I Wish I Cared

By Beth Gulley

For the last few days I have pestered everyone I know about the state budget cuts.

On Saturday I learned the state had drastically cut funding to the arts which could limit opportunities for my children as well as eliminate some of my favorite events. On Monday I learned the state cut funding to the humanities, and as a result the historical story telling workshop the Time Machine was planning will not include experts from Emporia State University this year.

On Tuesday more rumors about the state budget surfaced, and I have been boring my family members trying to find out if they are true. The question, though, is why did I just start caring now that it affects me? Why didn’t I care for the last two years when young teachers lost their jobs due to the budget cuts? Why didn’t I care when my neighbor felt the economic crunch and let his house go back to the bank? Why didn’t I care when my more senior colleagues didn’t get raises last year because of a budget shortfall? I should be my brother’s keeper. I should care about others early enough that I can do something proactively to help. Instead I have ignored the crisis until I can do nothing but sit with my jaw gapping because the crisis finally hurts me.

I should be like Amanda Preston, a second grade teacher and children’s volunteer at My Father’s House, who doesn’t wait until it is too late to care for her neighbor. She recently traded in her four door sedan for a minivan, so she can pick up more people to bring them to church. Even though she lives in Spring Hill and works in Gardner, she drives to Osawatomie every Wednesday and Sunday to pick up people for services. Two years ago, she worried that her bible quizzers wouldn’t have enough money to purchase their quizzing books, so she convinced another church to donate money to help each child afford the materials, plus a t-shirt, and lunch at McDonalds after the quiz. This past week, Amanda convinced me to move outside of my comfort zone and spend my spring break week eating lunch at various elementary schools with children from our church. She even laughed when she got someone’s gogurt in her hair. Amanda is a great example of someone who doesn’t just wish she cared.

Short URL: http://osawatominews.com/?p=1048

Posted by admin on Mar 23 2011. Filed under Beth Gulley, Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry