When helping isn’t

# Chapter 259

The alarm clock hasn’t gone off and it is still pitch dark outside but my dad is determined to get us up and running this morning no matter how much I need sleep and no matter how well I am sleeping. He means well but this won’t change my day for the better in any way. He has already decided that I need to leave by a certain time and that I have a certain distance to ride and that I should get my workout started earlier and all these decisions which cannot be made by him and even I don’t know the answer to most of these questions, you just have to get on the bike and see what the traffic is like and how far you get and know that whatever you ride today you won’t have to ride tomorrow. So I will do the best I can with what I have been given.

I wonder how many of our attempts to help come off like this, not helpful at all and actually making things more difficult. This is worthy of some thought. One of the most difficult things to get our minds around is that all these wonderful intentions that I have, can actually harm people and situations. One of the best books on this subject is “When helping hurts” by Corbett and Fikkert, and we made this required reading for all who wish to work in our NGO or Mission. But still, most just ignore the reading and do what they want. Unfortunately the intensity of my desire to help does not correlate to the results that my actions force upon a situation.