Now you know...

Okay, so, I wore my 147 Million Orphans baseball shirt last week to a pretty large function. A Christian woman walked up to me and covered the words and said, "Oh, that's so sad, I don't want to look at that!" May be, but now she knows! Now her eyes are open and she cannot say she doesn't know. Now, God will hold her accountable for knowing. That's what 147millionorphans.com is all about... awareness. You really don't have to understand me. You don't have to understand why I am broken into 1,000 pieces, you don't have to get why we love orphans, Brian and I. You don't have to believe in or support adoption. You don't have to do any of those things, but if you know me, most likely you do know that there are hundreds of millions of orphans out there. If you know me, most likely, you know that there is something very simple that you can do for them. If you know me, most likely you have an extra $25/month that you could spare. Most likely, if you know me, you wouldn't even miss $25/month, maybe you'd give up a few lattes, maybe you'd spare yourself a Target shirt or two, but on the whole, it wouldn't affect your life too much. But guess what, $25/month sends a Ugandan child to school (school isn't free in Uganda) AND it pays for their uniform and school supplies, AND it gets them two hot meals EVERY day, AND gives them medical care FOR ONE WHOLE YEAR!!! Think of that! And now you know... you can choose to go about your merry way, saying it's too painful to look, saying that you "just want to be happy and not think about that stuff", enjoying your gourmet coffee and your Target baubles (and don't get me wrong, I love me some Target and I love me some latte!), but if I do that at the expense of a child, then I cannot say, "Look God, I really didn't know." Because He knows that I know now! And He will hold me accountable for what I know!

Watch this, but only if you are willing to be accountable. If you don't want to be responsible, then skip it....

I'm willing to be an outcast. I'm willing to be thought of as weird. I'm willing to forgo popularity if it means that my life stood for something. That doesn't mean I don't long for it. It doesn't mean there aren't days, or time EVERY day when I wish I didn't know. There are many days when I wish I wasn't broken, but whole, and that I could live in my little suburban bubble and not have this crushing weight on my heart that sometimes makes it hard to breathe. But then again, I don't wish it. To the extent that this hedge of thorns keeps me closer to Him and keeps my path straighter than it would be, I am thankful for it.

Proverbs 24:11-12

"Rescue the perishing; don't hesitate to step in and help. If you say, "Hey, that's none of my business," will that get you off the hook? Someone is watching you closely, you know - someone not impressed with weak excuses."