's newsletter. The theme is Anticipation. I received a great compliment when a reader said that this article made him feel like he SHOULD do something, and that it also made him feel like he COULD do something. As an advocate for the children in Mississippi, there is nothing that warms my heart more than hearing such words.)

“… If we can just make it until…”

For so many of our families in Mississippi, the concept of anticipation is not new. We anticipate next week’s paycheck. We anticipate the starting (or ending) of a school year. We anticipate the opening of a new movie or the arrival of a new baby.

Unfortunately, for so many of the families in Mississippi – especially those who have full-time, minimum-wage jobs – the anticipation never ends. There is never enough to go around. Food stamps don’t quite cover the cost of food, children outgrow their clothing before there is enough money to buy more, and car repairs have no respect for bank account balances. For these families, there are many days of anticipating something yet to come.

“If we can just make it until…”

We read in the gospel accounts of Jesus’ love for the poor and outcasts of society and especially His love for children. We tell the parables of Jesus in which He describes the Kingdom of Heaven as a banquet feast for those in need. We see Jesus’ love as He healed a widow’s son and healed the leper. These are acts of restoration – acts of compassion and justice. It is this love that compels us as United Methodists to reach out in love to our neighbors who are poor and the children in our communities who are struggling to grow into the people God created them to be.

In response to this love, we have soup kitchens, we offer day care in our churches and we mentor students in our schools. We have Angel Trees at Christmas and provide a warm meal at Thanksgiving. These are wonderful acts of compassion – fueled by love for an amazing God.

The continuing challenge for us is to seek out the ones who are still struggling: the ones who will receive an Angel Tree present, knowing that it most likely will be their only gift until next Christmas and the ones whose name never even made it onto an Angel Tree. It is our challenge to look beyond the evidence of poverty and hunger to see the causes of these societal problems.

For many working poor families in Mississippi, there simply isn’t enough. Not enough time to work, not enough money to pay the bills, not enough family members to watch the children, not enough medicine to make the aches & pains go away.

And, for United Methodists in Mississippi, there are no reasons to keep us from helping.

During the winter months ahead, we are challenged to open our eyes to the world around us – starting in our own community. Here are some questions to ask as you drive around town in the days ahead:

• Does your school have enough supplies to teach its students to be competitive in the future?
• Does your town have a safe park for children and youth to play on the weekends?
• Are there safe homes for all of your neighbors to live in?
• Do the elementary school children and teenagers in your town have a safe environment to be in during the after school hours?
• Are there affordable, high-quality child care centers for single mothers to send their toddlers to while they work?
• Does every family in your neighborhood have dinner to eat tonight and lunch for tomorrow?
• Can every family support itself enough to have adequate health care and reliable transportation?
  

Our faith urges us to ask these questions, and our faith compels us to take action once they are answered. For families that live in anticipation of better things to come, it is the people of the United Methodist Church in Mississippi that can help that anticipation lead to a better future for our children and for ourselves.

One day, families in Mississippi will anticipate their children’s high school and college graduation. Together, we anticipate the day when all families have adequate health care and access to competitive schools. We anticipate the day when Mississippi is ranked #1 in child well-being. We anticipate the day that all of Mississippi’s children can grow into the man or woman God created them to be.