The Hard, Cold Reality of Gratitude

Sun drenched, cracked and hardened soil supported her extremely frail,bloated body as she sat hunched over in pain. Tears gently streamed down her face as insects landed there. Staring into the distance, as if caught in a daydream, the insects made no impact on her whatsoever. In the background, sounds of children wailing could be heard. An excruciatingly painful stomach and bone thin legs that could no longer carry her, gave her a reason for her tears, which seemed to be endless these days.

Riddled with HIV and starving with nothing to eat, she was thinking about her two children. Her husband has already died from this horrible disease, just recently and she knew that she was soon to follow. Praying for her children, she asked God for food. Every single morsel of food that she had been rationed out was now being given to them. Her only reason to remain on Earth in the flesh was to give her children everything she could before it was time for her to leave. Fear of dying was not a factor, instead it was fear for her children that caused the tears to stream down her face.

So what makes me any better than this woman? Nothing, absolutely nothing. It just happens to be that I am extremely blessed by being better off than her. As I eat my dinner tonight, I will be praying and thinking of those who are less fortunate than I. For I have clean running, untainted water, a roof over my head, with no holes in it and heat/air conditioning inside, toilets that actually flush, hot enclosed showers, comfortable furniture, TV sets, a car and so much more.

May we all celebrate 2009 by being aware and grateful for the blessings that we carry with us! Am I grateful? Darned right betcha I am grateful!! I hope you are too!

If you would like to make a donation to help starving African children that also need medical attention, clothing, a roof over their heads, medication, schooling and most of all much needed love please go to Trevor Irwin’s RB site. He is not only looking for donations, but volunteers as well. Thanks in advance for caring about these children, who have done nothing to deserve their suffering, except having been born. Please click here to learn more about Trevor’s mission to help African children who are suffering horribly

By the way, it’s not just African’s who are hungry. Here in the United States poverty levels are now at an all time high. In 2007 the poverty level for children under 6 years old was 20.5%, which has likely risen due to the current state of the economy. Almost half the world at large, over three billion people, live on less than $2.50 a day. As of September 2008 26,500 children died a day from hunger. Please visit The Hunger Site for more information by clicking on this link
Again, thanks for caring; this is a worldwide epidemic that we can all work together towards to stop!

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Tags:

africa, african, aids, black, children, starvation and woman