I have been inspired these last few months. There has been so much to be thankful for and there have been so many people who have just amazed me and made my heart leap for joy by their actions and with the examples they have set for others. Most of them have been children or young adults.
ChangeForEthiopia is moving with God’s Spirit. We have taken our hands off it completely and to allow the LORD His way with this project. We go wherever anyone invites us to speak. Julian, our son, always has the choice if he wants to speak about his vision or not. Just Sunday, he said no, so my husband and I gave the presentation. He wanted to play at the church’s pool tables. After all, he’s only six.
One of the things that has amazed me lately is how goodness and kindness perpetuate themselves. They transfer from one person to the next, sometimes just by proximity, other times by example or experience with them. We’ve seen this happen a lot lately.
Little Elle, a young lady in middle school, had a birthday this weekend. She saw Julian’s video on Facebook and told her mother that she wanted to do something for Ethiopia, too. So they decorated their own tin and set it out for the guests to put money into it during the party. Total Collection: $60. Aren’t you inspired? I am.
Or take our friend, 7-year-old Parker, who absolutely HATES getting flu shots. This is a young man who would rather jump out of a moving vehicle than submit himself to the needle. His mother and grandma bribed him, saying they would give him $10 if he would just go in quietly and get his flu shot this year. After some tears, he came out on the other side of the shot knowing he would give it to ChangeForEthiopia to help his buddy, Julian. And he did. Aren’t you inspired? I am.
The junior high youth group at a local church has been studying about sacrificial giving, tithing beyond ten percent that normally goes to their church. (First off, be amazed they even tithe let alone give above that…how many of us do the minimum 10%?) They’ve been practicing giving up certain extras, like movies on the weekend or Casey’s for breakfast. That group of twenty amazing students over two weeks collected more than $60 for ChangeForEthiopia. They agree that together we can change the world. Aren’t you inspired? I am.
So I’ve seen students of all ages striving to do something more than themselves, to do something BIG. And they are achieving it. I’m seeing schools in our area work together and STAND together against poverty and STAND for orphans in Africa. The grade schools and the high schools, in and out of our town, are doing it. They have faith like children that we can change the world and we will.
There is a formula shortage in Ethiopia right now. We’ve been asked to partner with Children’s Hope International (St. Louis) on a $10,000 fundraiser for formula for the Enat Alem Orphanage in Addis Ababa, one of the few who accept premature and HIV+ babies. They have more than 200 children to feed, over 30 of whom are infants. When we visited in March, 2009, we had brought more than 100 cans of formula that were donated form the Quincy and Tri-States Region. But they are out now, less than a month later. What do you feed a baby with no formula and no mother? ChangeForEthiopia gave $2500 to help purchase formula. Another team member from the trip personally gave $500 to help. I’m amazed.
Anyway, this isn’t some great story about freedom or anything significant except that inspiration is everywhere if you choose to look for it or create it. I’ve been seeing it in children and those around me who act with child-like faith. It seems to pass through them to others easily.
We are ready for change in the United States of America. With the new administration coming into power in our government, our country appears poised and ready for what is to come. This is not a Democrat or Republican issue at all but an human issue. What will we do?
Our great country is standing on the edge of something big at this present moment but it could just as easily be an abyss or a mountain. Will our generation go down in history as the ones who had the chance to change the world and didn’t? Are we so calloused and jaded that we are paralyzed by our sense of entitlement? And will this be the beginning of the descent of the country that I love and others have fought for and died to preserve our freedoms?
Or will our future history say that we took our inspiration from children, as Jesus suggested, and ACTED in FAITH? We stepped out upon a thousand mile journey with baby steps but by the end of it all, we ascended the mountain? I wonder. I hope this is the answer. And I’m not just talking about helping Africa but about helping those around us who are suffering as well, the people out your back door and mine. I’m talking about becoming a country of responsible spenders (wait, savers!) who don’t need 103 cable channels, massive credit card debt and $90 worth of Starbucks speciality coffee each month (though I do enjoy a good vanilla steamer myself occasionally).
For the record, I include myself in all of this. Make no mistake, I am guilty, too. And I’m no political analyst (obviously!) but I am calling this one as I see it.
First Timothy 4:12 says this: “Do not let anyone look down upon you because you are young but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” Students have done this for me in the last five months, particularly with life, love and faith. There are so many more stories but I couldn’t begin to write them all! Students are walking the life Jesus requested, putting the concerns of others in front of their own. They are loving and feeling for children they’ve never even met, showing sympathy for a country on another continent–isn’t that amazing? And they have faith that what they’re doing is right. I’m humbled, yet again. And inspired. Aren’t you?
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