Hungry

We live in one of the poorest countries of the world. Street children beg at our car windows at every stop light. Some of these children carry babies on their backs. I see people with terrible birth defects....walking on grotesquely turned feet or walking on their knees, all over the city. One man has no legs at all, nothing from his hips down. He propels himself with his arms. And he sits on the edge of a busy street to beg.

I have asked the Lord not to let my heart grow cold, hard and callous towards the poverty. And He has not. He has shown me that while I can't help a whole city, I can help one person at a time. So whomever the Lord brings into my life each day in need of assistance, I do my best to help.

Today I looked across our small street to see a man sitting by my neighbor's garbage bags, scraping the last bits of peanut butter from a jar with his finger. When I gave him fresh fruit and bread he smiled a smile that revealed a mouth full of decay. I could see a huge sore on the back of his right leg. He took the food and crossed the street, saying thank you. He's the third person I've seen in a week eating out of the garbage, one guy standing beside a dumpster just shoving who knows what into his mouth.

I realize that the small amount of food I gave that man today will only stave off his hunger pangs for a little while. And I realize that when I say I'm hungry......I'm not....really.