Talking To The Kids

Last week I wrote a blog titled "Vigilante Justice in Haiti," and it was about exactly what you think it would be about. Ordinary citizens, especially in Port Au Prince, have gotten to the point that they can no longer handle what is happening to their country and to their livelihoods so they are striking back.

This, of course, is not a safe situation, but what else can people do? They can only take so much before they take matters into their own hands and that is exactly what people have done.

When I talk to the kids on the phone or through chat, they never mention these things. They are never scared and they are always pretty upbeat. It is a stark difference to the reality that most people in the country face daily.

That is a great thing!

It is wonderful that they feel that way. It is a testament to the ministry of All Things New, and especially the faithfulness and love of the people reading this blog that our kids do not have to worry. They know that we will do whatever we can to make sure they have what they need.

Thank You!

At the same time, if you have been in our situation before, having lived in America and Haiti, things are not as simple as that. I cannot wrap my mind around the WHY of everything. Why things are so different for some people.

 - Why do some people have to struggle to even find a meal for their entire lives when there are, and I mean this literally, millions of people here that have no idea what it means to be hungry.

 - Why do so many people here struggle to find a job that they love and then complain when they don't, when there are billions of people around the world that would take the scrap being offered by a part-time job at McDonald's, and if they got that job it would be hitting the jackpot for them.

 - Why can one of my son's be so picky that he will almost not eat anything other than PB&Js and my other son only likes dark meat chicken when there are literally billions of people starving around the world right now.

They are such solvable problems! We have so much money and so many resources at our disposal and we just sit on them, and put them up for retirement, and vacation on them.

Why are our kids in Haiti so blessed that they don't have to worry about their next meal when their next door neighbors do?

Why can we not replicate ministries like this one to feed more people, provide education for more people, and help to sustain life for more people?

I know, simply talking to our kids in Haiti should just be fun and nice and normal. But the conversation sometimes just stirs so much emotion in me, and I do not always know what to do about it.

I remember coming home from Haiti for the first time in about 7 months a few years ago and Jess and I went to the movie theater.

I looked around that room, calculated about how many buckets of popcorn, drinks, and candy were in there, multiplied the number of people in the theater by $13 (or so) and then came up with what I thought was about the total cost of watching that movie that night.

I came up with about $2300 and my heart melted.

I have not felt that same way again.

I have gotten so used to being here and having everything I could ever want or need that I don't even consider the plight of the majority of the world.

I often get stressed about financial things here as well, and by often I mean really often, and I almost never consider how well I have it.

I guess my point is that I want things as simple as going to the movies and talking to our kids to illicit huge, emotional responses in me. I want to care about the rest of the world. I want to pray for the world. I want to look around and notice spiritual and physical poverty and I want my heart to melt and my actions to change because I want people to be healed.

I realized recently that a boring life is one that is focused on self. A boring life focuses on your own accomplishments and how "well" you are doing.

I don't want to live a boring life and I don't want my kids to live a boring life. I want to teach them to live their lives for others because that is what I do.

I hope, rather than taking this as a rant, you take this as a call to change. A call to be different. A call to live a life focused on living for other people no matter what.