update

this last week was love:well @ cbu. the birth of this event came from national hunger and homeless awareness week. as we prepared chapel announcements, flyers, advertisement, money collections, recycling stations, shirt orders and more i noticed that i began to work to just finish a task. once God gave me this realization i knew that i needed to focus on why i was working so hard, what i was working for? i asked God to re-break my heart for those suffering from hunger, thirst and homelessness. that i would see people, names, and not just statistics and "issues". as the week rolled around i began to really fight against getting overwhelmed, stressed and frustrated, just wanting the week to be over. there were a few nights that i found myself in tears (not normal for me) because i felt like the task at hand was too much. 

God is so good. he quickly used those emotions to soften my heart. after watching the video in chapel, challenging others to change and seeing how quickly people were willing to give i found myself looking through new eyes. then the negative. i watched many of my peers wait in line for two hours to buy wicked tickets that cost $40.00. i know watching wicked isn't a sin, but $40 could give 40 africans one years worth of fresh water. wow! are we so willing to wait in line for hours to save our brothers and sisters? working with osl i can tell you our ministry numbers aren't very high. why is there such a paradox? 

at the rally wednesday i sat in the back, fighting tears as i listened to evan share his soul through music. his lyrics confessed how we have all these plans to do great things, but then we find ourselves in august and we have done nothing. sorry to homeless joe, sorry to mary, mother of three for not doing anything. now its november. what have i done? i knew his words resonated with us all. i find myself overwhelmed by emotion, finding it hard to speak. but we can do something! we can give, we can serve and yes there is so much to be done, but every step counts. every step. walk with me friends. 

God has broken my heart anew and i am thankful. i know i am not perfect, i know i can do so much more. i don't say these things to condemn your actions. i am speaking truth, because often we don't say what we need to say. how can those people in line know what they are doing is wrong unless we draw the parallel. unless we approach them and tell them we as christians need to change our lifestyles. we don't need to spend money on ourselves. we need to give. Jesus gave all he had, including himself. we are called to be servants. lets keep each other accountable, lets not settle for comfort. 

if you want to do something seek me out, look into ministries in the osl office, contact your church ministry leaders, google shelters, non-profits. but please. dont wake up in january and find that you have done nothing. 

with much love. hannah pearl