Blog Action Day: How can they smile?

I am certain Brandon knows nothing of the encouragement he frequently provides me. Sometimes, it only takes action to move others around you. I thank him for that! Today, bloggers all over the world are tackling the topic of poverty. You can read a little about it at http://blogactionday.org/.

Recently, I had the pleasure of participating in one my church's "Super Serve Saturdays" where we took the time to spend a Saturday in one of Houston's poor neighborhoods near the Houston Ship Channel. We assisted a team of high school students with putting on a neighborhood festival primarily focused on families with young children.

We had an absolute blast working different booths, helping the little ones with bean bag toss, fishing for ducks in the pool, and jumping in a big bouncy castle. I am pretty sure none of these kids had an iPod, Nike shoes, their own bedroom, or perhaps even a reliable car for their family to get around in. But remarkably, they all seemed very happy. These were God's children, enjoying themselves, each other, and us. It is really all about people is it not? I would hope that they were all being positively affected by the love and caring they were being shown by all the volunteers who took time away from their own families to spend a Saturday with them.

How can they smile? It is heartbreaking that they should have so little. But perhaps they have so much more than we can see. After all, they gave me so much that day. Maybe watching out for our fellow man is the "Change We Need".