TURN A LIFE AROUND

Madison smiled. She’s seven. Until three days ago, I never remember seeing her smile.

Perpetually somber, that was Madison. Even more, her soft child-featured face was already shaded with a worried-adult cast.

The Bible refers often to “countenance—the facial indication of mood and emotion.” One of the first references says: “Then the LORD said . . . . why has your countenance fallen?”

I have asked myself—why? The conclusion? Her countenance is a reflection of her challenging life. I see Madison about once a week. She lives in an area crowded with mobile homes in an array of disrepair, some abandoned. Extreme unemployment and fractured families fuel hopelessness.

When teenagers at my church found out, I was asked, “What can we do to help?”

They decided to purchase back-to-school supplies for the kids in Madison’s neighbor. So, on Wednesday Ruben, Megan, Kayla and I went on a mission, delivering their purchases--backpacks stuffed with essentials.

The next time Madison saw me she ran up to my van. I rolled the window down, she said, “My mommy wants to thank you for the things.” Then Madison smiled. So did I. Her white-toothed grin tingled my emotions.

And then I saw Madison smile again. And again.

Theorizing what happened, this Proverb kept flickering into my brain: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” The Message Bible says it this way: “Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick, but a sudden good break can turn life around.”

Think about this. Because some teenagers decided to spend their own money to bring hope into the lives of kids they had never met, there is the distinct possibility they may have turned a life around.

Call it a faith-stretch to believe. Not for me. I saw Madison smile.