Youth group went really well last Saturday. I'm sure I mispronounced a good portion of "Cuanto Nos Ama", but that didn't really matter. Dios was there. During youth group they played this video about these missionaries in India.. really made me put the severity of my problems in perspective. here's the link- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lMqscv6bYo
We just went to the beach this past weekend. The place we stayed is called Punta Leona.. beautiful. There were red/rainbow colored parrots, iguanas, monkeys, toucans... lots of raccoons that begged for food. The scenery was beautiful.. I could go on and on about that, but by far my favorite part was worship on the beach. One of the Tican women that goes to my church came to the beach to watch the director's kids. She doesn't speak much english.. and we worshiped in all english songs. During one of the songs she broke down and just started weeping. I went over to her, and when she was able to speak, in her broken english she said "I needed that." It's cool that God isn't limited to speaking to a group of people through a language.
A little later, we walked down to the shore line and the whole group stood together in arms and sang "Amazing Grace." That just broke me. Why does God want anything to do with us?? He gives us so much, knowing that He receives so little from us in return... and He's JEALOUS for our affection. The God that created life. the Heavens.. the mountains.. all of those beautiful things that we have had the privilege of seeing. THAT God wants us.
One thing the Holy Spirit has really been convicting me of is my idol of comfort that I've made. When I was little and read "You shall have no other Gods before me" that wasn't really as convicting... We didn't have any statues of gods lying around the house. I didn't have a secret desire to be Hindu or have some celebrity I worshiped or anything. But idols are anything we love more than God. And I can definitely say I have had a lot of idols in my life. I've been super blessed with a great family, friends, houses, school... all of these things are great and God has used them a lot in my life and others, but if all of the sudden we had to sell our house how would I tolerate that? If all of my friends turned their back on me, how would I cope.. Even my family, what if I were to lose them? Am I dependent enough on God to where if I did not have these things, I would still be able to see the greater picture?
One time, I was in Africa :) ... South Africa.. with a missions team from Wesleyan (my high school) in the summer. My team and I had been working hard all morning, so when time came to serve lunch to these kids.. I was super excited because that meant food! We served out these nasty pink (pink. like.. pink pink) "hot dogs" that were about 2 and a half inches longer than any other hot dog I have ever seen. The previous days we had eaten meat sandwiches and pbj sandwiches that we had brought from our hostel, but this time we didn't. So I'm standing there serving these nasty creatures thinking "man.. I sure am blessed that I don't have to eat THAT. And then they told us to grab a plate. So I grabbed one and sat there with a couple of my new little South African friends, lost for words as they scarfed these pink pieces of rubber down their throats... then I looked down. It was time. Time to stop being such a baby. So, I took a bite. Once I saw the pink juice start to spread into the bleached-white-flour hot dog bun... I decided... why not give a child in need some food!.. haha.. It got rid of the hot dog and satisfied my guilty conscience just a little... but mostly it got rid of the hot dog. Anyways, after that day, I was just in awe. Have I ever been so hungry to the point where the look/content of the food didn't even matter? ..no. I don't even know the beginning of hunger compared to what some people in this world go through.
Grace,
ReplyDeleteIt's been so long since I've written. Know that I think of you though. And today especially. I read this post and the two before it and it's true, why does He love us so, when we so often act as though we don't need Him? How would we react if put in a sitation when He was it and everyone else turned their back on us? It's totally convicting to think about. And my prayer for you and for all of us who are given so much is that we would become grateful and that at some point God gives us the opportunity to show Him our strength in Him through the Holy Spirit. Love you and miss you! And, I am totally enjoying your blog!