If we all took a little bit of time.....

Recently I've been working with a friend doing a little brainstorming.  What are we thinking about, you ask?  Well, since you asked I will tell!! My child goes to Sheffield.  I went to Sheffield.  My whole family went to Sheffield. Now,  I'm not blind and I'm not deaf.  I know what people say about Sheffield and I know the perception people have.  But i'm convinced that its just that...a perception.  Now with that said  I also realize that there are MANY at risk kids.  What I mean by at risk is this.  There are kids with no one that cares.  There are kids that go home to an empty house and hang out with God knows what until they finally get tired enough to go home and go to bed.  There are kids that fix their own meals and eat who knows what because there is no adult there to make sure they have decent food.  There are kids that may or may not do their school work because not a soul cares if they even go to school the next day.  This is not just in Sheffield.  This is in every single school across America.  The likelihood of this kid graduating high school is SLIM.  Think of the motivation they must have to even get themselves out of bed and go to school.

 NOW....picture what could happen if those kids had someone that started showing an interest in them.  Someone that just picked them up and went and played basketball with them, or helped them a bit with their school work.  Someone, who they could learn to trust, and who they could develop a friendship with.  I believe it could change their world.  Because thats really what we all want, right?  To know someone cares.  

I dont think this would take a huge amount of time.  No more time than we all spend wasting away on Facebook each day!  And a human life is VASTLY more important than a facebook status.  I think one hour a week would be a good start.  I think an hour a day would be ideal.  If they want help with homework thats awesome.  If they wanna tell you how crappy their day was thats great too.  But the impact this could have on young people could be impressive if people made a commitment.  I myself am having to really think this through because I have two kids and a husband that works A LOT.  But something worth doing is worth a little inconvenience at first. 

I've worked with needy people quite a bit over the past few years and here's what I've learned.  You're gonna get tired of it some of the time.  You're gonna get taken advantage of.  You're gonna wanna strangle them and scream "Why do you make stupid decisions!?"  But you know what?  You're also gonna learn to love that person despite those stupid decisions.  And maybe, just maybe those stupid decisions would become fewer and further between because they have you in their lives.  And maybe they will learn to love you in a way that they would not want to take advantage of you.  But above all else, even when you get tired of the time you are investing in this...the rewards you will receive from this relationship you will develop will be life changing for you as well.  I think rather than changing their life, you'll find that they are changing yours.