Monday, December 15, 2008

As I watch myself fall into a little thing I like to call "Calorie Overload" time after time, I start to wonder about all the starving people in the world. They probably will never experience this version of a stomach ache resulting from eating too much junk food. They get their own kind of stomach ache, if you can call it that. Starving, empty bellies for all these people. All the young, younger than me. All the old who have never known everything different. This is life.

I've tried it before, to see what it felt like. I did a minor fast, 49 hours. Then after that, I went to one of the many cupboards in my house, stocked with food. I never doubted that. I never in my life have had to wonder if there was going to be food when I got home. I never worried that I wouldn't get to eat the next day, or the next week. Everyday life for these people all over the world is nothing like mine. I can't understand the pain they feel. Even if I try, just a fraction of the time that they go without eating, I don't have to worry about where my next meal is going to come from. And yes, it hurts after a while not having anything in your stomach. The difference is that for me, at any time, I could have said "Okay, I'm done. Time to eat," walked over to the kitchen and gotten myself something.

Now I have a different pain. One in my heart. I want to help. I want to do something. And that pain grows stronger every time I realize that the majority of my time is spent focused on myself.

So I need to make some changes. I wish it was as easy for all the hungry people out there to change as it is for me. And I don't think it's going to be that easy for me to change, but I have the option to. These people don't.

I am change.

1 comment:

Diane said...

I sometimes sit back in awe of your thoughts and feelings Tori. I don't know any other 14 (close enough to 15) year olds that have such a strong grasp on what is offered in America... and what is not offered in most every other country in the world. My heart breaks for those people too and then I wonder why do we have so much? But God knows... He knows why, He knows what we are to do with the overflowing of blessings we have... You already have such a huge servant's heart! He is working a HUGE thing in and through you already! He has major plans for your life and He has you right where you are at this moment in your life to fulfill that plan. Later on you will possibly be somewhere else... I would actually bank on that... and I will miss you... but God is in control and we need to be obedient to His call on each of our lives.

This has turned out to be much longer than I planned but I love you and you always find a way to amaze me! :)