Hope by Chris Keim

Staff, December 1, 2020

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ~Jeremiah 29:11

Aiden is a 7 year old boy at Hephatha Lutheran Church, one of our Milwaukee partner Churches. He has been hospitalized for high blood lead levels, twice in his 7 years. He suffers with difficulty learning, difficulties with impulsivity and at times has difficulty controlling his behavior and has outbursts of anger. He has been bullied at school and is afraid to ride the school bus. He suffers a lot. If you have visited Hephatha, you may have seen him. He sometimes runs right up the aisle to the front where Pastor Mary Martha stands. He will say “Hi Pastor” and will stand and look at her, or walk past her to climb the 3 steps to the altar and then turn around and jump off, several times. Pastor Mary Martha, who has a wonderful, Gospel way of making everyone feel welcome, will always give Aiden a hug and she has taught us, as a congregation, to call him by name and tell him we are happy to see him and that we love him…even when he is behaving poorly. We do this in the middle of church service when he comes up to the front and interrupts church. Over a 6 month period of time last year, our interactions with Aiden made a huge difference in his behavior at church. He started smiling more. He clearly began to enjoy coming to church and his outbursts were less. He started interacting with others in a much better way. It became clear that he began to feel valued within our church family. God created us with great value and has hope for our lives and our future. God created Aiden with great value and has tremendous hope for his life and future. God created every last one of us with great value and hope. He knows his plans for us and they are full of hope.

Dear Lord, 

We know you love us, we know you want only good for us.  Your plans are always good.  Help us as individuals and as the body of Christ to welcome others in a Gospel way that creates hope for each other and our world.  In Jesus name we pray, Amen.