Sorting It All Out

I have a huge test on Tuesday. I really need to be studying. I have already paid over $500.00 just to take the test. Passing this test is really important to my nursing career. But... my heart and my brain are just not in tune….. I’m having trouble right now concentrating on the finer points of hemodynamics.

It happened to me last year as well - It lasted about a month. After returning from the medical mission trip to Belize I seem to always find myself in a funk - overwhelmed with guilt, despair, confusion and depression. Most of it, I’m sure, can be attributed to exhaustion. But, the thought of children living without food, shelter or even clean drinking water tends to bother me. The stories Jesus told about the “Rich Man and Lazarus” (Luke 16), The “Rich young Ruler” (Luke 18), and the “Rich Man and his Barns” (Luke 12) are keeping me awake at night.

On the long flight home we stood in line at the airport with a famous baseball player. I noticed that just his watch, bracelet and earrings were probably worth more than my entire house. Is this the “Rich people" that Jesus was talking about?

When we visited the village where the children with no floor lived
(see Russ’ Blog)
I realized that I had more money stuffed down in my pockets at that moment than their entire family would see in a year, maybe two. Am I the "Rich Man" Jesus is talking about?

Let me ask you a question. It has been on my mind ever since I got home from Belize.

Please comment and help me sort this out…

Is it selfish, uncaring and sinful to buy my children nice things like cell phones, new cars and Nintendo game when there are children less than eight hours away from me (26 hours if you fly American Airlines) who are going to bed hungry every night?