…man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see?

Popular vote on statistics reveals there are more than 3.5 million homeless people across America with over 1.2 million of these people being under the age of 18 years.  It saddens me to think about the things I take for granted in my life, the things that I complain about on a daily basis.  I try really hard to look at how petty these things are, but it is usually in hindsight that I see it.  Think about your own life and some of the things in your daily routine that upset you.  You get up and get a shower, but the water is not hot enough because of the shower before yours, yet there are people without a sink to wash up in.  You grab a sandwich on your way to work and they forgot to put the cheese on it, and your fries are too salty at lunch, dinner is chaos trying to find the time to get that ready; while there are those out there doing anything for a single meal.  Your windows and doors are drafty, yet there are those that are without walls.

I cannot imagine what these people go through each day, what they must think about when they think about tomorrow. I think about what outfit I am going to put my son in, while there are those that think about where they can get clothing for their children.  I don’t sit at the table with my son, with my family each night for dinner we eat as individuals; the table is just a place for things to collect.  Imagine what I could learn from someone without, what they could teach me about the value of these things.  How many people truly understand how valuable something as simple as a dinner table is?

A few weeks back I happened to catch a snag in the carpet with the vacuum, made a run in it about 1.5 feet long.  I hate looking at it, it irritates me that it happened and upsets me that I caused it.  I wonder how long it would take for someone who had nothing to notice it if they were to be granted this house to live in.  Then I wonder after they notice it, how long would it take before it bothered them?  I wonder if they would pick apart every little thing that is wrong with the house.  Would they mind the little nick in the cabinet door under the sink the way I do?

I guess these blemishes in the house are not too unlike the blemishes and scars we all carry around.  They are caused by accidents, mistakes, and wrong decisions.  While slicing potatoes a while back with a slicer I happened to get a little close with my hand and took a nice slice out of the top of my thumb.  I didn’t want to do it, I knew it could happen, but made the decision to slice too fast and mistakenly injured myself.  I found myself in a situation I did not want to be in, bleeding over the sink trying to patch myself up.  On a much smaller scale I bet this is how some peoples live go, one day they are going about things the best way they know how, moving forward, progressing their lives until something happens that puts a stop to everything and throws them into a setback too great for them to overcome.  Just like me with the slicer, the metal blade on that was too great for my flesh to overcome, and a setback promptly followed.  Many of us are fortunate in that we have a place to turn; friends, family and others.  But, just because we have a place to turn does not mean that everyone does.

I think that I have succeeded in making people think at least a little bit, so I won’t continue to grind the point into the ground.  I just wanted to share some of my thoughts and insight into what prompted the birth of 200million-nickels.com and what makes this project different.  Stay tuned; tonight at 11:00 I will share more about making a difference.  In the mean time I urge you to take a look at 200Million-Nickels.com and contribute, or you can also make a purchase through BirdHousesandFeederStore.com and 20% of the proceeds from your purchase will be contributed to 200Million-Nickels.com.

Take care web.