I needed to pause here.
I had a post written for today. It was actually published for about an hour and then I took it down. There is nothing controversial about it or all that interesting. It was just a few pictures of our simple December and several jokes about how strong my dislike for winter is.
I woke up this morning and could not stop thinking about families facing war, destruction, and terror. As I joked in my post about curling up in my electric blanket, moms on the other side of the world are grieving the loss of their children, homes and safety.
I’ll publish my post again, but I needed to pause today.
One day my kids will study current events in Mosul, Sudan, Syria and Aleppo. One day what is happening today will be the text of history books. One day my kids will ask me about how and why a genocide took place and the world seemed silent. One day they will ask me what I did.
I admit I feel totally helpless. It is hard to believe that I could help in any way families that have lost everything and are living under a blanket of terror and what must feel like an eternal winter. Despite feeling helpless, I do not want to one day tell my kids, “I didn’t know how to help, so I was silent.”
I learned about the Holocaust in 7th grade. It wrecked me and I couldn’t imagine how the world seemed to be silent. Did they not know what was happening? How could it happen? Where were the brave?
There is no doubt the world – you and I – know what is happening today. Through social media we can see in real time what is happening to our brothers and sisters. We can read the words of a young child as she wonders where we are. We can choose to be silent because we don’t know what to say or do. Or we can choose not to scroll past images, not to turn a blind eye, and not to believe the lie that there is nothing we can do.
One day my children will ask me about Aleppo and I want to tell them that though I didn’t know how to really help, I tried. I want to tell them we tried.
If I can give my children one Christmas gift this year, I want it to be the gift of seeing others. I want them to celebrate Christmas with joy in their hearts and sincere concern for others…whether they live next door or across the ocean. This week we will gather together under electric blankets and next to space heaters. We will laugh and carry on about with the traditions we love. We will also talk about the children of Aleppo, Sudan, and our state foster system. Instead of turning our heads only to bright lights and presents, we will turn them towards those suffering and we will research what our little family can do to help…in our city, our state, our country, and our world. We’ve been given so much, let us be extravagant and sacrificial in using it for others.
Below are links with more information on how you can help, specifically in regards to those suffering in Aleppo. How you can use your voice. How you can use your resources.
The Ministry of Giving a Rip At Christmas – a post by my friend Shannan
Demand a Safe Evacuation – Amnesty International
The World Changing Art of Not Being a Sham This Christmas – practical action steps at the bottom of the post
Dear Children of Aleppo – a letter by Ann Voskamp – practical action steps at the bottom of the post
