Just a Voice Like a Riot Rocking Every Revision

Something has been on my heart so intimately that I have decided to share it with all of you. I don't do this often, but Christ has just been opening up my heart so widely that I feel I want you all to experience that with me, if you so choose. Yesterday, I was walking out of Xavier's, heading to the New Market to shop and look around with friends. As I was walking down the street, two little boys came up to me. Both were wearing clothes that were ratty, dirty, and filled with holes. They were also carrying plastic bags of old cans found all over the streets. I'm guessing that they were collecting the cans in order to receive as much change as they possibly can. They began following me holding out their tiny, dirty hands begging for anything that I could give them. All of a sudden one of them wrapped his hand around my finger and gripped so incredibly tightly. My heart melted into mush, and every part of me wanted to turn around, pick him up, hold him and never him go. We've been told not to give the beggars anything, even the children because we don't know where it's going towards. That is so difficult for me because I want to give these children every last coin that I have. I also don't want to become apathetic to poverty because that is my biggest fear. I was almost angry at God for not helping me with what to do, but then it hit me. When that little boy wrapped his tiny hand around my finger, I felt God. It was literally as if I was hit by a rickshaw, but it felt incredible. It reminded me that God knows these children's pain, and God understands the pain I feel when I see these children. In fact, God understands this pain so much that He gave me a heart for working with children.

I found out my service learning placement, and I will be serving at Prayasam. It's an organization in Salt Lake, Kolkata, where we live that helps children in the slums. Their motto is, "We care because someone must." So simple, but it reverberates with me. Two of the students last year worked here and they helped teach the children English, and they also spent time with the children on Saturdays helping planting a sustainable garden. The organization is extremely creative, and they love inspiring the children through the arts. I've posted the link below so that anyone who is interested can look at it. I'm pretty certain I will love it, and I will definitely make sure to keep you all updated.
http://www.prayasam.org/index.asp

I'll leave you with a random thought I had. I've been listening to this song that just makes me so fantastically hopeful for the future and so empowered and part of the song says, "This is not the end, this is not the beginning, just a voice like a riot rocking every revision." I am going to use this as my theme for the next semester. Life is a constant revision, a constant draft that we write, erase and re-write. We are never finished writing it. There is never an end. There is never a beginning. My draft will be a constant challenge of this world. It will be a riot, a revolution that pushes for more than what is being given now. I refuse to settle for anything. I have immense hope for these children, and my heart awaits when I will be able to touch the hands of the little ones and to hold them so tightly. My heart awaits loving on the children that Christ brings to me.