The Day I Cried

In 2005 we were attending a Church that I loved.  I had made friends with my neighbor lady who had two children.  She was white, but the father was black.  He had abandoned her and the children.  The two girls were twelve and eight.  The situation broke my heart.  The lady was attending the police academy and was planning to be on the force.  She was living in desperate depressing conditions though.  It came time for Vacation Bible Camp at our Church.  We had taken the girls to Church with us several times so I went to the youth director and asked for help so the girls could go to camp.  He said, reluctantly, he would pay for one of them if we paid for the other one and so we did.  He then put his arm against the wall and said in a disgusting manner, "Where did you meet these people anyway?"  His question took my breath away for a couple of seconds.  It was the way he said it.  He was upset, there was no doubt about that.  I told him that they were my neighbors and he wiped his face and said "okay".  I left.  My heart was so cast down that I might as well have cried to see prejudice inside the Church leaders like this.

The girls were so happy when they got the news and I never mentioned what took place.  A week later they all came back and the next Sunday when we were on our way to Church the eldest girl asked if I would sit in the back with her.  She told me the first day at Camp a girl accused her of stealing a quarter from her.  After that, she said that none of the girls would have anything to do with her.  She asked me why that girl would do that if she was a Christian.  That question felt like a hammer hit me on the head.  I tried to explain to her that some people are prejudiced and just because that girl went to Chruch it didn't mean that she was a Christian.  I held her hand and told her I was sorry that she had to go through that.  She never went to Church with us after that Sunday.  How sad at such a tender age.  

The Mother did graduate and became a guard at the Court House.  My heart broke for those two sweet precious girls whose father had left them and for the bad experience at the Church.  Prejudice of all kinds will always exist until Jesus comes back to make it right.