Break My Heart For What Breaks Yours.

Broken, tired, hungry, dazed, and emotional. 

That is how I would describe my feelings as I ended my hunger fast on Thursday. We pulled up to Red Robin that evening to celebrate our victory over hunger for 5 days. Three bites into my Blue Ribbon Burger, I was stuffed.

This morning in church we were reminded of the suffering around us. Experts estimate that it would take about 30 billion dollars to solve world hunger...Americans spend more on Pizza every year. Now, I really developed a love affair with pizza since moving to Chicago, but if someone told me that if I went without pizza for one year I could solve the world hunger crisis, I would do so willingly. Sign me up!

We as Americans represent five percent of the population, however, we take up thirty percent of the resources. That fact alone sends chills up and down my body as I think of the waste in our own home. Josh and I try very hard to be wise stewards of what God has given, yet our attitude about wasted food is the type of perspective that fails to acknowledge starving children in the world.

I am also humbled when I consider my faithful "truck". I have driven the same car since college. My Nana and Tata helped me purchase my sweet little old lady go-getter my senior year in college- thank God for good grandparents! I am often times embarrassed when I pull up in my little beater and park next to a BMW or Lexus. This weekend my car had to go into the shop for some repairs so it can pass emissions (we get nervous when we are being tested...she hasn't passed yet, but it is looking better!). I must confess, every time she goes into the shop, I secretly hope that it will cost more than she is worth and I can move on to something with working windows. Then, I am reminded of the fact that owning a car is a privilege and that the elite 8% of the population that is so fortunate to own a car should just be grateful. To ninety-eight percent of the world, I am blessed beyond belief. I need to live in that mindset a little more often.

There are one hundred million homeless people in the world. One billion people do not have clean drinking water. Eight hundred sixty-two million people are affected by severe hunger. Sixteen thousand children DIE of hunger every single day. Those numbers should resonate deep within your soul. They should move you. They should change you.

As we move into Holy Week, I am reminded that Jesus came to earth to be a part of our suffering. Philippians 2 reminds us to have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. He chose to give of himself, forsaking his privilege, humbling himself as a man, and allowing himself to be killed in a humiliating and painful way.  What privileges are we willing to give up to help those in need?

We get caught up and often times swept away with the greed that surrounds us. We always want the new, the best, and the shiniest. We see what others have and we start to scheme...however, just because we are Americans does not give us the right to turn a blind eye to the suffering around us. Even in America, children go to bed hungry. Parents worry about a bare pantry. What are we going to do about it?

1 John 3:17-18
"If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with ACTION and in TRUTH.