Tuesday, January 27, 2009

The Gift of Hurt - Part One

This week God gave me a new gift - the gift of hurt. In the midst of 'how many more kids can I pick up for work? Has anyone called T about a job yet? When do we need to start paying for our own insurance?' God stepped in to say - you are BLESSED. In the last several days, I have now watched two painful videos which are now seared in my mind. They didn't leave me with a feeling of hope, or of peace. They stirred me to the point of tears. Tears for children I will never know. Tears for children I can never help. And in sharing these videos with T, I remarked that as painful as they were to watch - I think we all should step out of our comfort zones to allow our very souls to be hurt. As my tears flowed freely this morning, all our problems seemed to melt away and my eyes were opened. I think that no matter how religious or aware of social issues we are - we, as Americans, continue to shut our eyes. It's not our problem. We can't do anything about it anyway. I ask that you take the time to view the video below as a painful eye opener.



I confess, at one point I use to make the same remarks as many I have heard from others, "why don't we help the kids in our country first?" NO CHILD in our country has to suffer the way those children do. "Why don't we take care of our own? It isn't our responsibility to try to solve someone else's problems." But oh, it is. As I said above, we are SO blessed. In the midst of economic turmoil and rising unemployment - this country is still prosperous and blessed by God. And yet we continue to squander his gifts.

In the aftermath of the video, we both lamented that we don't do enough, nearly enough. And even with 3 children sponsored through Compassion, it still isn't enough. And it is sad to know that we are doing 3 times more than the average American. That is painful to acknowledge. Our own ability to close our eyes and shut out the cries of God's children. If you are one that is active in charity and helping others, I applaud you. But I know that the "harvest is plentiful and the workers are few."

If you made it to the end of that video, you were able to see the seed of hope that was planted. The children are now being cared for and their older sister, "through a sponsor from America, is now being given the chance to just be a child." That is hope. And even if it is only one child, or three children being helped - they were not forgotten. Because someone took the time to open their eyes and feel the pain of another. Please search your own heart and pray about sponsoring a child now, I know you will not regret it and you will be blessed by your work with the Lord's children.
Please browse Compassion's website. (They have children listed from 25 countries. You may choose a child based on country, birthdate, sex, and/or age.) Also, please list my name as your Compassion Advocate in the notes section if you decide to sponsor so that they can credit the Advocate network in South Carolina with a sponsorship vs. the website. Compassion audits all information closely to see that all areas are fruitful and worth the investment made. Please let me know if you have any questions about sponsorship or Compassion's vision and work.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am speechless. I am just sitting here crying my eyes out and thanking God that my little Calista does not have to live a life like that. It is so sad to think that millions of our tax dollars are now being sent overseas to aid in abortions, however we wouldn't dare send our money to help these little ones. It is sickening. I am proud of you for trying to change the world one little blog at a time. Love you, Chrissy

Abbie H. said...

It's a horrible thing to watch and I cried...like a baby. There are times where I want to do so much-even down to going there myself. BUT then I just don't know how you come out seeing something like that and not being so angry or without hope. How do you not pick up every one of those children and bring them home? I am glad to hear that the group came a long and took care of them and are continuing to do so. Noone deserves that. Noone.