It’s a question that is being asked over at the Compassion International blog. I’ve joined the Blog Hop there and am just figuring out how to do it…so bear with me!
I’ve supported a child in Ethiopia through Compassion International for a number of years now and have decided that I want to participate as a blogger with this organization that does a pretty darn good job of helping children in poverty.
For He has said to me, “My power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I would rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ might dwell in me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
So, what bible verse? The verse I consider to be my “life verse” is 2 Corinthians 12:9. It’s a constant reminder to me that I’m weak, that I’m prone to all sorts of not-very-good tendencies and that there still lurks a little child deep within this middle-aged body.
I’ve never forgotten what it was like to be a child…have you? I hope not. I hope you remember that sheer terror you felt when you had displeased the special adult in your life or that over-the-top belief that magic could really happen and that the world was your oyster.
It’s important to remember what it feels like to be a child because when we look at a picture of a ragged little person in another country and of another race it’s easy to forget that that child is exactly the same kind of child that we once were. She still has hopes and dreams and fears and terrors. She still has that protective blindness of childhood and doesn’t really know how bad her life is because she is…a child.
I was sick a lot when I was a child because I was born with a heart defect. That was back in the Pleistocene age when doctors weren’t sure if they should operate on the hearts of infants so they waited until I was eleven to perform open heart surgery on me. The surgery and recovery were awful but I’ve gone on to live a healthy life and give birth to eight children.
Here’s the take-away lesson from that little story. I had no clue I was living a sickly, oxygen-deprived life up until I had the surgery because I’d never known anything different. Normal for me was sick so I didn’t expect much more than that.
The same goes for these precious babies and children struggling along in poverty. It helps me to remember that they are a bit blind to what they are experiencing, that their normal is simply, their normal. Their parents, however, may have much higher expectations for their life which must be sad. After all, isn’t that the ultimate pain for a parent? To know that they aren’t meeting the needs of their child?
That’s why I send a small amount of money off to Ethiopia to support a little girl named Miherit. I want to help her parents feed her and pay her school fees. I want to know that out of all we have, we haven’t forgotten the weak.
I want to please Jesus by becoming like a little child. I don’t ever want to forget what it felt like to be very weak and very sick and, yet, in love with life.
For He has said to me, “My power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I would rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ might dwell in me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
Powered by Linky Tools
Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…
Want to have the joy of sponsoring a child? Here are ten ways to choose a child to sponsor.