One World
January 22, 2010 
If I were a 'Twitterer' (tweeter?) I would be typing in: "Watching the Hope for Haiti Now special. Feeling so small. So insignificant. Though I feel worlds away, my heart reaches out." But I'm not a twitterer so you'll have to indulge me here instead.
What do you do when your entire life is reduced to rubble?
How do you survive being trapped in the darkness?
How do you not fear that the bottom is once again going to fall out everytime the wind rattles the door?
The parallels between the literal and figurative seem to be endless.
I honestly haven't been that tuned into the news this week (the kids are usually tuned into PBS or the t.v. is off) and so I haven't been bombarded by the stories and images as some of you may have been. But one particular snippet of a story did stick with me. It was that of a one-year-old girl being pulled from the ruin after being trapped there for five days.
Miss Peaches is a year old.
As a mother, I can't bear to imagine my baby girl enduring something like that. It breaks my heart.
What struck me the most, though, was thinking of it in terms of, "What if this were my own child?"
What if this were my own child, who I snuggle and cuddle and play with and bicker with daily? What if this were my own child, with her quirks and spirit and sweetness? What if this were my own child, who I know intimately and by name?
The idea of knowing her by name... That stuck with me.
Because we name those we love.
And even though we don't personally know those in Haiti who are suffering, I can tell you one thing: they all have names.
Someone loves them.
Someone loves them who also loves you and me.
So as I sit here, feeling worlds away, I just keep reminding myself that the suffering is not beyond my help, not beyond my compassion, not beyond my capacity to pray.
Because God is there, between you, me and them, and He hears us all.
Though it seems such a small offering, I hope the peope of Haiti feel our prayers and take comfort in knowing that the gates of heaven are wide for all those who love Jesus.
View Printer Friendly Version
Email Article to Friend
Reader Comments (2)
Beautifully said. Thanks for such a thoughtful post.
My sentiments exactly. I haven't watched much of this on the media either, it's too easy for me to get wrapped up in crying and being depressed, when there is so little that I can actually do. I donated what I could, I've said prayers, I can live each day to it's fullest, and I can be thankful. "Earthquakes", big and small, happen to us all at some point in our lives, we have to learn how to be strong and have faith and continue on.
II loved that special last night, the music was wonderful, and the images were hard, but with some Kleenex, I got through. I do wish that I could adopt a Haitian orphaned child though...