but i have some things to say and i can't wait.
the people in newtown, conneticut...the parents...the teachers...the rescue personnel...the siblings...the friends...it's all so horrific, so troubling. EVERY thought i have honors them in some way. i've prayed and prayed for them. i've talked to God about it all. i've thought and tried to process through 2 hours of running this morning. pat and i had a short conversation as i continued to try to process...these thoughts are the result of my humble mind and heart putting all of that together:
i'm not the smartest person. or the most "up to date" on the news (i don't think i've read a complete article about it...or watched an entire news story). i've read enough to know that it's awful and pure evil and there is NOTHING that anyone could have done to prevent it. i know there's all kinds of political gun debates going around. i'm not taking a stand one way or the other. but i will say that even IF guns were illegal, people would find a way to get them and these evil acts would still happen. argue all you want. THEY WOULD STILL HAPPEN. evil is in this world and it's not leaving until Jesus comes back again {come quickly, dear Jesus...}
if you're like me, you are feeling paralyzed by your emotions...the anger...the sadness...and THEN you're feeling like something needs to be DONE!
sadly, a lot of what i'm seeing is people pointing fingers at OTHERS and telling OTHERS what THEY need to do to change things...so that this won't happen again. we are so quick to tell others what they should do...but what could WE be doing? are we willing to put action to our words and TRULY care if 20 children die?
"act justly. love mercy. walk humbly." micah 6:8
that sign in my foyer has been "speaking" to me the last 24 hours...take those words in, let them soak in slowly. we need to act. we need to love (NOT point fingers). and we need to do it all humbly...gently...
what happened yesterday in newtown wasn't preventable. sadly. tragically.
but...EVERY day, 21,000 children ages 5 and under (MOST of them younger than those that were murdered yesterday) die from PREVENTABLE diseases. 21 children die EVERY MINUTE. no, they aren't in our country...does that make it ok?!?
"Malnutrition and the lack of safe water and sanitation contribute to half of all these children’s deaths." (source: UNICEF)
SUCH simple things are needed to save these children's lives...medicine that is SO accessible to us we don't even think twice about it...CLEAN water to drink instead of a dirty stream.
i know of a few organizations that i trust COMPLETELY (and have given much money to and it has been proven to be used GREATLY!) to work to END these deaths. if you know of others, feel free to add them in the comments. give to give LIFE to other children in honor of those in newtown. it's not enough. it will never be enough. we can't bring those precious children and teachers back. we can't end these awful things from happening. we can't even give enough so that there is no more malnutrition and death from preventable causes (well...i actually think we COULD but i don't think we ever will.)
but we CAN give enough to change someone's life...to prevent a child from dying so that another mother doesn't have to endure the death of her child.
if you're ready to act:
the adventure project: this one is my favorite. their vision is beautiful: We believe we can end extreme poverty in our lifetime by reinventing how we give. Ways that spur economic opportunity, promote dignity, & save lives.
charity:water: love them. clean water flows daily thanks to them. every dollar you give goes to providing clean water.
world vision gift catalog: all KINDS of way to give there...to give water...food...medicine...animals to provide income for families...and on and on.
5 comments:
this was really beautiful, courtney. you definitely honored those families with this post.
yes it it was beutiful courty
you did honor the families and others.
yes it it was beutiful courty
you did honor the families and others.
Thank you for the reminder that we can do something for the vulnerable children of the world. When our local "Walk 4 Water" (part of the WASH [water, sanitation, hygiene] program of World Vision) volunteer delivered our Walk shirts, she got some extra $$ to add to the donations. Not meaning to be prideful, please, just that it was one thing that I could do. Hey, find an easy thing, and do it. Then maybe the harder things later.
Well said. I agree with you. We are trying to raise money for abandoned babies in Swaziland. These children are thrown away and a beautiful, godly couple are taking them in and giving love, giving them hope, giving them life. Every gift gets matched up to $1,000. We are hoping we can reach that goal.
Here is the link
http://www.givingoflife.com/project/abandoned-baby-home-makeover
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