ORPHANS & WIDOWS

There is a verse that I've been thinking about a lot over the last few months. I'll share it with you here.

James 1:27 Religion 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.

Our desire to adopt out of the foster care system is in the forefront of my mind these days, so it makes sense that I'd be thinking about this verse more than usual. However, we all need to be looking after orphans and widows. Every single one of us. That means the Ws (and we're going to become more active in this area). That means you.

How are you helping orphans and widows? How can you help orphans and widows? The answers to those questions will vary from person to person and family to family, but we all need to be doing something. Anything. And while I believe that it's important to pray for the orphans and widows, I'm confident that the verse in James is talking about practical, tangible, physical ways of helping.

I thought I'd list out some of the things that I've thought of, but I'd love for you to share more ideas in the comments section. Some of the things in my list are for the elderly population in general, as many of them are widowed. Other things may include kids in single parent homes, foster homes, etc. While these kids may have a real or substitute parent, they don't have the complete set of parents that they should have. Items in green are hyperlinks for you to get more information.

WIDOWS
* drive them to appointments, stores, etc.
* mow their lawn
* watch their kids (not all widows are elderly)
* stop by to visit, do puzzles, etc
* invite them over for dinner & give rides, if needed
* visit a nursing home, assisted living, or adult foster care facility
* acknowledge their deceased spouse's birthday, date of death, and anniversary
* make sure they have food, heat, etc during a storm
* volunteer for Meals on Wheels
* anonymously put money toward their account (rent, electricity, garbage, etc)


ORPHANS
* foster a child
* adopt a child
* give money to organizations that care for orphans
* provide foster parents with toiletries, kids' clothing, gas cards, etc
* provide money to a family who is in the midst of an expensive adoption
* join Big Brothers Big Sisters
* volunteer for a missions organization that serve in orphanages
* host a shower for an adoptive parent (they'll need stuff for new kids who aren't babies too!)


I know there are a gazillion more ideas out there, but these were off the top of my head. Please share the things that you do to help orphans and widows. Or brainstorm ways that those who are new to the idea could get started. Include links to websites when possible!