Africa

$20.67 for lunch at Pizza Inn today for our family.  My husband wanted to treat us after church and we were happy to oblige.  Filling growling tummies with fresh salad, heaps of pizza, and of course dessert.  We had all gained 3 pounds by the time we headed out the door, back to our comfortable home for a nice Sunday afternoon nap.

Sunday night conviction hits.  Africa pictures and stories of mothers carrying starving babes 60 miles or more for some scrap of food the refugee camp can offer.   A music staff of ribs seen on thousands of children, but the songs played in their lives is that of poverty, drought, neglect.  We see the pictures and hear the stories, but are we moved?  Heart may fill and tears may well, but do feet go, or do hands reach deep into pockets to give?


The money comes so freely when we are seeking ourselves, looking to fill our own stomachs, paying the price they require is easy.  The distant pain pierces a little differently.  Someone else will help, we have this bill coming up, maybe later. . . But what if that were me?  What if I lay there bone thin, lips cracked from dehydration, ribs showing the sorrowful song of starvation?  What if I had given my last bit of rice to my children and the decision came to die in our home or try to walk the hot, dusty miles with no strength in hopes of reaching the camp of hope?  What if I hadn't eaten in 5 days and woke to cockroaches stuck to my mouth seeking moisture?  What if. . .


God has given me much, and much is required.  Today I will give.  In October, my husband goes.  Our sacrifice is nothing.  Men and women die everyday sacrificing their very lives for the sake of the Gospel.  These small steps of obedience, of small sacrifice draw me closer to the One who sacrificed all, who obeyed to the death.  Pray today what you can sacrifice for our Lord - time, money, yourself -  it becomes even more precious when given away.


Africa is hurting - http://www.worldvision.org/news.nsf/news/kenya-hunger-drought-200909-enews 

http://www.unicefusa.org/work/emergencies/horn-of-africa/?utm_campaign=MS%20-%20Horn%20of%20Africa%20Emergency&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=Bing&utm_term=Kenya%20drought



Thankful today for . . .
170.  food - within arms' reach, everyday
171.  air conditioning
172.  medicine
173.  my comfortable country
174.  awareness
175.  money - to give
176.  a computer, to see the world
177.  compassion
178.  workers who feed the hungry everyday
179.  guest preachers who open the eyes