A little perspective changes everything.
22 children died from a meal that was tainted
with insecticide. 22 children died from
eating a hot lunch, of which was probably the only hot meal they would receive
all day. Let that sink in for a minute –
whether it was accidental or, heaven help them, intentional, they died.
And I’m worried about the price of school
clothes and amusement park tickets.
Ouch.
I completely understand that our lives are
different and even our trivial worries in America are important to God –
because they are part of our lives.
Planning a birthday trip is important because it’s part of my life, my
family’s life. I don’t believe in
punishing ourselves because we live in the great Land of the Free.
But right now, my heart is hurting and
burdened – because children die every day of things we would never dream of
worrying about here in America. When I
send my daughter to school, I don’t worry about her getting food poisoning (let
alone dying) because we have rules and regulations to protect our
children. Granted, something could still
make her sick but the chances of it being anything more than a stomach ache is
slim to none.
Today, things like this are just sinking in. There’s a little girl in the Dominican
Republic who stands in her polka dotted dress and pink sandals, unsmiling for a
picture with Compassion International. I
have her picture hanging on our fridge, right next to a picture of
Brynlea. I look at the two girls, so close
in age and ponder the differences.
Brynlea smiles wide, never having known hunger or need – all because of
where she was born. Viarys doesn’t smile
and I wonder why. Is it because she is
afraid that she won’t be chosen, because she is still feeling the hunger pains
from not having enough to eat? Oh, how I
would love to see a picture of her smiling.
I don’t have any great, profound meaning to
this post. Just the fact that my heart
is burdened right now. We are so
incredibly blessed. Change begins with
one person, making one decision to do something different.
Until next time,
Keep Reflecting J
