Poverty

God's timing is once again shown to me as being so perfect. My mom gave me the book "A Framework for Understanding Poverty" by Dr. Rudy Payne. Not exactly my typical bedtime reading. I grabbed it last night for some late night reading and made it all the way to chapter 3. I guess to summarize, the book is a way to understand poverty, the ways in which people arrive there, they way in which they stay, or how it can be visited. I'd never thought about it in such depth. I've never gone hungry, been in filthy circumstances, or had to be cold or hot without a choice. "The definition of poverty is the "extent to which an individual does without resources"". The resources are defined as financial, emotional, mental, spiritual, physical, support systems, relationships/role models, and knowledge of the hidden rules. When I read this I could just picture A and her family.
God's timing came into play as a got a certified packet in the mail today from cps describing in detail A and all of her family. Their issues, the things they need to work on, etc.. It was way more information than I wanted. I'm not sure yet if it is more information than I needed. Tears rolled down the cheeks as a I read her lil life story on the pages of badly copied paper. Poverty was the overwhelming message. Yet because of my reading the night before I could look at it in a different light. I faltered from my "high horse" and could grasp a tiny bit about the cycle of poverty I was reading about. This time the scenario from A's life could be added to the book. Thanks, mom, for lending me the book and giving me a different perspective on poverty. Its so easy to judge or find fault with the way someone else has conducted their life or rather is conducting their life. I want to squeeze A a little closer and hope that the role models we are providing for her will last a lifetime. So much to teach, and yet, who knows how long we will have her.