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Friday, October 8, 2010

Daily News

The alarm rings. I reach over, grab my phone, turn it off and hit the app. for my news sites. World news, national news, local news, none of it interests me. I don't watch news programs, I don't really care what is happening in the world around me. Ignorance is bliss. When my husband took this job we made the decision that both of us should be more aware of global issues. We needed to be able to hold our own in a conversation with those who cared deeply about the happenings in the world. So each morning the first thing I do, as I'm still laying in bed attempting to wake up, is read the top headlines for the day. I have two sites I like, CBS news and USA Today. Between these two sites I figure I've got my bases covered.
I've got two big problems with starting my day by reading the headlines. First, "news" typically does not tend to be "good news". Stories of war, murder, thievery, suffering and scandal hit the headlines. We live in a world that is hurting and broken and I tend to want to distance myself from these things and just focus on my small and good little world. Even as I read these headlines I find myself putting up walls and barriers to distance myself. I cannot dwell on these thoughts for too long or they will suck me in. The second problem is that events in Pakistan are likely to make the headlines of the day. This isn't good when my husband is living there. First it was boarder tension in the North near Afghanistan. Then the flooding that has killed thousands and left millions homeless. Now it is the NATO supplies that are being blown up while waiting for the boarders to open into Afghanistan. Although it is top news, I don't hear my friends talking about "what is going on in Pakistan". It is far away and not popular. But it is life for me. "What is going on in Pakistan - today?"
My husband and I talk about these things. Up to this point he has told me that the events don't affect him, but now with the NATO situation he says "it is causing us difficulty". Difficulty - what does he mean by that? I have no grasp on the security situation there. What is it like to travel off the compound? Do you feel the danger lurking around you? Is the danger real and imminent or is it just imagined? I can not comprehend.
Fortunately I have a life line to cling to. My faith in God. God promises me that he is watching out for the ravens giving them food to eat. Ravens? Thank goodness Luke goes on to say how much more valuable we are in God's eyes than mere ravens! Yet that is a promise that I cling to during the day. I know God is watching my husband. I know God will not leave him. Just as God was with David in the caves, protecting him, God is with my husband in Pakistan.
So I read the headlines, pray for my husband's safety and get out of bed. The kids need a strong mom today. Pakistan is far away and I have put the events over there in God's hands, but God expects me to contribute to the events surrounding me today where I can touch someone in encouragement, smile to give them joy and hug them to show they are safe and protected around me.

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