Widows and orphans- Homeless mothers and kids in state custody

My church spent the morning and early afternoon today serving the homeless and hungry in our neighborhood. We cooked spaghetti and meatballs and worked together in a way I have not seen our small church work together before. There is unity in serving God.

There was a young woman there who has been staying at the shelter the last few days who asked for prayer. Her six month old baby is in state custody because her boyfriend hurt him and she is fighting to see him now and to get him back. My heart ached for her...I'm sure the situation is more complicated than I can understand, but as a mother my heart wept for her. I prayed with her and cried with her and prayed for her and the safety of her baby. I often wonder if we should take in foster children. I know that it is hard, but if I were this young woman, I would want someone like me--a stable, loving mother--taking care of her baby if he was taken out of my hands.

God cares so much about the helpless and the hurting, the orphan and the widow, the outsider and the cast aside. Lord, how do you want me to be involved in this woman's life and the life of others? How are you calling me to serve here?

Deuteronomy 10:17-19 
17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. 18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. 19 And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.

James 1:27
27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.