May 7, 2020 | By neighborhoodev
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My Heart Breaks

My heart breaks because of the fact that I work with kids everyday whose future has already been determined by the rest of the world. My heart breaks because they are born into a system stacked against them. My heart breaks because this is not the first generation of kids to face this same situation. My heart breaks because we as a society value trivial things over a human life. My heart breaks because 1 out of every 25 kids born into poverty in Charlotte will get out. My heart breaks because our kids education is being devalued by the day. My heart breaks because there are people in our city with the mean and influence to make an impact but are choosing to do nothing. My heart breaks because we have become so blind to those in need around us that we don’t even know it.

I cried real tears. I had just come from meeting with one of our students about making up school work they hadn’t done. The situation was not looking hopeful, the students grade was no where close to where they wanted to be. I was overwhelmed with sadness wondering how any student could get into this position. Thinking this situation was not fair, how in the world am I supposed to help this student make up this much work? And that was the issue, it was not MY situation to control. I was just a piece in this students story that God was writing. And once I realized that the pressure was gone, and it was time to get to work. So I showed up, day after day working on one assignment at a time knowing that God was using this time to build the student and I’s relationship. We worked day in and day out, not only talking about the work, but about life and growing up. And it was a reminder to me that I am a part of something bigger than myself. I alone will not be able to change everything, but I play a very important role in making that change happen. The trick is to show up, buildings aren’t built in one day, the workers show up day after day and we must do the same.

We are not fighting a fair fight, we are up against an ideology that has been in place for hundreds of years. We are up against a legal system that has been in place for 244 years. We are up against cycles that have gone through generation after generation. We are up against hate that goes back to the very beginning of this country. We are up against statistics that tell us that our work is hopeless. But, we have the ultimate victor on our side. Undefeated in battles and wars. Never lost. So we are not fighting a fair fight because everything we are up against doesn’t stand a chance. My God is bigger than any ideology, legal system, cycle, or hate that can come against us.

What about you? Will you join the fight with us?

Heres our pitch: We’re on the winning team.

Blessings,

TJ