This morning Chris Jeub has posted a comment on his family blog about Gov Assistance and I'd like to post this out to all of you for open discussion. Chris Jeub, father of 16, and I sometimes discuss issues that effect families, and this one is a big one. Gov Assistance - Should it Exist? or should we solely depend on God to provide through other means? I asked Chris the question, "if God blesses you with #17 and you find yourself in a situation like The Duggars where the baby needed hospitalization and NICU and the amount would cause to go bankrupt, or let's say a child needs a life saving surgery and you qualified for Medicaid, would you accept, knowing in your heart that this was God's way of providing for you? I understand there are those who take advantage of the system, yes, but as you said God provides for His children..... I believe sometimes in the form of temporary assistance...... think about it" Let me say, I will never ask taxpayers to pay for birth control. Those that know me, know exactly where I stand on that issue, and I do not believe we should pay for anything optional or that one could pay for on their own through actually working for it. However, there are those times when the needs far exceed what we as individuals can provide. If you want to completely do away with Gov assistance.... would you willing to personally help pay for someone's maternity care if God blesses them with a child? Would you be willing to pay for the cancer treatments of that sweet teacher in your Sunday School class? Would you be willing to help pay for the nursing home or assisted living for your friend's mother? See, that's what we would have to do. WWJD? What would Jesus do? What would you do? The Bible tells us to love, care and provide for one another just as God loves, cares and provides for you, and if you want to see an end to Gov Assistance and all the UGLINESS you see in this world, ARE YOU WILLING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT? Are you willing to step in and provide in the name of the Lord? We're quick to judge, condemn and speak out about the " Government" and the " System" and those " people who use food stamps or welfare." You don't like it. CHANGE IT! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Open your hearts and your wallets! Spread the love of Jesus by first sharing who He is. Give people Jesus.Secondly, do what he would do....... and if you are not willing to do that and someone you know needs maternity care, medical care, etc, and they qualify for Gov Assistance- Don't you say a word against them, because in my opinion, that is God's way of providing for them where you didn't. - If you need help, don't be afraid or ashamed to ask for it in all forms and don't be ashamed to accept it in all forms that God may provide........ and We as Christians, I again repeat the question to you, you want Gov Assistance to end????? You see it as something ugly? abused? not needed? WWJD? What would Jesus do? What would you do? The Bible tells us to love, care and provide for one another just as God loves, cares and provides for you, and if you want to see an end to Gov Assistance and all the UGLINESS you see in this world, ARE YOU WILLING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT?
I'm opening the flood gate. Feel free to comment.
I'm opening the flood gate. Feel free to comment.
Whew!
ReplyDeleteAmy, which parts of your post is this Chris man's words/feelings/angle on the subject at hand and which is yours?
There are lots of quotations. Is that where you are quoting him?
Hi, you can read the Jeub post here http://jeubfamily.com/2012/09/26/government-assistance-2/, most of the blog above is my response to what he is saying in his blog. I hear it all the time, " we trust in God, we won't use the system," but honestly what I want to get across is sometimes the system is how God provides and I don't want anyone feeling ashamed or guilted for accepting help when they need it. Read my post tomorrow. We are going to cover this more in detail.
DeleteWe as Christians should be helping each other, but also, I think there are so many needs out there, that the only way to really get them all met is if EVERYONE pitches in, and I don't see that happening, so we have to have some kind of system in place to help those who have no one to help them. Faith and trust in God is a wonderful thing, but understand that God can choose to provide through the system. Not everyone who uses it abuses it. Some really need it and should use it when there is no other resource.
http://www.chrisjeub.com/self-reliance/
ReplyDeletehttp://jeubfamily.com/2012/09/26/government-assistance-2/
Thank you for your post. We were in a position where our son was dying. The church left us high and dry without help, care or compassion. The support system we spent YEARS building diminished to nothing when our son had significant long term health issues. Even when it just started, all those people we helped and gave to for so many years were not willing to help us in our time of need. Our "support system" crumbled.
ReplyDeleteWe do have state healthcare for our son. Without it, he would be dead. Even having the medical care, we still ran into significant issues as Dr.'s still do not understand what is wrong or what to do about it. The issues started when our son was 16 months and he is now just over 16. With the medical care I have fought for, he has now been stable since March. Having the medical coverage has allowed us to spend more time with our son and in the last few years has SIGNIFICANTLY improved his quality of life. For that we are forever grateful.
It deeply saddens my heart that those who were not there to help us are also the ones who are quick to point a finger at us and judge us for using the system. It boggles my mind that they would judge me for trying to keep my precious incredible son alive. That same child has graciously touched countless lives through his story.
EVERYONE has an opinion of what they would do. Well, I am here to say that until you are faced with the same situation with the same circumstances, you cannot plan ahead to what you would actually do in that moment. Things change, perspective changes and life happens. You can say you will do XYZ all you want but that is from the outside looking in. It isn't until you are in that actual position facing those challenges that you can actually prove that you would do XYZ.
Dear Sister in Love,
DeleteThank you for replying. May God give you many years with your son and precious quality time each and every day.
Please come back tomorrow as I post my own story and continue on this subject. I agree with you, no really understands, until they've been there.
There are so many thing in my life that I would have rather not happened in my life, but in each journey, I have learned, " Consider it all joy when you face trials..... (James) and God works all things out for good.... ( Romans 8:28)," God has used some ugly, bad things to get me where he needs me to be so that I can in turn understand and hopefully minister to others.To God be the Glory in all.
Thank you for reading and replying.
With a hug, Amy
Thank you for your kind words Amy. It has been a long tough battle (very long story). My son is currently doing ok. We continue to look for a diagnosis and treatments to help him. The problem is that his issues are RARE and Dr.'s just don't understand or know what to do. It is beyond frustrating. We are in the process of putting in an application for the Undiagnosed Diseases Program through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The fact is, we may never have answers or appropriate treatments. However, we are doing the best we can for him while we continue to press forward.
ReplyDeleteWe do have a Caringbridge Site set up for him but I do not want to put this info. out there on your blog. I can send you an e-mail with his info. if you are interested. I cannot find a way to e-mail privately so if you are interested, please e-mail me. It has been a LONG and ROUGH journey.
you can always email me anytime at wingfieldamily@gmail.com
DeleteAmy
I tried e-mailing you but it bounced back. I thought you would want to know. I will try again tomorrow.
Delete