The Need

There's a lot going on here as people start to clean out their houses and throw away things they cherish. I had a taste of it when we had to squish down all of the cardboard blocks that we got as kids. We were poor, and they were a Christmas present from someone (I think). We spent all day putting them together and we played with them a lot. We used them to make houses for our little people and Barbie dolls. Now they're in the trash on the road side.

It's not that they're valuable. They're just things. And it's a small thing (there were many others that we had to make decisions to throw away), but it made a little part of me sore and sympathetic for the people just a few houses down who are throwing out photo albums, saved birthday cards and letters, treasured gifts from relatives and so much more.

Emails keep coming about who we can help and how badly they need it. And I'm stuck at home not able to help so very much with much of anything. Even if I gave all I am, it wouldn't be enough. Even if everyone I knew gave what they had, it wouldn't fix much. It's overwhelming.

The need is overwhelming. I wonder if this is a little bit how Jesus felt when he sat outside the gates of Jerusalem, crying. So many people to save, to help. So many lost and hurting hearts. And yet his ached too, knowing what human suffering was ahead for him as well. Please pray for Iowa.