Straightened Out

This morning, hair straightener in hand, I was sobbing. Weeping, not at the state of my greys and the dire need for a haircut/color, but at the footage unfolding on my t.v.

Haiti is enduring the aftermath of a deadly earthquake. I have been avoiding the 24/7 news coverage. I can't watch. I can't watch and know I can't do anything. I can't see babies bloodied and bruised and not long to soothe their wounds and sing away their tears. This morning, though, I tuned in.

Alli and Jamie McMutrie refused to leave their devastated Port Au Prince orphanage until all the children were sent to their adoptive countries. They stayed with over a hundred children in a concrete driveway. With intervention from the Governor and UPMC and others, they were able to bring the children to the U.S. 54 landed today with Alli. Jamie stayed behind to make sure the other children were sent to their adoptive nations.

The young woman, disheveled, exhausted and overwhelmed by the media attention and the tragedies of the past days was an inspiration. She's young. Very young. Her life has already made a difference in the lives of these babies. And she has so much more time to do so much more, as I am sure she will.

I wept because I wanted a home large enough to bring in one of those beautiful, brown skinned angels. I wept because I wanted to help people like the McMutrie sisters have all they need to do all they can. I wept because I was feeling a little sorry for myself.

I was straightened out this morning, as I straightened out my hair. I didn't lose everything in an earthquake and have to live in a driveway. I didn't live in a country built on corruption and keeping it's citizens in poverty and ignorance for the sole purpose of control.

My family is intact, even if my bank account isn't. My home is intact, even if I don't own it. My faith is intact, even when I don't serve the One who put it there.

I may not be able fly 54 orphans to safety and a new home. But I can skip a treat or two and put a buck or two in the offering. And I certainly am able to straighten out my attitude.









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