Happy {Day 68}

Can I be corny for just one minute?

Today, I'm happy I live in America. I know, I know... cue the sappy patriotic country songs. But let me explain first. Right now, I'm reading this book:

img from here

First of all, it's so, so good. I highly recommend it. At first, I thought the description sounded kind of dry. (Lost children of Nepal? I wasn't even sure I knew where Nepal was.) But it took me about five pages to get sucked in. It's a true story of an American guy who volunteers at an orphanage in Nepal, falls in love with the children, and finds out that they - and hundreds of other children in the country - are the victims of child trafficking due to a civil war going on in the country. So he decides to help by building a children's home and settin  out to reunite these children with their families.

The reason this has anything to do with my previous mention of America is that the book brings to light the horrific conditions these poor kids are forced to endure. Poverty, starvation, being yanked from their families to fight in rebel armies. It's awful. I know that this kind of stuff goes on all over the world in third-world countries, but it's easy for me to wrap myself up in my safe American cocoon and not think about it.

Today, I'm happy that I live in the United States. I'm happy that my kids live here - that they're safe (relatively speaking), well-fed, and free to choose what their lives will be like. I'm lucky. So, so lucky. And despite part of me wanting to drag my family to Nepal to join in the volunteer efforts, I'm glad that I get to stay here inevitably.

And here is where I end my corny, patriotic soapbox speech. Hope you enjoyed. :)