Tag Archives: helping the needy

Deep Wounds

As a child, you tend to place your favorite people up on a pedal stool, doing no wrong in your eyes.  However, when reality sets in as these people shatter your perfect image of them, heart break often follows.  Subsequently, deep wounds open, inflicting your soul with anguish unlike anything you’ve experienced before.

During the days of Israel’s exile, the prophet Jeremiah pours out his heart in a letter entitled Lamentations.  Weeping through his writing, Jeremiah refers to wounds as deep as the sea floor, Lamentations 2:13.  Perhaps Jeremiah is struggling with his expectations of God’s promises compared to the reality of his current condition.  Like being rejected by the man or woman of your dreams, deep wounds form which some never recover from or take years to heal.

If you stop for a moment to look around, you are probably surrounded by individuals hiding their pain.  Whether it’s the reckless driver on your way to work, the disgruntled employee or quiet neighbor, each is trying to cope with their pain.  Depending upon your response to their needs, you will either sooth or worsen their wounds.  Let your light shine today, Matthew 5:13, to help others begin to heal from the deep wounds of life.

Please comment on how you have been healed or helped someone else start this process.

by Jay Mankus

Searching for a Reason to Live

Living pay check to check is exhausting, especially when your money disappears before your expenses are fully covered.  Like a high school student bored beyond measure, living for the weekend isn’t any better.  There must be something greater, with meaning and purpose out there.  Thus, my journey has begun to find a reason to live.

Over the weekend I attended a benefit concert for Kay’s Kamp and Ashley’s Orphans.  Kay was one of my former students who died of a rare form of cancer shortly after graduating from Red Lion Christian Academy.  Meanwhile, Ashley’s life was cut short prematurely in a boating accident while she attend the Elementary at Red Lion.  Despite their deaths, their legacies live on by the faith each displayed in their living years.

Lost in my attempt to provide for my family is a higher calling, a vision to make an impact for eternity.  When the Raymond Lee Band donated all of their proceeds from Saturday’s concert to these 2 organizations, my heart was convicted by my selfishness.  Perhaps, we can all learn from this example, sacrificing temporary wants for those around you who are more needy.  May the Holy Spirit, guide each of us to find a higher reason to live, Galatians 5:25.

by Jay Mankus