Bearing Each Others' Burdens: A Christmas Reflection
By: Kristina Valdez, MSW; Executive Director
There’s thousands of people who receive our newsletter now–from all walks of life and faith backgrounds; my hope is that there will be elements of my reflection that resonate with you in our shared humanity, even if our belief systems are different. I’d love to hear your why for supporting ATW; click here to share a line or 2 with me!
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Merry Christmas! We’re in the middle of Christmastide–the 12 days celebrating the greatest gift the world has ever received — Emmanuel which means God With Us. Christmastide officially ends on Jan 5; however, in the time leading up to Christmas & even now, I’ve been reflecting on what Christmas really means applied to my life day in & day out, including my role leading Along The Way and I keep coming back to this,
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).
This could easily be read as “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Love” (because God is love). These are some of the most powerful words I’ve ever read — it is clear & direct (if you know me, you know direct is my style so I’m grateful God doesn’t make us read between lines because I’m very bad at that); our belief in Emmanuel is expressed by carrying the burdens of others.
So what does this have to do with Along The Way?
Everything! Along The Way derives its name from the founders’ desire to walk along the way of life’s journey with women, in emulation of the way that God With Us walks along the way of life with you and me! In January’s newsletter, we’ll be hearing from Jane Reagan, one of our founders, so I'll stick to how I interpret the history of our organization’s name.
To me, walking “along the way” of life with those we serve seems a whole lot like “carry each other’s burdens” because while life is joyful, it's also hard. It’s messy. It’s messy because we are all imperfect and what sometimes results is painful – misunderstandings, disconnection, disappointment, failed relationships, trauma….and the list goes on. I’ve experienced all of these things in my life and I hold dear those people who walked “along the way” with me, shining a light in my dark moments, giving me hope. Having had people show up in my time of need, carrying my burdens with me, compels me to want to give others that gift, because it is transformative.
THIS is the reason I love my role at Along The Way! For me, serving at Along The Way is essentially fulfilling the command to carry each other’s burdens; as a former single mother myself, I can say, the burdens of single moms are many. Here’s just a few of the burdens experienced by some of the mothers we talk to who get in touch with us seeking child care:
Not having reliable child care to work = enormous burden.
Needing to choose between leaving your grade schooler home alone so you can work to feed them or not working and being unable to provide for them = serious burden.
Choosing to leave your kids home alone so you can work and provide for them, but then risking or actually losing your children to foster care when it's discovered = unthinkable burden
Not having a natural support system of family and friends close by to help you & your children= yet another burden.
Shifting your kids from house to house every day based on which friend or relative can watch your kids = another burden and one that greatly affects children.
Not having a true pathway to financial stability because you can most readily find a job that requires working evenings and weekends when daycares are closed = a burden that keep the cycle of generational struggle going
Over the last couple of years, our Along The Way community (which includes all of you receiving this newsletter!) have begun to bear witness to the transformative power of bearing each other’s burdens in a really concrete and amazing way – some of the women we’ve served as clients have started coming back to us as volunteers & employees of Along The Way to help other women who are in the same situation they were in at one point. We saw that with Karmen, who opened up her own dance studio, while also paying it forward by working for us part-time as a child caregiver. And now, Sara Sanders, who you may remember as the first mom that Along The Way served from 2016-2018, has just been hired as our full-time case manager to walk “along the way” with the moms in our program; the beauty of this is many-fold and will be the subject of the Jan newsletter; however, what strikes me is that by Along The Way carrying Sara’s burdens with her when she needed extra support (like we all do sometimes!), by showing up day after day to lovingly care for her children, she was able to get ahead and now delights in showing up for other women, “bearing their burdens” with them, while also being able to provide for her 3 boys as a single mother.
I know I speak on behalf of the mothers & children we serve, and the entire staff at Along The Way–from the bottom of our hearts, thanks for walking “along the way” with us, in time, talent and treasure. Your support since 2016 allowed us to survive a pandemic, allowed us to continue providing service– 3,000 hours of child care in 2022 as we simultaneously invested in developing a sustainable revenue model that will allow us to serve hundreds more families. Without the generosity of those who gave in 2022, we would have been unable to do either.
Learn more about our child care service, including how to apply here.
Interested in working for us? We provide exceptional benefits including full medical, vision and dental insurance, 4 weeks of paid time off, ongoing paid professional development training, flexible scheduling, and a minimum wage of $20/hr.