Wednesday, March 16
Love Extended
There is surely a future hope for you and your hope will not be cut off. —Proverbs 23:18
Larrion was just six when my family “adopted” him in the turbulent aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. His mother was serving time in prison, his father was a well-known drug dealer in town, and Larrion was living with Miss Ruth, an eighty-something-year-old relative of very limited means. Even after my husband’s death and son’s departure for college, I continued the weekend ritual of sharing trips to the park, museums and movies with Larrion. I took him to his basketball games and watched him experience his first taste of Chinese food. We played imaginative word games in the car as we were driving to the zoo or miniature golf. My heart soared as we talked about the future for Larrion, his hopes of a stable home and his fervent dream of playing basketball for LSU or some other college. And then one day my heart shattered to hear him say, after contemplating that potential future joy, “it probably won’t happen because I will be shot by then.”
In recognizing the hopelessness that Larrion’s life experience was presenting to him, I doubled down on my prayers for him and worked more diligently to show him the good and beauty that life offers. Ultimately, I lost Larrion, not to a bullet but to a sudden and unannounced move to another city with no forwarding information.
Larrion still resides in my heart. I pray that he is a strong, healthy young man with the love of God in his heart and that he is still playing basketball.
God of love and hope and futures, help us lavish our love on those who need it. Give us the strength to hold hope in our hearts in spite of all obstacles and to live in the conviction that love is never ever wasted. Amen.
Betty Schroeder