Thankful

This weekend I was at a retreat with my youth, and one of my friends (Julia) and a couple other people had just got back from a mission trip to Haiti and came straight to the retreat from there. Can't remember who all stood up to talk but I remember what was said. They talked about how they went to an orphanage; while there Julia was holding a little girl that I think was around the age of 1 or 2 but felt like a newborn baby. She was so malnourished and didn't have any strength to even eat! The most horrible part was when Julia tried to put this little girl back down into the crib, she clung to her shirt with every fiber of strength in the little body and screamed and cried. She didn't have the strength to sit up, or even eat, but all she truly wanted was to be loved by someone so she clung on. This kind of stuff brings tears to my eyes.. What was also talked about was how the way some of the children live down in the slums of Haiti, how they have to scrap for a meal and are lucky if they eat at all each day; and the joy in their eyes if they simply have a toy to play with that they found in the garbage. It is so horrible how every day of our lives we take everything for granted. Everything! In our culture we have so many things, yet we never seem happy enough with what we have. Television, game stations, computers, ipods, food, water, clothes, so many things we have for entertainment. All we seem to want is more... but these children don't have any of that.. They have to travel far just for water and are lucky if they don't get some sort of disease from drinking it. They work so hard each day just to get maybe one meal on the table. Meanwhile we just expect the food to be there. It's so sad! Sometimes I wish I lived like that instead of them, because I know I am spoiled, and I know I take my life for granted. Sometimes I don't even realize just how blessed I am. I don't really know what point I am trying to get at, I just needed somewhere to rant on how I am feeling.

Lord, Thank you for everything I have in my life! Thank you for simply keeping my heart pumping and putting food on the table for my family everyday. Thank you for giving me a loving and caring family and a place to sleep every night. I have the world at my finger tips and it is because you blessed me with it. Thank you. Lord, please use me to help those children in need, because all they really want and need is love. They need your love. Thank you for giving me your love Dad, I love you <3 and I am so thankful for it all. Please help me to be more like those children and not just expect things of my life but instead be more thankful for even every breath I take.
Amen
(This is dedicated to my beautiful friend Julia, because I know this is what was on her heart)