leighann's

Picture your bed.

What does it mean to you? At the end of a long day, whether it's been amazing or perfectly disastrous, what does it mean to be able to crawl under the covers and snuggle up to your pillow, close your eyes and rest? When you've been traveling, what is the one "thing" at home you usually miss first? For me, it's my bed. When I get home from a long trip I usually throw myself across my bed and actually tell it how much I've missed it. I bet I'm not the only one.

Now picture your child's bed (or your own bed as a child.) Does it look something like this?

Or this?

Or possibly even this?

You know how you feel when you haven't had a good night's sleep? Perhaps you were tossing and turning because you had a lot on your mind. Maybe you drank too much caffeine late in the day and your mind refused to slow down long enough to let you rest. Maybe your kids came in three or four times due to one random thing or another. Whatever the circumstance, you know that a night with no sleep makes you feel terrible the next day. You might walk through the day in a fog, easily irritated with those unfortunate enough to have to deal with you. If you are a student, you find yourself having a hard time concentrating and possibly even falling asleep in class. Go for a few nights without sleep and it can make you physically ill.

Now imagine that your childhood bed looks like this.

Or this.

Or possibly even this.

Imagine that every night you lay down on a cold hard floor, completely exposed to insects and mice. Or imagine you have to sleep on a mattress that is decades old, crawling with bed mites and reeking with the stench of countless bed wettings from the untold number of children who have slept there before you.

This is reality for millions of orphans around the world. And you can do something about it.

Since my time in Haiti, I've had the opportunity to spend several hours with Jen Gash, the president and founder of a faith-based, non-profit organization called Sweet Sleep. I've heard her story of how she visited the country of Moldova in 2003 and her world was completely rocked by the conditions of the orphans there. Her heart kept coming back to the pile of filthy mattresses in the corner and she knew that God was calling her to do something about it.

Since that time, she quit her job as executive assistant to the mayor of Nashville and has worked tirelessly to come up with a way to provide beds for orphans. This year, Sweet Sleep will be working with orphans in Eastern Europe, Africa and Haiti. They've promised 4,000 beds in Haiti alone. This is a huge increase over the amount of beds they installed last year, and they need our help to accomplish this massive task.

When I was in Haiti, I knew that God was calling me to do something about what He was showing me. Being with the orphans there and seeing their sweet faces has created a sense of urgency in me that wasn't there before. There are over 5,000 new children being orphaned every day. AIDS is leaving an ocean of orphaned children behind in Africa. Haiti had thousands of orphans before the quake, but today the number is staggering.

Why do these children deserve to sleep on the floor? Why shouldn't they have a bed to call their own with a pillow and sheets and a blanket? Does God love my kids more than these? Does he love your kids more than these? Of course not. Here is an opportunity for each of us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. As if it were your child sleeping in filth and decay. As if it were you.

Please pray about becoming a monthly sponsor of Sweet Sleep. You can click here to become a bedhead, which means that you pledge a minimum contribution of $30 per month. That is about the cost of dinner out one night. If you would be willing to sacrifice that convenience one time each month, you can make a difference in the lives of orphans all around the world.

My family has committed to filling an orphanage in Haiti with beds this year. I'm looking for 25 people that would be willing to support Sweet Sleep with a monthly donation. Because they are keeping track of how many folks I'm able to bring in, if you do sign up online, please put "bedhead-lswords" in the comment section after it asks how you heard about Sweet Sleep.

Even if you aren't able to make a monthly pledge at this time, there is another way you can help. If you host a small group, playgroup, Bible study or even just a supper club, anything like that, would you be willing to let me come speak for 10 or 15 minutes to tell your friends about what Sweet Sleep does? I would so appreciate that opportunity. I believe in this cause and I know that the more people who are aware of Sweet Sleep, the more children around the planet that will get to trade in this...