Part of my resting time has included reading the book Kisses from Katie. If you haven't heard of it, it is written by a girl that basically quit her life in the States and moves to Uganda at the age of 18. She is incredible. I want to be her. Her love for Jesus is wonderful, and I long for the faith and trust and complete surrender she has to Him. It's amazing how much this book pumps me up and severely convicts me at the same time. Just yesterday I bought myself a sweater. It was only about $25, but that would be more than the money needed to send a child to school for 3 months in Uganda. I spent $177.65 on going out food in December. I will spend about $1200 on cable and internet over the course of the year. Kind of makes me nauseous to think about. I don't even consider the fact that it is a major blessing to have things like a warm and comfortable bed, access to water, health care, a car, a job, lamps, refrigerators, shampoo, nail clippers, shoes, blankets, cd players, advil, etc, etc, etc. I mean, when's the last time I thanked God for fingernail clippers?? They are quite handy. It makes my heart hurt to think of things I complain about... the 4G network on my new iphone 5 is too slowww... all the free food at work in the cafeteria just doesn't look appealing... there's no good songs on the radio... It's actually so ridiculous it's funny.
In Rwanda I was not really bothered by the mosquito nets, or the lack of chickfila, or the sometimes cold showers, but reading some of the things Katie dealt with, like a giant rat that lived in her bathroom or lizards crawling around her as she slept, my immediate thought is, OK GOD, that's too much! But she repeatedly says that it's not by her doing but with God's strength that she does what she does. And that apart from all the material blessings we have here in the US that we can depend on, you have no choice but to wholeheartedly depend on Christ to get you through a day. And she loves every minute of it because being in God's will is far greater than anything this world has to offer. So who are the blessed ones??
What am I doing? I may not be in Uganda, but I am in Columbia, SC and that is just as much a mission field as Africa. Maybe the majority of children aren't starving, but many are living in neighborhoods with gangs, or households where they are physically, sexually, or emotionally abused, or maybe just aren't loved the way that I was growing up. And I've been given the sweet opportunity to invest in these children and their families and I've got to make that time count. I need to be much more purposeful with my time, that I'm not just part of a team that's meeting physical needs, but these families need Jesus too! I have a chance to be Jesus to them. And I need to become a better steward with my time and money. Not that I have a lot of either to spare, but I have more than plenty. I have you as my witness, for the next month I'm not going to eat out. I have a cafeteria at work where I can get meals during the day, and I have a freezer full of food at home that I can eat out of. Then at the end of the month, that $177 can go towards something much better than giving more work for my scale at home.
Read this book! It will convict but encourage a ton. It's amazing to see what a difference Christ can make through one person. And what a great example to inspire us to do what we were made to do: love God and love people. Also here's her blog, and also a link to the blog of one of my friends from Auburn who is basically Katie without a book :) She packed up her life in Auburn to go live for Jesus in Guatemala. She's at the start of her journey but it's awesome to see the effects she's already made down there!
http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/
http://manosheridas.blogspot.com/
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Acts 1:8
:) love you liz
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