who needs welfare?

As a family, we participate in a ministry in our church called the Bus Ministry.  On Sunday mornings, we meet at church, get on a bus, and then we ride around town, pick up children, and take them to church.

This past Sunday, there were several kids who were begging to help go to the next child's door and knock to see if they were going to come.  They so badly want to help.  They so badly want to be validated.  They so badly want to feel important, needed, valued. 

In the brief time that we have them in our care, my hope is that they will feel all of those things.  My hope is that they will be in a place where they feel safe, where they don't have to worry about being yelled at, made fun of, belittled, or ignored.  That is my prayer for our time together. 

There are exceptions, but most of these kids come from families that are most likely on welfare.  These kids are the faces of welfare.  So many people get upset about the "lazy people on welfare", but I wonder if they stop to think of these kids when they say that. I think we need to worry less about the so-called lazy people and more about these kids.  These kids didn't choose who would be their parents, what those parents dependencies would be, or what their income would be.  When I hear people throw up a stink about what those parents are buying with their food stamps, I can't help but think that I'm just glad that those kids will have something to eat, even if it is donuts and soda.