I am learning more from these Ugandan children then they will ever learn from me. It is hard and weird to think about but these kids do not need me. They are not the ones who are being blessed here! When God put this dream in my heart, in no way did I think it would be like this. I thought that I would come over, do some VBS share some love, give some hugs, maybe pass out some new clothes and some candy to kids who said they needed it. Boy was I wrong! We walk down the street to a village of hits who literally sleep in the dirt, kids take care of themselves (and their siblings) and still have time and energy to play and work hard. There is nothing that we can give these kids that will help them in life. God has given them everything that they will ever need. Being here and seeing the way that they live compared to the way that we as Americans live is soooo different. We think that to be happy and successful we need a big house with 2 cars and a well kept lawn. HA! Boy are we missing the target. We do not need any of that stuff to be happy. If we have each other then what else is there? God has given me a family that I love very much and he has given me a home. He has given me hands to work, feet to walk, a voice to sing, and a mouth to share His word, what more is there? I mean really, take a minute and think about everything that God has blessed you with. Look outside and look at the grass and the trees and your house and your car. All of that is great but do we really need it? The people here do not have all of that stuff, but are Perfectly fine. True poverty is when you have no hope. The people here have hope and they love life. The children play and work with the same smile on their faces, they are just happy to be alive. So what am I learning?
1) I am not all big and bad and special just because I gave up a month of my life to come over here and "help" these people, they are the ones helping me
2) God has a much bigger plan in store for us here in Gulu, it's just going to take time for us to figure it out.
3) Poverty is a state of mind, not a state of materialistic possessions.
4) I can't even think of all the times that I am learning, there are too many to count!
Please pray for the East Family and the interns, God has some big plans we just are not sure what that is yet, at least I am not!
Love, Mattie
Amen, sweet pea---At the end of this life, when we stand before God, He will not recount the number of cars, square footage of our house, number of pairs of shoes or the dollar amount in our checking account---look what you have accumulated in life. He will recount those that we have blessed with our heart, our hugs, our tears and what we don't have because we gave it to those in need. I would much rather be rich in my heart and blessing others on that glorious day.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome. You're awesome. God's awesome.
ReplyDeleteI like #3 especially.