I watched for a few moments and became so overwhelmed that I began to cry. What is it about motherhood that directly ties your tear ducts to your heart strings? I seem to cry so easily these days.
These sweet children of God live in such poverty. They face much more difficult trials in their lives. Their families do not have enough money to feed them, let alone get them this life changing surgery. I think it was the faces of the mothers that touched me the most. The look of disappointment when their children's names weren't called and the smile in the eyes of the parents whose children were lucky enough to be called. They don't speak English but their faces said it all. One woman had to sit outside (as all other parents did) while waiting for her 18 month old son to have the surgery. When the nurses took her by the hand to let her see the "new face" of her only child, my heart instantly melted. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she just kept saying "Thank you, thank you" over and over. Her gratitude for what had been done was overwhelming. You truly never understand just how much your parents love you until, you become a mother. The love I have for Madison runs so deep and is never ending. From the moment she came into this world and I held her in my arms, I knew I would give up my own life for her if I had to.
Again I reflect as I sit here with a full stomach and a perfectly healthy little girl and my heart is full. Sometimes we have to take a step outside ourselves to realize just how lucky we are. How random that it took a commercial for me to realize that.
There are so many great quotes on the subject but I think my two favorite are
"We often take for granted the very things that deserve our gratitude" - Cynthia Ozick
And
"Gratitude turns what we have into enough" - unknown
I wish I had a ton of money to help those sweet kids. I wish I could go on a mission with Operation Smile. But all I can do is help and serve those around be until one day the opportunity arises for us to go.
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