6-5

The day started at 18 degrees.  No, that’s not Celsius.  So it is only fitting that we had ice cream with the kids when they came home from school.

In the afternoon, a few of us went to “Number 7”, a squatters’ village about a mile away, to deliver some toys and clothes, including the shirt literally off of Joe’s back.

I have heard many times that we in America do not know poverty.  Now I know what they meant.  I was thinking as we were driving away, that the amount of money I spent on the camera so I could take these pictures could likely feed the whole village for months, maybe a whole year.

Not that I think we should all stop buying things and send all our money to people such as these.  What I would hope would change is our thinking when we are tempted to be dissatisfied with what we have.  When we start feeling sorry for ourselves, we should stop and consider why we were born into such relative affluence and others into abject poverty.  It is not a question we can readily answer beyond God’s sovereignty.

Let me be clear; wanting things is not a sin.  Having things is not a sin.  Obsessing about things is.  Placing the acquisition of things as our top priority is.  And thinking that somehow our worth is linked to the things we have is.

Afterwards, a few of us were dropped off at House of Hope, a temporary orphanage from which kids may be adopted.  One of the babies is the sister of one of the girls here and is from Number 7.  They loved the attention and we were all sorry to have to leave.  They cried.

It seems everywhere we turn, there is more to do, more that need help.  Debbie even said today that aside from the space issue (they can’t accommodate more that 3 or 4), one of the main reasons she didn’t go to House of Hope was because she wasn’t sure how much more heartache she could take.  I think she speaks for more than just herself.

We just have to keep focusing on our drop and let God worry about the bucket.