Stretched for Resources

The name "At Wit's End," is pretty cliche' for a blog, I know. Why did I name it that? Great question. I was stumped at what to call it, I asked Google to spit out a cheesy title, and Google delivered! Mission accomplished! When I named this blog "At Wit's End," I didn't think of how truly accurate the title was going to be. At one point, it was called "Life's Little Lessons" or something cute along those lines, but "At Wit's End" just described it so much better, so the name stuck. From the day that I started writing this blog to the day I am publishing this latest post, nothing has slowed down or gotten easier - I always feel that I am on my wit's end! And today is no exception.

Type in "busy" into Google news search. Today's search results bring up busy elections, busy baseball teams, busy hurricane seasons, and the arrest of a man dressed as the Hamburgler (not even Google can be pinpoint accurate all the time!). We live in a busy world with busy stuff doing busy things! So what happens when you are convicted to do something for somebody but you have no time or resources to do anything to help them?

I think in college, the value of a dollar sky rockets. Heck, today I bought a blazer for only seven dollars, SEVEN DOLLARS! Only in college! I also think that the value of time becomes increasingly important with age; after all, every second we've lived is one less second we get to live- we should make the most of the time we have now. However, college is also a period where time and resources are scarce. All your money is going to overpriced textbooks and all your time is going into reading those overpriced text books. But I have to say, just because time and money is scarce doesn't mean that heart is - in fact, there's never been a time when I've seen heart bigger. 

Maybe it's because we live out of Raamen noodle cups and hand-me-down thrift stores, but college students, to me, have a better understanding of what it means to have each other than what it means to have things. And this week, I've looked around and seen folks that have needed a miracle now more than they've ever needed one before. But what is different about college students than a lot of people on this earth is that selfless, genuine college kids are typically a community that gives what they have, if and when they have it, and supports each other in a very real and physical way because they understand what it means to not have a whole lot. No checks to a non-profit group. No donations to charity. No pamphlets on where to get help. 

Real, physical help.

But so often, we are quite literally too busy and too conflicted to actually help out everybody who needs help, which leads us back to the question - what do you do when you are moved to help out this world but have neither the time nor the resources to be able to help?

Community.

Which is quite literally all around us. Often the people we see everyday are people who are just as in need as we are, but neither them nor us care to let it be known that we need each other. But in truth, we all do. Psychological studies have shown that people perform better, stronger, and more efficiently when their peers encourage them. We are all given the chance to do that- to uplift and encourage. That takes little time and effort, even less money, and a heart for each other. So this week, when your heart is convicted and your time and resources are conflicted, encourage and uplift each other. Be a community built to uplift each other. I think if we did, we'd be surprised at how valuable it turns out to be!

Oh and if you ever wanna send a starving college kid a check, don't hesitate!

KB

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the Law of Christ." Galatians 6:2