Marcia and I love to take walks together. Only in recent months they have been short and slow. She is so patient to slow down for “me and my cane.” The other day, I picked up a rock in my shoe and as much as it irritated me, I knew it would take considerable effort for me to bend down and remove my shoe to get it out; I tire so very easily. So I kept walking with the rock in my shoe, pretending it wasn’t that big of a problem. But the longer I walked with the rock in my shoe, my pretending it didn’t matter became less and less convincing.
The minor ordeal caused me to think about other “rocks in my shoe” we sometimes tolerate. Like living with worry, regret, anxiety, fear, or doubt. Or criticizing or mocking others or a pessimistic attitude. They’re all rocks in our shoes that limit the enjoyment of our spiritual walk. In fact, they can ruin a whole day grumbling and getting upset over little things. But I wonder if we don’t mind the pain so much, because we don’t take the effort to remove them from our lives. It seems easier to react the way we always have reacted, forgetting – or denying – the power of God’s Spirit to transform our lives in such incredible ways!
Other rocks in our shoes may not seem to hurt us at all, but they cause pain to others. If a child complained of a rock in their shoe, you’d help them remove it, right? And yet our incessant focus on our own busy lives prevents us from noticing that others around us (and around the world) have rocks in their shoes they can’t remove – without our help. Rocks such as living on $2 per day, not having money to send children to school (cost of $1/day), not being able to provide a hot meal for a child ($1.25/day), or clean water (pennies per day). If you knew someone who endured these rocks in their shoes, you’d help them out. I mean, which of us cannot afford $1/day or even 50 cents per day?
This is how Go Light Our World works. We find children and adults in need, Quechua families in Bolivia. We know them by name and they know us. We’ve known one child for nearly 15 years, others for 5 years. GLOW helps them, often with no more than $1/day, to live a safe life, escape the cycle of poverty, and learn the hope of Jesus.
We invite you to help remove the rocks from the shoes of children at risk. Who knows, you might make a lifelong friend and find that your own walk is a little more enjoyable and fulfilling.
Go ahead – change someone’s world!
Learn more at: www.GoLightOurWorld.org/Giving
