Helping Hands

Do you ever feel like you’re not doing enough?  Like something wholesome is missing from your life?  As if there was something or someone who needed your help?  I do.  Some days more than others, but I do.  I try to listen, watch and learn to see what God is trying to tell me or lead me, but sometimes I feel like I need an extra set of eyes to see it clearly.  These eyes manifest themselves in different ways but today it was through a blog post.  I read many blogs via my Google Reader and many of them I follow without ever posting a comment.  It’s not because I don’t like them, sometimes I just don’t have anything to say.  Today was different. 

I was drawn to a post by Ashley Ann from AshleyAnn Photography, a blog I normally just drool over because of her beautiful photographs.  I read her title and began to glance at the pictures.  Somewhere along the way, the pictures tugged at my heartstrings and I went back to the top to begin actually reading her words.  The same thing happens when I read a book or a magazine – I tend to just look at the pictures because I don’t like to read! 

Ashley shared her lifelong dream of helping children.  When she was entering college she had a revelation that she wanted to go to Africa and help/adopt orphans.  While she never made it to Africa, she is fulfilling her dream of helping children.  She and her family have been sponsoring a little boy in Rwanda.  Her boys get to watch this little guy grow, communicate via letters with him, and get the satisfaction of helping someone in need. 

How fantastic is that?  Our children can’t learn that kind of thing in school.  They can’t learn to appreciate what they have, who they are, or the opportunities they have without a little humility.  What a tremendous life lesson?!  This is the kind of thing I want to teach my children and what a better way to do it? 

Ashley was kind enough to provide 2 links of organizations whereby you can sponsor a child yourself.  I haven’t yet delved into the differences between the two because I was just so eager to share with you.  Here are the 2 links:  Compassion International and World Vision.  I’m not trying to sell you anything, I just wanted to share this with you in case your heart was searching for a way to reach out and touch someone, to make a difference.  Perhaps you already fulfill this need in some way, or maybe this isn’t the right avenue for you, but I encourage you to search within yourself and make sure you’re leaving a footprint somewhere in some way. 

Update:  I chose to go with World Vision.  I was able to find a little boy that shares Colin’s birthday.  I think that will be neat for both of them to get to watch each other grow!  We now have a new member of our family, Jackline, from Malawi.  I can see our first geography lesson coming on – even for me (: