When Jeannie was thirteen, tragedy struck her in the form of a drive-by shooting. Someone fired a shotgun blast into the house where she and her family lived. Jeannie was wounded in the eye. Because she had no health insurance, she was turned away by hospital after hospital. By the time her parents found one that would accept her, it was too late. Jeannie lost her eye.

I was practicing law at the time and was absolutely outraged by the absence of access to health care for this child. Jeannie and I became good friends, and I was eventually able to help her get a prosthetic eye. She went on to finish school, have a family, and become employed by the Department of Human Services. Whatever help I had been to her was an investment that resulted in a wonderful mother and productive citizen.

Role Models
My parents were incredible role models of faith and service, of sharing what they had to help others. They believed in living their faith every day, and they cared deeply about children, about all people.

There were always foster children in our home. Christmas in our family was about helping others, delivering food and clothing to those in need. My father told us, “If you respond to the need around you and trust God, you will never go wrong.”

My mother raised twelve foster children after she raised her own five children. The community of my childhood reached out and considered all children its own. When children did not have a place to go, others took them in, and it was this community kinship that enriched all our lives.

Parents Are Examples
It is so much harder today for parents to keep control of their lives, but this is all the more reason for parents and other adults to make clear that there are certain unchanging values like honesty and service and love that transcend all cultures.

Children need to believe in something, and they are taught what to believe in by the adults around them. They watch us in all of our roles—as parents, citizens, teachers, preachers, and politicians—to see how we live. And we can be honest about the struggles and let them see that we may at times make mistakes and fall short of our goals.

We are ordinary people who, by the grace of God, can be extraordinary. When hard times come and the wind shears of life hit us, we keep the faith and keep doing the best we can.

Keeping the Faith
I am able to keep the faith through prayer. I could not live without prayer. I try to find in every minute of every day a recognition of God's presence and also to reflect the presence of God in me through the way I live my life. No, I could not live without prayer.

I remember the words of Jesus: “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you” (Mt. 7:7). Prayer is a way of asking, searching, and finding God. And a life of prayer is a way we can all reach out with love and care to God's children.

Abridged from an article previously featured in Daily Word®.

Marian Wright Edelman is founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund, an organization celebrating 35 years of educating people about the needs of children. Edelman is a graduate of Spelman College and Yale Law School. A successful author, she has received many honorary degrees and awards including the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Prize.