The deep, rich colors of late fall have filled my heart with joy. I love how leaves, in the very act of dying, become amazingly beautiful. And I just love fall - especially days like Monday when it's crisp but not cold and the overcast skies make the colors really pop. I went for a run on Monday and it was just so beautiful and perfect.
For the past few days, I've been thinking so much about the huge blessing of safety that I enjoy so that's what I want to focus on for my gratitude post today. On Sunday, we decided as a family to fast for the refugees who've left their homeland of Syria to find safety. On Sunday, we watched these YouTube clips (and a lot more - but these were some of the ones we liked the best) to learn more about the whole thing:
- The European Refugee Crisis and Syria Explained (great quick overview of what's going on - with some pretty sad statistics)
- Syrian Refugee Crisis Explained (offers further information, laid out very clearly - great for the ages of my kids - 10-15)
- What is ISIS and What do they Want? (basic quick information explained well)
- What is Islam (simple overview of the main beliefs of Islam)
- We Walk Together: A Syrian Family's Journey to the Heart of Europe (When there were no trains available, this family and hundreds of others started walking from Hungary, trying to get to Germany where they could find asylum. Loved seeing the kind people who helped them.)
- On Board a Smuggler's Boat with Refugees (shows an example of how lots of refugees are paying all the money they can gather together to smugglers who put them on crammed old boats and point them in the general direction of safety - scary but no one ends up drowning so this was a good one to show kids)
We've talked a lot the past few days about how blessed we are to feel safe in our country, to be able to sleep at night in our own comfy beds rather than sleeping on the streets while traveling to find asylum or in a tent in a refugee camp, hoping to have a roof over our heads again some day.
How blessed I am that I've never known war and have always felt safe.
2 comments:
I love that you're posting again! I always like to read what you are thinking about, and this particular post made me think. Thank you.
Sar, you are so awesome. I'm going to watch those videos with the kids tonight. Love how you help your kids understand the world.
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