The New Man of the House

It was heartbreaking listening to Idekel yesterday share about how he stood up to his mom’s boyfriend and kicked him out of their house. The boyfriend had been defiantly unfaithful to Idekel’s mom, was no longer helping pay for all the food, and was fighting with everyone in the house. His mom had only stayed with him so long because she couldn’t provide for her family on her own, but Idekel let her know he would support her and his three siblings. The very next day he started working full time.
It’s so hard watching a fifteen year old take on these types of responsibilities and part of me wants to rescue him from this situation. Yet thanks to good books like When Helping Hurts by Corbett & Fikkert I’m reminded that my good intentions of giving out handouts or trying to take Idekel out of the situation could actually do more harm than good. So what should I do? I’m not exactly sure, I haven’t finished the book yet (hahaha), but I do know that being in a relationship with the whole family is very important. I’m praying for wisdom as to how I can best help the entire family long term, that God will give Idekel strength through this tough time and use it to make him stronger in the Lord, and that God would become more real to each family member as they learn to depend on Him more.