Like many of you, I watched American Idol last night.  They had been giving this Idol Gives Back show a lot of hype and I was curious to see what it entailed.  (As an Idol fan we either watch or DVR American Idol every Tuesday and Wednesday anyway.)

I must say, I was quite impressed.  By the end of the show they announced they had raised over $30 million dollars for Africa and the US.  $30 million, that’s $15 million for each country!  And I’m sure that number will continue to increase as the totals are calculated.

Why do I bring this up?  Because this is a great example of God working through people to impact the world.  Under the umbrella of the ONE Campaign  (www.one.org) people from across America are being mobilized to make a difference.  As per the ONE website:

The ONE Campaign is an effort by Americans to rally Americans . one by one . to fight the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty. ONE is students and ministers, punk rockers and NASCAR moms, Americans of all beliefs and every walk of life, united to help make poverty history.

We can make a difference.

Too often we get caught up in the busyness of our own lives to stop and look at those around us.  We fail to see the single mom struggling to raise her kids, the couple whose marriage is in turmoil and in desperate need of encouragement, the student at our child’s school who is denied adult role models, the grieving co-worker who has just lost a loved one, the neighbor who has lost his job and is in fear of losing his home or the homeless man on the corner.

Even if you are not moved to participate in the ONE Campaign, you can be used to impact the people around you.  Ask God to open your eyes to the one he wants you to help.  Find creative ways to give back.  You may or may not have the money to give, but you can certainly find time to give a child a hug, to listen to your co-worker share his memories, take a walk with the wife who needs to know she is not alone or take a meal to a struggling parent.

Giving back is not difficult if only we are willing to be used.  Become a God-sighting and choose to make someone else’s life a better one.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 26th, 2007 at 10:37 am and is filed under God-sightings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.