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Thom had a problem. His son was being teased because of his weight. He couldn’t force the bullies to stop, so he took a different approach: Build his son up. If his son felt good about himself, the teasing wouldn’t bother him. It might even stop.

To help out his son, Thom put his talents to work and wrote a song for him. The upbeat song with the catchy beat made his son feel good. After a little reworking, it continues to make people dance in their cars decades after Thom wrote it and his band recorded it. Today, we know it as “The Rubberband Man” by The Spinners.

Matthew 22:37-39 is a passage many of us have memorized: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

But when you break that down, what does that truly mean? All my soul? How do I do that? Yesterday, I heard it explained more simply and powerfully than ever before. In it’s most basic terms, it means to do exactly what Thom did for his son – use the gifts and talents God has given you to love him and love others.

Application
This month, that passage has a special application. This is National Adoption Month, and the need to respond is great. There are 111,820 children in the United States waiting to be adopted. There are nearly 30,000 children in the Texas foster care system and more than 7,000 children in Texas are waiting to be adopted.

Maybe you don’t feel called to be a foster or adoptive parent. But there are plenty of ways you can support adoptive families. Will you use your God-given talents to help a vulnerable child this month?

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