What more can I do?

As I was reading Ann's blog recently, I was convicted. She shared stories about her time in Haiti, her work with Compassion, and the poverty and suffering she saw while she was there. As I read, the Holy Spirit struck me that I have become desensitized to the poor and hungry in the world. I've turned a blind eye to them, thrown out the letters that have come in the mail about sponsoring or encouraging others to sponsor or doing something to help.

Yes, we already sponsor one boy, do the Samaritan's Purse shoe boxes at Christmas, but is this enough? Is this all we can do? All I can do? Have I been teaching my own kids to have empathy and compassion for the less fortunate, or have I been teaching them to be self-centered?

I think of my mom, who has given up a week of vacation time annually for the past several years to travel to Guatemala, Haiti, the Dominican Republic. She and her team have provided medical services to the people there and shared the gospel at the same time. Sure, she works hard, and would like a "normal" vacation, but she is out there living it- promoting God's Kingdom and doing what she can to help the needy.

So, while I've been at home, obsessing over how to best organize the toys and barrage of stuff we have, while pinning ideas on Pinterest, others have been wondering where their next meal will come from.

Lord, show me what I can do to help those who are suffering, then let me be diligent in doing it. Not just in "talking the talk," but in living it. Keep their poverty fresh in my mind, and help me to teach my boys compassion. Thank you, Father, for your loving kindness, for not forgetting the poor. Sustain them and all of us as we wait for the day when you return and call your people home.