i'd rather choose to love

i took this picture last saturday morning. the emotions i felt as i took it still feel so near. the news from the Paris terror the night before was still coming in. we headed out to soccer games and i was mostly just so very thankful for all the small, little, "everyday" things that i was blessed to have in my life that day. we are rich in so many, many ways. in this country, we have so much we don't even realize.

i'm not one to follow the news. i never watch it. i might check online for a few headlines if something big is going on. but i don't get sucked in. it feels so big and out of my control and i just mostly focus on the people God has put in front of my face and trust that God has everything else in His mighty hands.

but then i started hearing and seeing snippets about if we would let "the syrian refugees" in or it we wouldn't. governors were signing papers saying "they" weren't allowed in.

and it hit me wrong. so very wrong.

so i started listening. not to the news. but to my heart. and to my God. whenever i get a little confused about what i should do, i think about Jesus. He came to earth...fully God and fully man and He walked and talked and laughed and cried and showed us how to live. i think about what He would do.

maybe my opinion is void because i have yet to read a full article on the situation. but i think what i do know is enough.

there are people that need help. that need homes. that are fleeing for their lives. and they are fleeing pure evil. they have done nothing wrong, they are innocent, and are being terrorized and murdered for no reason.

it just seems so simple to me.

how can we NOT help them??

in the book of matthew, Jesus associates Himself with the poor and the stranger and the sick and the prisoner and He says, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the last of these my brothers, you did it to me."

i don't know much about the effects of accepting refugees into our country...financially or otherwise. i know one of the fears is that there could be terrorists hiding in their midst.

i'd rather choose to love and let in a little hate, than choose to hate and show no love at all. we aren't here to be safe and comfortable and smart. we are here to serve and love and be wise.

also. i'm pretty sure Jesus was a refugee here on this earth. i'm sure glad people chose to love Him!