Every week in my Anger Management groups at Clark and Schaefer I ask the kids to answer 3 questions:
1-How do you feel right now and why?
2-What is one good thing that happened this week?
3-What is one not so good thing that happened this week?
It’s amazing how many times the kids’ feelings about their week are dictated by their fathers. Often, a boy or girl will say they had a great weekend when they got to see their dad. A high percentage of kids, I’d guess 70%, hardly, if ever see their dads. So the answer sequence will go:
“One good thing that happened was that I got to go over to my dad’s house, and one bad thing that happened was that I had to leave and when I got home I got in a fight with my mom/brother/sister.”
It’s sad. I can see clearly the effects of the broken homes in our city. Not having a positive male figure in their lives creates an emptiness in their worlds, a sense of powerlessness. I truly believe that their emptiness can only really be filled by their heavenly Father.
As you finish reading this I ask that you pray for these kids. Ask God to make Himself known to them in real and relevant ways. And pray that SCYM can be used to show them His love in practical ways, ways that reach into the emptiness and give them hope.
Chris LeMaster
Associate Director