There is such a dichotomy of pain, beauty, need, abundance, joy & sorrow all around the world and my eyes are beginning to see clearly now.
A prayer that I have been praying for about six months now is a quote by Bob Pierce, Founder of World Vision:
"Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God"
I guess I should be careful what I pray for. I am beginning to yearn for deeper involvement in The Raining Season. As I read their blog and blogs that link to their blog and blogs that link to those blogs……. I am so very moved by all of the wonderful ways that God is using his Body of Christ to help Save the Orphan. I am inspired by all of the Godly, giving, loving women and families that I am reading about and I seem to want to get involved more deeply.
Because I dream about it, think about it, read books about it, and don't forget; read blogs about it!
I just finished a book called Little Bee, which I probably won't blog about on my book blog because I want to forget it. It was a fiction book that started out amazing, was written very very well, but took a terrible tangent on infidelity that I felt was completely not required for the plot. But, it did get me thinking, so here are my musings:
What a wonderful world I was born into! I have had so many blessings and opportunities that so many other women my age around the world have not had. So let's pretend for just a moment that I haven't had some of the advantages that being born in the United States of America in the 1970's has given me:
- I was born with severely bowed legs, I don't know the medical term for this; but I do know that I had to have casts on my legs for months to straighten out my bones. I was still teased mercilessly in school for my silly walk, but I have grown out of it. I do still have the cute little white cast that was on one of my infant legs.
- I got my first pair of glasses in 3rd grade, and my first pair of contacts in 6th. I have complained almost every day of my life that my eyes don't work because I am hopelessly nearsighted and even laser surgery is not an option for me, but contacts help me see 20/20! Do you think I would even HAVE glasses if I lived in a third world country?
- I broke my arm jumping on a trampoline when I was 10, and when it didn't heal right, I had to have surgery to cut out the dead bone and replace it with a new bone from the hospitals bone bank as well as 6 pins to secure it in place. I now have 100% use of my arm and wrist; before surgery the rotation and strength was diminishing daily.
- I now have straight teeth because my mother worked very hard to provide me with orthodontia and way too many fillings for cavities from my sugar addiction…..
- I had surgery at 21 to diagnose severe abdominal pain and was diagnosed with endometriosis; which causes infertility and of course, severe abdominal pain.
- I did 6 months of hormone therapy to shrink the endometriosis and enable me to become a mommy of four beautiful and much wanted miracle babies!
And that is only SOME of my boring medical details……
- I was able to attend school every single day it was offered while I was young, and they even fed me lunch and bussed me to and from school 5 days a week!
- I played baseball, volleyball and danced in drill team to my heart's content!
- I was given a love for reading and writing and as an adult, yes; even a love for math!
- I went to college (after college, after college, after college) - we moved a lot, ok?! It's kind of an ongoing joke between hubby and I!
- I am now a working mother with an amazingly supportive husband who co-parents with me!
- I earn a great salary and am able to care for my family while working at a job I love in the construction industry where I am usually the only woman in a room full of men; where they treat me (mostly) with kindness and respect.
- I am free to worship my God with abandon!
So now for the third world version of me:
I am a bow-legged, blind, snaggle-toothed (ok, lets be real - I probably don't have but a couple of teeth left at this point), uneducated woman (who can't read) with no children and an arm that is bent up and atrophied, and if I know Jesus; there are those who will kill me if they find out. If I live in Sierra Leone, my life expectancy is 41 years; so that means I have less than four years to live.
Talk about a wake up call to appreciate my circumstances!!!!
Please forgive me if I feel a little disconnected from this life that I am living that includes an over-abundance of things, and over-indulgance of food, and an un-concerned community for their neighbor.
I hope you also see that I have an abundance of love in my home, a heart indulging in the great things around me, and a concern growing for my neighbor; including the orphan.
For now, I will continue to study God's Word and pray for his will to become my reality. I will also thank God every day for my glasses (ok, contacts!), straight teeth, able body, beautiful babies, nice home, loving husband, steady income, books galore, vacations, good food, technology, air conditioning, motrin, coffee, washing machine, soft bed, closet full of clothes, toys all over the floor, bills, chores……….
Please won't you join me in my prayer to have your heart broken by the things that break the heart of God? I promise, your heart will burst as you see more of the blessings all around you as the things that you don't have will not seem so important anymore, and the things that others don't have will.
