April 23, 2024
I have a thing about flashlights. Rarely is one far from me.
I keep them in my car, nightstand, and various places around the house. Each of my kids has a flashlight in his or her room. Because you can’t hold your phone in your teeth when you need both hands free, I even keep a flashlight in my pocket.
Why? I don’t like being caught in the dark. Forgive the double negative, but I don’t like not knowing what’s there.
Many children across Georgia don’t know either. Change and upheaval are the only constants in their young lives. They don’t know what it’s like to go to the same school two years in a row. Neither are they familiar with the expectation of something for their birthday or under the tree at Christmas. Affection, support, and a general sense that they can be something remain tough to grasp.
The staff and volunteers with the Georgia Baptist Children’s Home battle against those perceptions every day. Through various programs such as group home and campus residential care, counseling, foster care, and maternity care, GBCHFM gives children a place to grow and be safe. They give children a place to be … children.
In its most recent report, the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS) recorded a 2.9 percent increase of service cases for its fiscal year, which began in July 2017. Should that trend hold, it will reverse a two-year decline in the number of cases serviced. It's a reversal in the wrong direction, and issues a call for others to step in.
Your support for Georgia Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services doesn’t just help a statistic. It helps a child. It gives them something they may already be thinking is for other kids – hope. Hope for stability and a family. Hope to learn about a Creator who loves them.
Being a part of that miracle through the GBCHFM can happen easily in giving a little more to the offering plate on Mother's Day, May 13 for Georgia Baptist Children’s Homes Sunday. It’s your chance to be the light in the darkness. It’s your chance to help these children see what can be there for them.
