We now live in a world where terms such as "single parent" or "fatherlessness" blend into our vocabulary as easily as discussing the weather. TV shows glorify it and secular music practically encourages it. Yet all too often, single parenting is anything but glorious. With approximately 37% of all US households headed by a single parent (40% of those are considered "food insecure"), a crisis alarm has been sounded; but is it falling on deaf ears...or on the hands and feet of Christ?
Thirty-one years ago Ronald Reagan stated, "Before they are eighteen, about half of our Nation's children will have lived part of their lives with a single parent who strives to fill the role of both mother and father...Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim March 21, 1984, as National Single Parent Day. I call on the people of the United States to recognize the contributions single parents are making, sometimes under great hardships, to the lives of their children, and I ask that they volunteer their help, privately or through community organizations, to single parents who seek it to meet their aspirations for their children." (Proclamation 5166)
Single parents aren't always the deadbeat dads or welfare-addicted moms we may stereotype them out to be (For a better example, you can check out our new AFW YouTube video here). They are people who have either made some poor decisions in life or been the victim of someone else's choice- the same sort of broken individuals as the rest of us. Single parents frequently lay their own lives, desires, and resources down for the better of their children. They can be more resourceful than many of us could ever imagine, and despite overwhelming amounts of stress and exhaustion, still find time to serve and love others. Jesus tells us in John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." (NASB) I have seen a single dad in the worst of health give 110% just to build a room for his daughter; and a single mom give away her already limited resources to another who needed them more. It is examples such as these accompanied by the love and hope we have in Christ that I am inspired and humbled to work among such amazing men and women. I pray you are too and will reach out to help serve a single parent in your life.
