“Break my heart for what breaks His…”  – Wes Stafford, President of Compassion Intl.

It’s been almost a week now since Hurricane Sandy tore through the Northeast.  Almost seven days of nonstop news coverage, showing unimagineable destruction, loss and heartbreak.  But now the presidential election is upon us, and the news is shifting more and more away from the northeast and onto the latest and greatest big news story.  Due to many factors, not the least of these shortening attention spans, uncomfortableness with focusing on others’ suffering, and the need for the ever-important TV ratings, the news stations move on.  And we forget.  Because life gets busy, there are things that we need to do in our everyday lives, children, jobs, bills, etc.  But the same people are up there in NY, NJ, over in Sudan, or India, or the Middle East, suffering and struggling and trying to rebuild their lives.

I wish I was the kind of girl that knew how to fix things, or move big trees, or give medical treatments.  But I’m not.  So it’s so easy for me to tune out, to focus on what’s right in front of me, to think there’s nothing I can do.  But I can pray, and pray more, and try not to forget people who are suffering.  And I can give a little money to help.  We’re not rich by any means, but compared to so many in the world, we are.  So I’m going to look right now for a good reputable charity that is working in the Northeast and give some money, even if it’s just a little bit.  Because it’s at least doing something, and I know that someday I would be thankful if the same thing happened here in my hometown.  And I pray that God will continue to keep my heart soft, because life is hard and it’s so easy to get hardened along with it.  But I don’t want to forget.    Blessings, Lisa