Friday, July 23, 2010

Falling


"There's a good reason", my friend explained, "why I keep the 9th Station of the Cross where I can see it when I wake up every morning."

Just when you think you are coasting along on the road to Heaven, something is bound to flatten your tire and test the shock absorbers. Last night, my son broke a rule I have established that he is never to call me to ask if he can bring someone home for dinner while in the company of the person. If he wants to ask, he has to ask me privately. Needless to say, I was less than overjoyed when he called last night about two minutes before he was due home to ask if a friend could spend the night. I have met the friend in question. He appears to be a sweet and gentle person, but our house isn't set up for overnight guests and I didn't want a stranger in the bedroom adjacent to my young daughter. I said no. My son kept insisting, and I firmly told him no and to come home. This morning, I found out why he was so insistent.

"You know mom, his family is very poor. The don't have any power right now and they're living with a friend of theirs and "H" just isn't happy there." I started thinking about being in a home with no fan and no air conditioning in this type of heat. Would I not want someone to extend kindness to my son if he was in a similar situation? We probably could have worked out something. Of course, it would have been nice to get a little more notice so we could have thought this out, but again, I feel like a child in need came to me through my developmentally slow son, and I let that child down.

I have noticed that "H" is spending more and more time at our house. Sometimes I ask him to stay for dinner but not always. I often don't even know what we're eating until about 5 minutes before it's on the table, and it's not always something "H" finds palatable. Our house isn't posh by any means, but it's probably a palace in comparison to where this boy has lived. For awhile, he was staying with relatives, but they moved out of state, and he had to move back with his single mother. Then they had to move out of their apartment and in with a friend of hers. Only God knows the rest of the story. But God knows what He expects of me. What must "H" think when he comes to our home, sees all the statues of the saints, the crucifix, etc. and then hears that he's not welcome to spend the night out of the sweltering heat?

Just as with the homeless lady at the gas station a few weeks ago, God may be generous enough to give me an opportunity to assuage my guilt. I knew I would be in for some heartache in life because of my son's disabilities. What I didn't expect is how much of it would come not from him, but from the company he keeps. Whatsoever you do to the least of these little ones......

1 comment:

  1. I have that same rule! I do not like to be put on the spot. BUT we also have been in that position--finding out about kids in bad situations and wanting to be some small comfort to them when we can. SO sadly, there are more and more kids like this. My kids know we will always try to open our home to their friends when they are in need. But I still like to be asked in private :)

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