God’s people in reflecting the love of Christ should serve those families who are not whole.
Families who need support. Resources. Prayer. Wisdom. And friendship.
If you fell into bed last night, EXHAUSTED, you woke up today with more stress, more to do and a busy schedule for the week of work, chores, and taking care of your children. To add to that stress, you are doing this as a single parent. There are many things that are tough about parenting. Life with kids has its rewards- but it has its demands for sure! As a single parent, you hold most if not all the enormity of life’s issues in your hands.
Being single makes raising children a tougher task. While doing life alone as a single parent, the daily-ness of it can take its toll on your health as well as your resources. The tough times then are made tougher if you try to navigate them all by yourself. Mom, what are you doing to care for yourself? Dad, how’s your Bible study going? Are you spending quiet moments with God? Do you have good Christian friends to confide in—to do life with? Are you connected with a family of God? A church who can be there for you and be there for your children.
Dads, your daughters need role models. Moms, your sons need men to relate to. The best, and perhaps the healthiest way, is become involved in a community of God’s people. These people united in faith through a church, can be a strong resource for your family. Where do you as a single mom or dad get support for you and your children? You may have to ask for it. Talk to an older friend, your church’s pastor, a family counselor or a family member. Tell them what help you need. You may have to speak up to get what you need for your kids and for you. When you begin searching for it, your church may be the resource you have been needing.
If you are a single parent, you may not have a church home where you feel loved? You certainly know you need help. My most practical advice is to find a church with people who will pray for you. Seek out a place where folks are openly sharing burdens. I recently rejoiced with a single mom in my church who was celebrating her youngest child’s high school graduation. She has great kids and is an awesome Mom, but she has told me she could not have done well at her parenting if her church family had not helped her. By loving and caring for her and her children, her church friends helped her to successfully raise four children to love the Lord and to grow their adult faith. What single parent doesn’t desire to have a strong, healthy family? Reach out and get the support and the help of people in a community of faith to help you make that happen. Seek out and find a church this week for you and your family.
James 1:27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
Pastors, ministers and friends and families of single parents – here’s a word for you:
Single parents need help raising their kids. I personally believe it is the responsibility of the church community to help single parents. When you help a single parent, you are helping a child thrive who may not have the very needed constant, ongoing relationship with their Dad. Or perhaps a mom. Single parents need practical help from the family of faith. They need guys who will fix their car brakes or check their tires. Single dads need mature adults to mentor their kids – men who will throw a ball with fatherless sons and women to model mature feminine attributes. Women of God who will pour care into a young girl or teach a motherless girl to cook. These families need godly teachers to help them train their children. And let’s not forget, these parents also need Christian friends who will be there to do life beside them and help them carry their load. God’s people in reflecting the love of Christ will serve those families who are not whole. Who need support. Resources. Prayer. Wisdom. And friendship.
In other words, a faith community to walk beside them. Surely, this is what the Bible teaches in Galatians when we are taught to “share each other’s burdens, and in this way, obey the law of Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 6:2)
Let’s share the burdens of our single parent families in our communities.
Prayerfully and considerately,
Joneal, The Heart Mom [icon type=”icon-heart”]
