I was appalled
This past weekend I attended a CHRISTIAN WOMEN'S conference in Springfield, Mo.- There were over 2,000 women in attendance! Wow that is amazing right?
- All the women there had their hair styled beautifully - I felt totally out of place with my hair in a pony tail.
- All the women had their makeup done beautifully and wore stylish clothes. I feel out of place again. I was wearing a sweatshirt.
- People were BUYING LIKE CRAZY! Books, cd's, t-shirts, coffee - one book table sold out. All these purchases proclaiming them as Christians! Yeah! "I'm a christian" or "I'm going to learn about Christianity" Wonderful! Right?
At the end of the 2 day conference we exceeded the 75 we were going for and ended up with 134 children being sponsored. 134 children will receive the help they need.
Wonderful...Right?...I think not!
Remember, all the women dressed, hair done, makeup, buying like crazy? Over 2,000 of them?
Over 2,000 of these women...comfortably clothed, with purses, jackets, nice shoes...etc.
and 134 children given some assistance.
Pathetic. This is all we can achieve from 2,000 Christian women?
Maybe its me that just doesn't understand. Maybe these women have already sponsored kids, maybe they give till it hurts to other charities. Maybe that is the case and I'm the one with the negative attitude. I pray that is the case. IF I am right, I just ask that all the women at that conference could read this blog or that God will speak to each one of them. Maybe someone else will be appalled that only 134 women took action. Prayer is powerful and if you are reading this blog, please pray with me that more people will feel the way I do and make a difference in a child's life.
There are many organizations where we can help. Just Google 'sponsor' a child. You'll find Compassion International, Children International, Feed the Children, World Vision, Save the Children.
Thanks for reading :) and have a Blessed day. Here is little Jordan.
I can share my own experience on why I've had to pass on these opportunities time after time and even give up a child. Despite attempting to keep up appearances, I've always lived in massive debt. Living pay check to pay check and sometimes being behind on even that. I remember having to give a sponsored child up once because we could not pay our own bills after we bought a house we couldn't afford. Our student loans alone have been $700 a month for over 10 years...it has felt very helpless and suffocating.
ReplyDeleteThankfully, I started listening to Dave Ramsey and life is changing rapidly. We WILL be able to give generously in the very near future! We've already paid $12,000 of our $105,000 in debt! We've had to put a pause on all giving and investing, but that won't last forever.
Listening day in and day out to Dave's podcast has taught me that appearances and spending habits are often a poor reflection of financial status... more often they are a reflection of credit availability.
Until American's clean up personal debt, our ability to give is very limited. Starting with me! We're on a mission to get it all paid off so that we can give generously in the future to good causes like this. For now, we're living on rice and beans, working extra jobs, and cleaning up the mess so that we're no longer "normal". If more folks could get on the Dave Ramsey plan for financial peace or one like it, they'd probably have skipped the conference, skipped the hair highlights, budgeted for clearance rack clothing and used all that savings to pay of their car payment and student loans!
I doubt if many women didn't want to sponsor a child. I'd like to sponsor a town if I could! The reality is that most of the women in that room, while probably making decent incomes, are still living pay check to pay check because they didn't think twice to budget for a new book or a conference...but anything that requires a monthly commitment from the bank account just can't be comfortably done anymore--because all the extra after bills goes to pay down the credit card that nags them at night. I know I always thought: how can I give anything when I have so much debt to pay off? Sadly, I was always waiting for some magic day when my financial troubles were over and I'd be able to do what I wanted with my money....that day didn't come until I woke up and confronted myself.
Anyway, for me, the lack of giving and misplaced spending has always been rooted in financial immaturity, rather than a lack of desire to help. And thankfully, I'm growing up!
Thanks so much for your feedback, I loved your analogy "appearances and spending habits are often a poor reflection of financial status... more often they are a reflection of credit availability"
ReplyDeleteSomeone could also argue...who am I to judge others...especially at a Christian conference.
We always have lessons to learn and need to keep an open mind and open heart. I agree with all you said and have been there myself. Thanks again for sharing another viewpoint. :)