I have been wanting to do a new blog post but just couldn't seem to post about anything when the earthquake in Haiti was weighing on my mind so much. My heart breaks for them. Don't you often feel so helpless when tragedies happen? My only hope is that somehow they will be able to rebuild their nation a little stronger... maybe more awareness will come to them for outsiders to help.
One day in church a month or so ago I listened to our pastor talk about how blessed we are to live here in America and how wealthy we are. It made me think of the passage in the bible in the book of Matthew 19:24...."And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."
I have to be honest, when I would hear that passage throughout my life I often would think to myself "well, I am just an average girl, we are just an average family, with an average annual salary... I have to struggle to pay bills sometimes... and worry how I will afford college. No worries there for me, I am not rich!"
but what the pastor said that day changed me... I am so naive... so blind.
He said " for those of us that live in America (or any wealthy nation) , we think being rich is to make alot of money and drive in expensive cars... wear expensive clothes... travel all over and enjoy the good life." So true right??
Then he said... "stop for a minute... and think... what if YOU... the average person out there that works 9-5 to pay your bills, put food on the table for your family and gets to enjoy a little bit extra."
"What if YOU are the rich man in that passage?"
Well, shock kindof settled in my body thinking about the struggles I go through to keep up with my kids needs and paying those crazy high utility bills every month and how expensive it is to go to the beach every year and the sacrifices we make to do that. wow. I never thought I could be that rich man that in my mind was always somebody else.
Do you know that an average yearly salary in Haiti is around $270.00 or less. Can you even imagine? They are so poor... so incredibly poor...
Friends, I am vowing to do better this year, BE better. I am vowing to somehow bring more awareness to my own children about these issues. I am going to try to come up with some unique family projects that we can do together to teach them about compassion for others. These are the things that I will be most proud of at the end of our lives. I am writing this all here so that I can get all of these feelings out into words.
I was thinking that if each person gave just 10.00 ... what an amazing thing that would be?? I found this wonderful non profit organization on the internet called Hope for Haiti. I read through the whole site and I wanted to share it with you. It is nice because you can donate any amount you like through paypal. SO easy. Give a little if you can... we all can.
I found this quote on the Doctors without Borders site... another wonderful place to give, they are doing wonderful things and I also read their site to see news of what is happening there.
"Trying to catch people's attention to something so far removed from their daily reality which barely impacts them is hard. But if we cover all bases, we can make in-roads into their awareness." —MSF nurse Fiona Bass
That quote pretty much sums up why it is so hard for us to imagine what life must be like for people that live in poor countries. We are just SO incredibly fortunate.
xo Heather
Photo Credits to soslappy on Flickr
