Nothing Matters...Everything Matters

This past week began with a friend from Bloggyland, running the Disney marathon to raise money for a mission in Haiti. It is a ministry to pregnant women (among many other things), and they were trying to raise the funds for an emergency vehicle that would reliably transport women to the center when they were in labor, as well as other emergencies. Many women, with no reliable transportation of any kind, end up delivering at home, or on the street as they try to make their way on foot to the center. Often the babies are delivered in the dark, as there is no reliable electrical power either. That was Haiti on a good day. In the eleventh hour, our family decided that we wanted in. We wanted to donate a little of the excess we enjoy, and so we hit that Paypal button, and watched our in-the-computer friends with even more interest. I had been checking the blogs to see how the event went. It went well. The huge sum of money was raised. There is to be an emergency vehicle, praise God. Next came a blog about unwinding in Disneyworld with the family, and I could smile, and remember doing the same. Then came a blog to pray for Haiti, and everything changed.

How hard to be in the "happiest place on earth", and be filled with fear and grief for loved ones in Haiti. I cannot imagine. I have no ties to Haiti, not really. I have friends who have adopted Haitian children. I read blogs about several missions to Haiti. I have friends and family members who traveled to Haiti on short term mission trips. I have sent a few dollars throughout the years, to help here and there. But even I cannot pull myself away from the news reports. I scan the mission blogs for ways to help. I consider ways to pull some money together. It seems like so little in the face of it all. It almost seems as though it doesn't matter.

I am acutely aware of how comfortable I and my family am. I have better medical care for my pets than the people of Haiti have for their children. I have so much food, that I have to clean my fridge of leftovers...well not much, but some. Everything in my life screams, "You have more than you need." I am tempted to feel guilty, but guilt just makes me want to shut it off and feel hopeless. It must matter that I am here, living this blessed life. I need to take stock of the many good things we enjoy, and not forget them. I know I can pull together some money, and money is probably all I can do to help. I could write a check and mail it off. But I am smart, and able bodied, and I have time (no really I do). Is there a way to multiply that money so that it keeps growing? Is there a way to draw my coddled American family into the labor? Six more able bodies, and mostly able minds? I'm not sure yet, but I'm thinking about it.