Alone.

The other day I was sitting up in my room listening to my little sister cry herself to sleep. Hearing her cry always makes me feel bad, but I know she has to cry or she wont learn to sleep on her own. Whenever its my turn to put her to sleep I have such a hard time leaving her by herself. She says little things like "Dont leave me." "I'm scared." or "I don't want to be alone." I always reassure her that she is okay and that I love her. I tell her that I am going to be just down the hall, or her other sister is coming in soon, or her brother is in the room next door. Sometimes when she looks at me with those big wet eyes I can't even get myself to leave. I just lay there next to her rubbing her back and singing little songs until she falls asleep. As I was thinking about this something hit me. There are kids in Africa right now that are crying with no reassurance in their life. Kids that are afraid to fall asleep not because there might be something scary in their closet or because their sister wont stay but because they are starving, cold and alone outside with no one, no one at all. These kids cry and cry their heads full of the nightmare that is their life. They have been abused by adults, left to fend for themselves. They have nothing. They have no love. That thought just broke me. My little sister has 7 other people to comfort her when she is crying. She knows without a doubt that she is safe and loved. Thinking that there are kids that don't have anyone to love them is such a horrible thought. I wish with every ounce of my being that I could be there right now holding those little children and whispering words of love into their tiny ears. I wish I could make them feel safe. But I know right now that all I can do for them is pray, and pray hard. Until a day when I can be there and find those children and bring them home.