thousands of miles away

over 7700 miles away there is a baby girl. she will be born into a world so different than the one i live in every day. she will be born a days journey worth of flying time away from me. and one day, a day i anxiously await, i will fly those thousands of miles and meet her and love her and bring her home.
until then, i can hold this precious little blabla doll my sweet friend emily purchased for us a while back. isn't she just too cute:)

JUST A FEW ETHIOPIAN FACTS AND FIGURES:

Life expectancy: 42 years old

Population subsisting below $2/day - close to 80%

Average births per woman: 6.14

Deaths from pregnancy/abortion related: 1 in 7

Women dying from TB is 96 per 100,000

Children dying from AIDS: 1 in 16

Percentage of AIDS cases in the world: 7%

Female genital mutilation: >80%

Women experiencing rape: 25%

Newborns dying before age one - 1 in 10

Children dying before age 5 - 1 in 6

Orphans - 4 million plus

Children under 5 stunted from malnutrition - >50%

Literacy 41%

Literacy for women 26.4%

I look at these facts, among others, and think how we think we have it bad. but, we are blessed abundantly. my heart longs to make a real difference in this world.

I don't want to look back years from now and think -"what did i do for Jesus in this world?" "what difference have i made?".

Somehow we are so caught up in the great american rat race that we miss the true meaning of life. i'm pretty sure it won't matter in the end what school my kids go to or clothes we wear or how big my home is. but i do believe it will matter if i offered a drink to the thirsty or feed the hungry or clothed the needy.

Seems to me everywhere i turn these days the needy and the orphans are there- in stories, in sermons, in papers, in my thoughts. i guess that is what happens when God lays something on your heart.

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me... Matthew 25:35

If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:17-18

*****on a side note***** thanks to all who have purchased t-shirts. do not be dismayed for i do have more and i need to sell them soooooo buy one or make a friend buy one....