Does it matter? Kony 2012

Last night I was sitting on my couch watching TV when my daughter looked at me and said, "What is Kony 2012?"   I responded with "I don't know, why do you ask?"  She went on to say "Three of my friends just posted 'Kony 2012' as their status and have a link to a YouTube video".  So we watched it.  We turned off 'Raising Hope' to watch a 30 minute video that leveled us.  This is the video.

KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

I am NOT an activist.  I am NOT a band-wagoner.  In fact, I rarely get involved in most things.  I feel that God has called me to focus on my family, my faith and the neighborhood around me.  I have a lot of friends who are oversees missionaries and I am glad they are called to do that, because the fact is I am NOT.  I feel I am called to a mission field much closer, my own backyard.  So why do I tell you this? So that you might understand that posting "Kony 2012" in my Facebook Status shortly after watching this video, is a big deal for me.  And I even bought the "action kit". I went to bed with a plan to get up today and figure out my next step.

I AM a mother.  I AM a daughter.  I AM a child of God.  You see I watched that video and when they talked about Kony abducting children, my heart broke. When they said that children were being kidnapped to fight  in a rebel group and that they were being forced to kidnap, mutilate, rape and kill their own people, their own families, well this caused me to pause.  I am a mother of two amazing children who were blessed to be born in the USA and the thought that other wonderful children like mine are forced to live in the reality that Kony forces on them, just breaks me.  How can I not act? How can I not try to facilitate change?

So imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning to find alternate and\or opposing opinions on Facebook.  Not that I think alternate opinions are bad, I mean I live in America and this is my right.  However, I find it a bit frustrating when people chose to be negative about things that they simply aren't interested it.  I had a few friends posting comments saying "What difference does posting a video or buying a t-shirt make?" and as I started to type answers to each one, I stopped and decided to blog about it instead.  You see I don't want to start a fight and I am not interested in debating for debates sake but I thought it might be nice to share the difference this made to me and why I find the negativity frustrating.

You see last night as I watched this video all I could see were the faces of my children.  I felt as if the Lord burdened my heart for these children.  But what can I do?

• I CAN re-post the video to further awareness.  Just like the student who re-posted it in their status and made me aware.
• I CAN support Invisible Children through donations and/or purchasing merchandise that will fund the work they are already doing.  You see money is a sad necessity in this world and it is required to get things done.
• I CAN wear a shirt or a bracelet as a form of awareness.  You see someone might ask me "What does your shirt mean?" or "Where did you get that bracelet?" and I can tell them about these atrocities.
• I CAN contact my local politicians and let them know where I stand on this issue and let them know that I approve of them taking action, allowing funding and whatever else needs to be done to stop this horrific exploitation of children.
• I CAN pray. I realize we all have things in our life that need prayer, but what if we all took a moment to add a prayer for something or someone other than ourselves.
• I CAN continue to figure out other ways that I can effect or bring about change.

In fact this video caused my daughter to wake up this morning and write a letter to our local congressman. She bought her own "action kit" so that she could facilitate awareness in her group of influence.  She wrote a blog about her feelings on the subject and is currently upstairs trying to figure out what else she can do.

I guess what I am saying is that we all have the opportunity to make a difference in this world and this life.  If the cause I believe in or chose to make mine is not yours, I just ask for a little courtesy.  So instead of being negative about the cause one chooses to make their own, find something you can rally behind so that you don't feel the need to knock others. Try to be a positive influence in this world, don't add to the negativity.

So I ask you, is there a cause close to your heart and how can you make a difference?