Overwhelmed.

"I know you can be overwhelmed, and I think you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?" -Dionne in Clueless

Have you ever felt (over)whelmed by the incredible amount of suffering and injustice going on in the world? Or maybe not even in the world, even very close to you?

Recently there has been a lot going on in my city, in my church, and in my own family; horrible situations in which I have no control over. A child was ran over by a school bus while his mother watched, a child skateboarding was hit by a car and then his best friend committed suicide, handfuls of couples going through separations, moms moving out and only taking some of the kids, friends losing their jobs, Regan going back into the hospital twice this month. It all seems so senseless to me. Most days it would be easier to just give up. To stop doing what I'm doing. To not care. To ignore so many things that have happened.

But I know I can't because that is not who I am. So where does that leave me? I believe God, in His infinite wisdom and grace, allows us to sometimes be overwhelmed by the situations around us. If we didn't feel overwhelmed, we wouldn't act. We would give up. We wouldn't care. So I choose to allow myself to be overwhelmed sometimes. To grieve for others. To carry their burdens. To pray for them continuously. And even in each situation, to thank God for allowing me to do something. I cannot "be everything to all men," (that's His job I believe), but I can do something. I choose to help.