{"id":2494,"date":"2012-04-19T05:14:39","date_gmt":"2012-04-19T09:14:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=2494"},"modified":"2012-04-18T21:22:21","modified_gmt":"2012-04-19T01:22:21","slug":"helping-the-wounded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/04\/helping-the-wounded.html","title":{"rendered":"Helping the Wounded"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A few days ago a Special Gathering volunteer came to me and said, “I believe that the Lord has shown me that to help Valerie, I must simply love her. \u00a0She is hurting and that is why she is so impossible to everyone.” \u00a0It’s true. \u00a0Varerie has recently lost her mother and father who were extremely protective of her. \u00a0Her sisters have resented her because of the attention she received most of over their lives; and Valerie is no longer welcomed to be with their families. \u00a0For several years, she was living in her own apartment but medical and behavioral issues forced her to move into a group home.<\/p>\n

The staff at her new home is loving and cares deeply about Valerie. \u00a0Yet, her bossy attitude keeps everyone stirring in anger and confusion. \u00a0Each time we have Special Gathering, the residents emerge from the bus in an annoyed state, pushing and pulling of each other’s emotions. \u00a0Even some of the members of SpG are effected. \u00a0This volunteer notices the confusion that Valerie engenders.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>There are so many people who are wounded that know no other reaction other than lashing out to wound others. \u00a0Is the answer as simple as what the volunteer said. \u00a0Can love simply work to heal hurts? \u00a0The answer is yes but there must also be discipline. \u00a0When Valerie decided to cause a stir later that day, the wise volunteer stepped in and firmly but gently disciplined her. \u00a0Then she hugged Valerie.<\/p>\n

Love is training our members into truth. \u00a0In Titus, Paul wrote to a young pastor and told him to train his congregants in truth. \u00a0Paul advised him that we must love enough to disciple. \u00a0There must be a balance even for those who are wounded. \u00a0We must help the wounded by reaching out in gentle love. \u00a0Yet, when needed, we should also\u00a0touch with grace and discipline with godly mercy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few days ago a Special Gathering volunteer came to me and said, “I believe that the Lord has shown me that to help Valerie, I must simply love her. \u00a0She is hurting and that is why she is so impossible to everyone.” \u00a0It’s true. \u00a0Varerie has recently lost her mother and father who were…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,182,40,186,49,16,215,8,4],"tags":[690,21,688,7,699,715,701,694,374,6],"class_list":["post-2494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-disability","category-faith","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-love","category-mentally-challenged-community","category-simple-truths","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-faith","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-love-and-discipline","tag-simple-scriptural-truths"],"yoast_head":"\nHelping the Wounded - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/04\/helping-the-wounded.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Helping the Wounded - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A few days ago a Special Gathering volunteer came to me and said, “I believe that the Lord has shown me that to help Valerie, I must simply love her. \u00a0She is hurting and that is why she is so impossible to everyone.” \u00a0It’s true. \u00a0Varerie has recently lost her mother and father who were…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/04\/helping-the-wounded.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-04-19T09:14:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-04-19T01:22:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2012\/04\/bandage-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. Howard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Helping the Wounded - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/04\/helping-the-wounded.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Helping the Wounded - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","og_description":"A few days ago a Special Gathering volunteer came to me and said, “I believe that the Lord has shown me that to help Valerie, I must simply love her. \u00a0She is hurting and that is why she is so impossible to everyone.” \u00a0It’s true. \u00a0Varerie has recently lost her mother and father who were…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/04\/helping-the-wounded.html","og_site_name":"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","article_published_time":"2012-04-19T09:14:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-04-19T01:22:21+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2012\/04\/bandage-300x200.jpg"}],"author":"Linda G. 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