Where it all Began

A little over three weeks ago I boarded a plane and left for a two week mission to China. I was with a team through Shaohannah's Hope, we were there to see and help care for the orphans of China. I wasn't sure what to expect, what to do or hope to accomplish, I just knew that God wanted me there and that there were kids who needed someone.
My parents adopted kids from Guatemala. They're amazing. My mom and I went there to bring them home and finalize everything. It was a beautiful country from what I saw, but there was a lot of poverty like I'd never seen before. What I saw in Guatemala broke my heart. I was uncomfortable there, completely out of my sheltered, self-centered comfort zone. As we were driven through the streets of the city from the airport to our hotel, I wished I was anywhere but there, God spoke quietly to my heart in that moment and said, "Don't look away." A painful and vulnerable reality hit me there, that I need to see the pain in others and let my heart break for them. It's certainly easier and feels safer to turn away from the need in another life, and it's not always 'convenient' to take a moment and help another person. But we are meant to feel compassion, to let our hearts break and pour out the love we have inside.
That's where it started, taking my eyes off the floor of a vehicle and looking out the window into streets where there is poverty. It wasn't fun, like you think of a trip to a foreign country would be, but it was the spark that started something in my life. There are millions of kids all over the world who are orphans, there is poverty all around us if we would only take our eyes off the 'floors' in our lives and have the guts to see it, then do something about it.
So here I am, back in the States. I feel so different from when I left for China, and so much happened that I'm excited to tell about.