20 days till training camp.
81 days till launch (1,955 hours in case you were wondering…)
12,503 more dollars to get me there.
Cue the first stage freak out. This whole faith thing is hard and sometimes I question why I chose to embark on this mission to begin with. Sometimes it’s the little things that snap you back to reality.
Working at Family Christian has its ups and downs like most retail jobs (been there for 5 years now what what!). In retail you have to learn to put up a kind of wall or you’ll go home crying. I still get fired up easily but not hurt anymore. It’s a defense mechanism. Every struggle is different and every store has a different client base. Anyway, this past Saturday was our World Vision Day (for those who don’t know what world vision is, it’s an AWESOME child sponsorship opportunity…check it out at your local family christian or at worldvision.org). What this means is for an entire day (we used to focus on it more often but now it’s focused on a day) we have cake out, and we shift our focus on trying to get as many of those little lives saved as possible.
So I’m not condemning anyone here. I realize that people are struggling. This is a hard time that we live in and not everyone is equipped financially. That woman who looks so put together may not be able to pay her mortgage right now much less sponsor a child. Some people aren’t called to do that, their calling lies in the soup kitchen or MOW or something local. Anyway the point is that trying to get kids sponsored is one of the hardest parts of my job. I care for these kids so much it moves me to tears just looking at their little faces. The question is then how do I convey this passion that I have into please save this kids life. Do you know that 19,000 kids die every day? While this fact is crazy impactful to me, it doesn’t always bring the desired response, instead it causes people to shut down. (If you haven’t noticed yet my stories tend to get a little side tracked….) So I am ringing up this guest and our bath and body soaps and stuff are 50% off so they’re like 2.50 each. Great. YAY SCENTED HAND SOAP. Once again, not condemning anyone for buying hand soap… you do you… Ok so this lady comes up and literally buys $60 worth of this 50% off hand soap which like I said awesome you go girl you get that savings. At the end of the purchase I do my little pitch “Ma’am I can take $20 off your purchase today if you’d like to save the life of this child by sponsoring them for $35*(remember this moment) a month through world vision!” Ok so at the phrase $35 a month, she makes this face like I just asked her to sacrifice her child to the Aztec gods. “oh no. what’s my total.” Ok great that’s fine. Like I said not everyone’s gonna do it. You move on. Here’s my thing though…. you just spent $60 on hand soap. Now generally you use water when you use hand soap right? Do you know that the child that I asked you to consider sponsoring doesn’t always have access to clean drinking water? She can buy all the soap she wants that’s not the point with this. That transaction just hit me particularly hard because it made me think of all the things that we take for granted. This rant for example. I am ranting about my job that’s air conditioned where it’s not too labor intensive and I get paid better than a good portion of the world.
I’m getting to my point I promise.
Ok so another transaction, lady sucks in her breath (once again like I did the Aztec god thing #anthropologyproblems) says no. Ok I’m getting dejected and sad here. Some guy comes up has a 20.99 purchase. I ask him the pitch blah blah “Yes.” (in my head what like are you serious OMG I’M GOING TO DO BACK FLIPS LIKE I’M REALLY OUT OF SHAPE BUT YES AHHH LITTLE BOO BOO IS GOING TO HAVE FOOD ASLDFASLA;KDS;LJS;A!) “OH awesome! Well there are all these kids over here so you can pick out whatever kid yo…” “That one.”
It happened so fast I don’t remember the kids name. He lives in Niger, he has 7 siblings and lives in in area impacted by AIDS and HIV. Most importantly he now has a sponsor. He will have access to clean water, medical attention, schooling. All because of that one little word my guest said “yes”.
Trying not to cry of happiness as I finish the transaction. Later I think. This is why I signed up for the World Race. We get to first hand help the kids who I see on packets. I build up my walls as to not let myself get discouraged day after day of rejection. I know I’m going to be exhausted on the race, there will be days where I’m pissy, disgruntled and just not in a good mood but I’m there for a higher calling.
James 1:27 (NIV) Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress….
Aren’t we all really in need of someone to look after us?
Thanks for listening to my rant and I hope something good comes of it. As a fiery person,my actions come out a little more *enthusiastic*. Hopefully this gives you an insight into my thoughts and intentions.
Much love,
Katie 🙂
