Brad Pitt on Africa

So I finally watched the interview with Brad Pitt that aired last Tuesday. And let me say that I definitely cried a couple of times during the thing. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, Diane Sawyer interviewed Brad Pitt and he spent quite a bit of time talking about the problems in Africa right now and part of the interview was even done there, so lots of pictures! It is so hard to watch those kids over there who are so loving and so joyful as I sit in my living room with all of my stuff. They talk about how little it costs to send kids to school or prevent TB. It brings to mind so many emotions. It makes me feel somewhat guilty, that I have so much compared to them, yet still do so little to help. It makes me feel proud of what my church is doing to help people there. It makes me feel love as I look at the faces of those kids. It makes me feel passionate, I want to do something to help.

Again, I'm struggling with what I should be doing right now. I want to help. I want to go somewhere and love on those kids who have absolutely NOTHING. I want to feed them and teach them and love them. But I just don't know how to get there. I don't know where to start. And in some ways, I'm scared. I am fairly comfortable right now. I have everything I need and have actually stayed in the same town for almost a year. That is nice for a change. I really do love my church and can't imagine leaving them, but at the same time, I want to take care of those kids!

It also makes me think about how materialistic I really am, I suppose partly just be virtue of living in the US. Do I really need this apartment? I mean it isn't really fancy, but I probably could have found a cheaper one. Do I really need a car with air conditioning? What is really need and what is really want, and what is somewhere in between? I never thought of myself as materialistic, I suppose mainly because compared to many American's, I'm not. But does that really mean anything. I should be comparing myself to the standards Jesus has set, not what others set. And when I think about it, I think deep down, I would give up everything, at least I hope I would, but I do think it is hard. I don't think I really have a good grasp on the fact that everything I have is really on loan from God.

Random notes, I'm writing this REALLY late at night, so that might explain any randomness and confusion. And here is a picture from my hike. It is small so it doesn't do it justice, but oh well.