No Easy Way Out

She ignored the dripping faucet and avoided the inclination to examine the leak, postponed the call to the plumber, and hoped there would be minor consequences. Delay can be disastrous.  Had she called a professional sooner, she would have discovered the lack of water pressure, of which she had become accustomed, was directly connected to the rusting pipes under the house, and the leaking main to the street. A winter wonder of ice, snow and brutal cold did a “reveal” on her plumbing, which was exorbitantly expensive to repair.

In the world in which we live, there is a quick fix for almost everything.  Duct tape and paper towels are big sellers. The easy way out of a mess is often my first thought. Quick fixes are our default responses along with the notion and fantasy that things are not broken at all.

Much is way past due for repair in Orange Mound.  This historic and proud, oldest and most authentic, neighborhood of yesteryear is only a fading memory.  The original families would not recognize what it has become today.

Homes are passed down through families and often land into the grateful hands of single moms with no experience in home repairs, networks of reputable contractors, or means to address the leaks, decay, and raw wiring.  The mortgages are within reason, but the utility bills are extravagantly high due to poor insulation, holes in the floors, and water escaping along with the heat and the hope that things will ever be corrected.  Our women of great worth and dignity have had to settle for deplorable, collapsing home.  They live in a broken neighborhood in a broken city in a broken country in a broken world.

Jesus came to an identical world populated quite similarly with people like us drowning in economic and social injustice.  He lived and died as the only solution promising that the deplorable, collapsing condition in which we find ourselves would be made new again. He came with a “platinum credit card” for our payment and the private cell phone number of the Creator, Sustainer, and Judge of all the Heavens and Earth.  Jesus didn’t look for the easy way out but accomplished His work with unspeakable, inconceivable suffering so that we can call on His Father God to still our storms, comfort us in the cold of the night, feed our children, and start our cars on a frosty morning.  He has done this and countless things more for us in Orange Mound.  He meets our needs.

Scripture tells us that the poor and oppressed are loved by the Lord and are special to Him. We know the Lord’s eyes are on the women of Orange Mound and that He provides for them. He is the father for the fatherless, and the husband to our single moms. Ask any one of our ladies what He has provided, and you will find that while their budgets are stretched their hearts are full and running over. He inhabits their praises, which resound throughout The House. “Thank you, Lord,” begins every prayer, and the list is long.   Grateful hearts are contagious.

We invite you to come alongside our Father who is our “fixit man.”  Your faith and trust will be impacted.  He was a carpenter and often requests an apprentice to assist Him as He cares for us.  Perhaps you have the tools or extra time.  You will learn much about what has a lifetime warranty and what is expendable.  The bonus for His helpers is immeasurable as they get to work with Him.