Lately

I have been reading quite a bit lately. I used to read obsessively when I was a kid (which, by the way, when I stop being a kid? When did it become okay for me to say 'when I was a kid'?), but I stopped for a few reasons. I was too busy and mainly, I couldn't find any books that really interested me. Of course, being a teenage girl, I had to read twilight, but by the time I was done with the fourth book, I was sick of it. I wanted to read something that made me think about things that are easier to forget and pushed me to do what I haven't been doing.I picked up The Same Kind Of Different As Me not too long ago (apparently at the same time as my sister who finished it just a few days after I finished it. and we didn't know the other was reading it. Weird, right?). It was an absolutely incredible book. Defineitly recommended. I don't want to ruin it for anyone who is looking to read it, but it's basically about an amazing woman who surrendured to God completely and through this book you can witness the effects of it. It is an amazing true story. Right now, I am currently reading A Long Way Gone. It is the story of a boy who witnessed the war in Sierra Leone. It is weird to read this book after physically seeing some of the places he mentions in the book. When he talks about children loosing their parents, it hits me in a different way. I can picture the sweet faces of the Wellington Orphanage kids and it blows me away that this is not a made up story. These kids, my precious brothers and sisters, went through this. They saw things I can't imagine and yet wake up with more joy in their faces than so many people here. I am only a few chapters into the book, but it's already one of my favorites.

I have also been reading this blog a lot lately (kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com) This girl is not much older than me. She moved to Uganda and now has fourteen beautiful adopted daughters. Reading her story challenges me. It makes me so eager to go back and help in any way I can. It also frustrates me, not only with my culture, but with myself. I find myself feeling guilty for buying a Starbucks when I could have fed a child instead. I get angry at those four person families who are buying million dollar homes with 9 bedrooms when there are people literally living in cardboard boxes. It is just so amazing to me how easily forgotten those who have nothing are. How easily I get caught up in my day to day life that I don't stop and just pray for the kids in the orphanage. For that baby who I had the priveledge to hold for thirty minutes during a soccer match in the dirt field of Wellington. Anyways, if you have a few minutes, take a gander at it. I'll stop my rambling now, it is really late and I am pretty tired. Goodnight all.