The Dark Days

“The Dark Days”- that’s how we refer to a period of time in our family history. Our adopted kids had been home a short time and we were dealing with trauma and adjustment, the economy had tanked, Michael was unemployed, and we were both depressed.

We paid our mortgage with credit cards, humbly received food from local pantries, and had one barely functioning vehicle. The day of reckoning always comes, and it did for us as well. The credit cards were maxed, the vehicle broke down, and no job prospects were on the horizon. We had exhausted our resources.

One kind family at our church drove from Edwardsville to Roxana to take us to church in Edwardsville, and they brought two cars because we couldn’t all fit in one. This went on for a couple of months until the church fixed our vehicle. They also provided Christmas gifts for our kids that year.

Eventually the van broke down again, and a few days later another church- a church we didn’t attend- loaned us their passenger van. Within a few weeks, they voted to give us the van, and paid for the taxes and title transfer as well! Ultimately those dark days came to a close for us, but the compassion God gave me for others who are walking through poverty has not left me.

There is a stigma we experienced when we endured material poverty. It was a feeling of being powerless over our circumstances and ashamed that we could not provide for our own family. We assumed others thought poorly of us, and we were dehumanized by the process of receiving welfare benefits from the state. We battled feelings of worthlessness, as though our value was measured solely by what we were not able to contribute.

So, the way we were loved by the family of God during that season of life impacted our entire family. We will not forget the ways in which the Church showed up for us over and over, whether it was diapers on our porch or cash in the mailbox, gifts for our kids, help with transportation, help with employment, or simply encouragement and love. We were not forgotten.

“Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.” 1 Corinthians 16:1-2

These two verses tucked away at the end of 1 Corinthians remind us that God does not forget the poor, despite how they may feel. He instructed Paul to tell the Corinthians to do the same thing He had told the church in Galatia to do- give, and specifically, give to help the impoverished members of the church in Jerusalem.

The holiday season has many calls for generosity and giving, for both the believer in Christ, and the world at large. God’s people, however, are called to live open handed all year long. On this coming Lord’s Day, and on those to follow, we should all be participating in giving according to the measure in which God has blessed us. If we have much or little, it is all from His hand. And as He has cared for us, He uses us to care for one another! May we give generously so that others may have their needs met, and may God be glorified in both our giving and in our receiving. 

-Natalie Runyon