A couple days ago at work, I was talking to a customer about my trip. Everything was great, until he asked me how much I was paying for the trip. I told him, and his response was, " Wow. Don't you think you could be doing something better with that money, like actually feeding the hungry…"
……………………………………………………………..crap.
I was so thrown off by the question, the only response I could think of was something like,
AM I DOING THE RIGHT THING?
IS THIS THE BEST WAY TO SPEND PEOPLE'S MONEY?
WHAT AM I DOING?!
IT'S TOO LATE TO BACK OUT.
DOES EVERYONE FEEL THIS WAY?
After talking to myself like this for way too long, I remembered a day in the Dominican Republic in one of the villages we were bringing food to.
"You bring clothes for my people, toys for my children, and food for my village and we thank you for that greatly. But the thing that matters to us the most is the time you take to spend with us. I see you (my group and I) running around with the children for hours, you sit and talk to us, even though there is a great language barrier, and for that, we give you the most thanks"
After remember this moment, all of my anxieties went away.
The importance of spending time with people has lost importance. Sure, $15,500 could feed a lot of people! But would those people ever experience a hug? A smile? A deep conversation with a complete stranger? …..love?
WIth the technology in America today, it is easy to lose sight of how important human contact is. How many hours have you spent emailing/texting/"chatting" in the last month? Now how many have you spent actually talking to those people, face to face.
It's so much easier donating to a homeless shelter online, than going to serve them.
It's easier sending a check in the mail to a child than ever meeting them.
It's easier emailing a friend going through a hard time, than looking into their eyes and asking them how they are doing.
EASY, EASY. EASY.
