2009 June 26

Last summer I took a Sunday School class in which I was introduced to a concept called solidarity and I realized I had very little of it. Before that class I was really very uneducated and honestly uncaring about events and situations going on in other parts of the world. If a plane crashed in Illinois, I’d be all over cnn.com reading the footage and following the case. “How tragic,” I’d think. But if I read of a plane crash in Mongolia, I am pretty sure I wouldn’t even click on the link. Why? Why do I care more about the fate of fellow Americans than of those in another continent? As a Christian, I should care a great deal about the suffering of any fellow human being.

While in DC last week, we saw this quote on a world war II memorial near the capital building.

As I read it, I couldn’t help but think about the fact that despite all we learned from the Holocaust, similar events are going on in the world with very little being said or done about it.

I can remember when I was in school and I read of the horrific events which took place during the Holocaust, I kept wondering why it took so long for America to get involved. “Why,” I’d ask. “Why didn’t we do more? Why didn’t we care? Why did we wait until Pearl Harbor before we stepped up and ended it? “

And I can’t help but wonder why, despite all we learned, and despite all we have as Americans, are we doing so little now for the hundreds of thousands of people in Uganda and Darfur who are suffering and dying due to extreme acts of violent genocide and complete starvation?

Why aren’t we “mobilized” on this? Why does it seem that Hollywood cares more about the hundreds of thousands of people be murdered in Africa than evangelical Christians?

Why? What will it take? Surely there is something I can do to ease their suffering.

That’s what I am pondering this weekend.

What are you thinking about this week? Heard a song lyric that touched your heart? Read something in a Bible study that got you thinking? Why not use your last post of the week to highlight something a bit "deeper" then the average Momblog fair? I’d love to read your thoughts. Please feel free to write and link up a new post below, or to link up a thoughtful post from earlier in the week.

{ 5 comments }

I am done!

Whew! What a week at the circus! This was not one of those stay in your pjs all day and relax by the pool kinda weeks.

Not at all.

Rather it was one of those, get the kids up, fed, dressed, in shoes (no small feat for the circus crew) and to the soccer field by 9 am every.single.morning. Hello? Even during the school year, it was only M-W-F for us. Then after two hours on the soccer field it was time to walk home, fix lunch, get the kids down for naps so that when they woke up (or I woke them this week) we could get our swim suits on and head to the pool for swim lessons. After swim lessons, we got all 4 of us dried off, changed, back in the car and home in time to make dinner and get ready for whatever evening activity was on our schedule this week. And this was one of those weeks where we had something every night, be it CPR class for Mom and Dad, watching Daddy sail in Annapolis, or going sailing on Nana and Pop’s boat.

It was jam packed. SO tight in fact, I don’t think you could have fit another thing in there. And we didn’t… laundry and grocery shopping were completely foregone and we scrounged by with whatever food I could put together from the back of the pantry. Thank goodness they got tee shirts at soccer camp… that bought us one day’s outfit!

While I would not want to keep up at this pace all summer, the effort this week was worth it. The kids had a blast. They ran hard, laughed lots, made great success in the pool and formed new friendships. I left the week with 2 new e-mail addresses from mom’s I found close by to meet up with at the park.

No longer sitting on the sidelines, my middle child got to participate in a soccer camp of her own this week.

Daughter kicks soccer ball into goal

This picture right here is a huge deal… HUGE!!

Before

After

Yup, my son went under water. Last year he sat on the side and cried about putting his feet in. Now he can go under all by himself. Worth mooning the entire pool for 6 weeks.

Not to be outdone, here’s my middle child putting her face in while swimming!

So, I’d say the stressful mornings and pathetic dinners were worth it. But I am glad we have a unscheduled week next week to recuperate before Vacation Bible School the following week!

{ 8 comments }