Humanity Washed Ashore

Today is my son’s third birthday. And if I hadn’t seen the video or followed the news story I would probably be celebrating.

A cake.

Balloons.

Presents.

But instead I am mourning the loss of this precious boy on a beach thousands of miles away.

Humanity washed ashore.

Aylan Kurdi, a baby boy the size and age of my son was wiped from the beaches of a foreign land because his family was trying to escape the atrocities of war.

My boy still sleeps soundly in his crib.

My son Stone is surrounded by his favorite blankies and toys as he snores peacefully without a care in the world.

A full belly.

A medicine cabinet stocked with every possible need.

A mother and father within reach.

Air conditioning.

Security.

And yet what separates my son from this same fate? Only the place in which he was born.

Aylan’s family has been fleeing ISIS since 2012. His father and mother along with his older brother had fled town to town over hundreds of miles trying to escape the horrors of war. Aylan’s aunt had made attempts to bring her brother’s family to Canada as refugees but her request had been denied by the Canadian government because those living in Turkey are not seen as being in immediate danger. Apparently, Abdullah, Aylan’s father and over 9,000,000 refugees disagree with that description as they roam hundreds of miles fleeing with their families willing to place all their hope in a rubber raft against the brewing storms of the seas as their only hope to survival.

This family represents all the hope and opportunity we have in America as contrasted with the despair so many others in the middle east and around the world live with day by day. We foolishly bicker about what lives matter- black lives, cop’s lives, babies in their mother’s womb’s lives…while this father put every life that mattered to him in a rubber dinghy hoping for a chance at ANY life at all. Shame on us for even wasting a minute arguing about which lives matter most without thanking our Heavenly Father for the life that breathes in and out of
us with every moment and not holding up EVERY LIFE as equal in the eyes of its Creator and precious in the site of God. God forgive me. Until I saw this limp and lifeless body on the beach I had mostly been blissfully ignorant about this overwhelming crisis.

A political guru with power I am not. I do not have any answers. I can’t even pretend to fathom the depth of the challenges or the generations they will affect. But I can do something.

[bctt tweet=”A political guru with power I am not…But I can do something. #HumanityWashedAshore”]

All profits from every “Please God Don’t Let Me Screw This Up!” book sold over the next three days will go directly to benefit e3 Charities. For every book sold, we will be able to provide formula to a baby’s family! Mothers under stress produce less than optimum nutrition for their babies and may actually cease milk production altogether…But with e3 and your help, we could actually save the lives of these sweet babies living under the very real threat of starvation. E3 is a charity which meets the most pressing needs of the Syrian refugees… From food to stoves to gas and basic bedding. My book can help you in your parenting and the proceeds we give together can prevent another baby boy like Aylan’s death.

I can’t celebrate my son’s third birthday while the world mourns the loss of this sweet three year old boy. May he and his darling 5-year-old brother Galip and their mother Rehan rest in the loving arms of God. May the only surviving member of their family, the father, find hope and help in this lifetime. I can not even begin to imagine the depths of despair he is only beginning to walk through. But let’s not allow this tragedy to numb us just a little bit more and pass up an incredible opportunity to help our fellow man hear the hope of the Gospel, feed their children, and love on them with the love of Christ. Ordering my book today…“Please God Don’t Let Me Screw This Up!” can bring hope and help to your family and you can change the world with one small purchase!

Last but not least, in order for this post and this offer to have as much opportunity to help families like Aylan’s, you HAVE TO CLICK THE SHARE BUTTON!!!! Share this post to every social media outlet you use! Let’s bring hope and help to as many as we can!!!