...but instead I'm wide awake after speaking at Campus Life tonight. It ended up being a cool night and I had a lot of good conversations with high schoolers. The topic in the curriculum was "global pain"...so I basically got to show pictures and share stories of times I've been down in Honduras and what I'm going to be doing in Honduras for the next year. And there were a few newcomers tonight...one of which is a current student of mine. The students were awesome, they were attentive...I couldn't have asked for a better audience. And listening in on the small group discussions it seems that a lot of them know at least some of what goes on in the world. I'm just trying to encourage them to do something about it. Many of them care, or say they care...but caring from afar doesn't do much. James talks in the Bible about how it's easy to say "Go in peace, keep warm and well fed" but by themselves, the words mean nothing if you don't follow through with actions. If you see someone hungry, and tell them that you hope they find food when you have food to spare...or just to share...really? What are you really showing them there? If you say "I care about the problems in the world" and then go about your daily life ignoring what's going on beyond your own little world, how much do you really care? If it means something to you, you'll do something about it.
I remember being in Aldi one day last year, and the person in front of me was most likely poor, and possibly homeless. He had in his hands cheap food that didn't require cooking or refrigeration and he wouldn't put it on the belt...like he wanted to keep it close. I wasn't paying much attention to him, honestly, I had other things on my mind. But I noticed, while he wasn't looking, the person in front of him gave the cashier an extra $10 to help the guy pay for his food. The person who paid extra didn't look to be much better off, honestly (and I know appearances can be deceiving). It still hit me that the guy who paid extra was paying attention to those around him and helping out where he could. At that time, it wouldn't have occurred to me to pay for someone else's food. It does now...and I've done it. God used someone I don't know, and a random moment to open my eyes to how I can help others in little ways. The best part, is the guy who paid made sure he got out of the store quickly...he didn't want to be thanked, he didn't want to be noticed. He also, I'm sure, didn't want to be paid back. I wonder how many opportunities I miss just because I'm not looking for them.
I'm over 70% funded right now. It's starting to seem more real...I just need to make it through the rest of the school year...
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