I posted earlier that I woke up with such a heavy heart. The memories of yesterday about turned me inside out. There was a television on in the restaurant this evening showing a Dog Show. Costumed canines were featured parading around in some kind of competition and you can imagine I guess, what that juxtaposition made me feel...
I am an animal lover. I have a dog and believe he should be taken care of. I love horses, I've been asked why American's pet their cows. I know animals bring joy and a sense of well being to their owners. I realize they can be comforting and certainly like any other animal God has created, that they should be treated with care, rescued from harm.
BUT...you realize what we are doing with animals, right? You get that we have enough in the US to also, then, shower our pets with extravagance. We laughed at the program, Beatrice and I, when she said..."I think there are people who even give their dog a mattress for sleeping!" I nodded and wanted to scream at the TV "You realize that kids here will place big banana tree leaves on the mud floor of their huts to sleep on?"
And you know that every single thing we are offered via subscription, is fluff in our lives. You know there is a "Bark Box" available for $29 per month, where your dog gets 4-8 treats delivered right to your door? The Bark Box is the one that grinds me the most, though I am sure there are many that are more ridiculous... But I'm sure you realize.
Child sponsorship is also a monthly subscription... what if we didn't sign up for the Bark Box or Stitch Fix or the Wine of the Month club and instead sponsored a child through any number of organizations, including Compassion, World Vision, Amazima, Chayah and others.
I can tell you first hand that my dog has no idea what he is missing without a Bark Box...but every hungry child is hard pressed to ignore a missed meal, especially when he is only getting one a day...on the best days.
Forgive me...I'm sure you know. I'm sure you too can see that we are constantly tempted to elevate any number of things to a place of honor and servitude, these things we value ahead of children.
I realize, I get to stare into the faces, hold the hands and talk to the little ones who are suffering and that in a few weeks when I've been back in my comfortable first world home, the pain will diminish, even for these first hand eyes.
But, today...today my heart breaks and between my feet and the red dirt of Uganda sits a soap-box and I'm not usually one to walk around an opportunity to speak out for children.
It may be the last post you ever read here...maybe this offends or hits a nerve...maybe its too much in our business...except that sometimes it takes a hard word to push us to action. Maybe we have known there are needs, but not really right in our faces or it feels too big. Maybe its difficult to trust an organization, maybe its more fun to watch our pets dig into a bacon scented package, than wonder if we are really making a difference far away.
But maybe, one child, somewhere could be changed. Maybe sponsorship would provide medicine for a common-turning- deadly illness. Maybe a family receiving some emergency food help, or a pair of shoes to walk to work in might just really change things. Maybe one child in a family getting to go to school would eventually help the entire family, or at least give some hope and self worth to the ones God holds so closely.
I don't know...but maybe, just maybe today is a good day to start something new. Heaven forbid we switch our dogs to some generic dog food and give the extra to a child we've never met...imagine the confusion if that child could somehow see how upside down our priorities were...could see our pet spas and dog parks...God forbid them from ever knowing please.
I do this here on the blog...a place where I can't see your faces, where I feel protected from the consequences of offending you/us. I am as guilty as the next, of maybe not with the dog thing, but in a hundred other ways. Let's just commit today to asking God to check our priorities and speak truth over our ways and then move as He directs with courage.
"We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But
whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes
his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.…" 1 John 16-18
I've never been a great influencer...I can get excited and passionate about something and have no body follow...that's very possibly God's protection for those within earshot of my big ol' mouth. But not every one is called to GO, so not everyone has the opportunity to see. I pray you hear my heart's cry for the hurting and not a shred of condemnation. If you didn't care and weren't doing something, I doubt you'd have taken one second to read such a hard post.
Thank you for sticking with me. I believe I can step down from that box now.
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