Praying About Homeless Children

One out of every six students at Belleair Elementary comes from a homeless family. As of May 3, 2011 there were 2462 homeless children in Pinellas County. Roughly ten more are added to the list every day according to Fox News 13. Do the math.

There are five times more homeless children in Pinellas than five years ago and it's getting worse. This is an ugly, unhealthy situation begging for a solution. Nobody wants to wait around for the economy to improve before trying to help. So what can we do?

I know when I have to face an ugly problem that doesn't have an easy solution and seems to be getting worse...I turn to prayer. The results are often surprising and always dependable. Focusing thought humbly on a higher source of wisdom reveals solutions that were unclear or even invisible before. 

The Christian Science church in Clearwater, where I am a member, recently voted to start a matching fund to help homeless children here in Clearwater. Money and offers of help came in immediately. Our Sunday School children will be putting together packages for school children that include school supplies, toiletries, etc. This was our answer to prayer.

Our Sunday Bible lesson the week we voted was about Solomon and his wisdom. One of the take-aways for me was that the "Wisdom of Solomon" wasn't really his. It was God's wisdom revealed to Solomon, and is just as available to us today. Humbly seeking the divine source of wisdom worked pretty well for King Solomon since he became not only the wisest but also the richest king in the known world at that time. His wise sayings are still available in the book of Proverbs in The Bible.

My hope is that lots of us here in Clearwater will find inspired ways to help the thousands of children in Pinellas County that are currently victims of homelessness. And that prayer will continue to reveal real-life, hands-on solutions.