How many pairs of shoes do you have? How many NEW shoes did
you get this year? Seeing what the
children had on their feet made me ask myself those questions, I mean how many
pairs of shoes do I really NEED and do I appreciate the ones I have!?!?!?!!?
I invite you to consider 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “In everything
give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” That does not mean that it is the will of God
that these children have holes in their shoes, but rather the will of God that
in every situation we should give thanks. From
what we can see these children are doing exactly that…am I as grateful for what
I have?!?!? In my church youth group we
recently discussed this topic, our Youth Director Elise had a thought for us to ponder…what if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for
yesterday? My reply to that is “what would
you wake up with?
These children were not embarrassed to walk around in shoes
full of holes or possibly even the wrong size; nor did they seem upset if they
had none at all!”
If you can remember back to my sister Olivia’s post about
“why go to India” you can see that there is this whole other side to what most
people see on the surface. We
encountered happy children who didn’t care what their shoes looked like, or if
they have holes in their clothing, they simply let what was in their heart paint
the picture of who they are. They are so
beautiful!!!! Not, because of what they wear, but because of the smiles on
their faces.
I had the wonderful
opportunity to spend some time with Archana, the school girl I have been
sponsoring for over 5 years; she too has holy shoes, but that was over shadowed
my her big bright smile, the fresh flowers in her hair, and the fact that she
wanted to sit by me during the big celebration!
I guess the point I'm trying to make is, give thanks for all you have...you never know, you might wake
up tomorrow without it.
God Bless you all on your journey!!!
~Emma
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