Getting Carded

By Mary Jedlicka Humston © 2012

            You don’t know her all that well. Sure, you sit near each other on the bleachers when your daughters play junior varsity basketball, but you wouldn’t describe her as a close friend. You hear she’s dealing with ovarian cancer and is homebound, recuperating from surgery and treatment.

            There’s the family a couple streets over. You know them casually, see them out for walks and occasionally talk about the weather and their dogs. You read in the newspaper that their teenaged son, the one with the red hair and big smile, was recently killed in a car accident.

            Situations like these make you feel helpless and

How Can I Help?

I have seen my share of crises—divorce, a factory accident that left permanent damage, a fire that gutted the basement of our home, and the sexual abuse of my daughter, to name a few. I understand the emotional, mental and physical fallout. I have been fortunate enough to have had two things that helped me weather hardship: faith in God, and friends.

Unless you are a hermit, I expect you know, or have known, someone who is in crisis and have struggled with the question “How can I help?” We often want to alleviate the pain or fix the situation and that is rarely possible. Sometimes, we avoid a family member or friend because we don’t know what to say or do. Helping isn’t difficult and need not be complicated either.

For ways you can help, read this week's Glory and Strength webzine feature, but first tell us how you've helped a friend in need. Leave your comment below.