We Are the Blessed

     This past week I had my wisdom teeth removed. I decided to have the surgery now because I didn't want them to become impacted while I was overseas. This wasn't my first surgery or my first time under and I figured that I'd be up and running after maybe two days. Well, it's day five and I'm only now starting to feel a little better. Last night, I was thinking about how such a small surgery can cause so much pain and how I had wanted to get this done. But then in that moment I was convicted. For a moment I saw just how blessed and ridiculously well-off I am. If I want to have a simple surgery even though it's not life or death, I can schedule one for next week in a clean, safe, and comfortable room. If the surgery causes me pain, I can ask for painkillers. If I need more painkillers, I just make a call to my doctor and then pick them up from the pharmacy. If I need to rest for a few days, people understand and are eager to help me. If I can't eat anything, people will bring me food or liquids. If I say I'm in pain, people are there to comfort me and make me feel better. If anything goes wrong, I go back to the doctor and they fix it. And through the whole thing everyone goes out of their way to wish that I feel better and tell me how sorry they are for me. Why are they sorry for me? Many people around the world are dying because they do not have any of these resources and they are in life or death situations, and I am complaining because of some discomfort while on my pain medication.

I am shaking my head at myself, how could I be so clueless and act as if I deserve better; I live the better already.

• Around 1 billion people don't have access to clean water, that's 1 in every 8 people.
• 1 out of every 5 deaths under the age of 5 worldwide is due to a water-related disease.
• Nearly 80% of illness in developing countries is linked to poor water and sanitation conditions. 
• Half of the world's hospital beds are filled with people suffering from a water-related disease.
• Around 25,000 people die every day from hunger, many of whom are children.
• AIDS kills 1.5 million people a year.
• Close to a million people die from Malaria each year and millions more are weakened from it, 90% of those people live in Africa.
• Diarrhea kills over 1.5 million people each year, most of them children.
• Pneumonia kills 1.5 million children alone, each year.

1. A single well can provide clean water for the whole village, and not only offer clean drinking water but clean water for sanitation and hygiene as well.
2. There is plenty of food in the world for everyone.
3. AIDS, Malaria, Diarrhea, and Pneumonia are all treatable and preventable. 

 

      It's pretty easy to complain or feel sorry for yourself, there is always something that could be better. Yet how often do we look at our lives and see all of the ways that our life is already better than most of the world. Today, I am in a little pain from getting my wisdom teeth out, on the other side of the world children are starving to death, dying from preventable diseases, and all without and any medicine. 

     Maybe this is how the world has been working for a while; some people have everything and others nothing. Maybe it's always the lucky ones who survive because they only look out for themselves. But this is not how it has always been, and this is not how it was meant to be. I won't accept that I am one of the "lucky" or "blessed" ones, simply for my own good. No, I know that because I have been blessed I am responsible to share my blessings with others. The more I am blessed, the more I will give and bless. Nothing I have is mine, and nothing I have was meant for me. Not even my own life. We are meant to bless others with everything we have, and that is why we are blessed so much. 

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked (Luke 12:48b).

Summer Ponderings

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish it's work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." 

James 1:2-4

Wow, it's been a really long time since I last updated my blog. I've started writing at least 9-12 times but I haven't posted anything since May. I guess the words just haven't come. A lot has happened and changed since I've been home, so, I guess I'll just try to pick up where I left off.

God hasn't just thrown me back into my old routine and expected me to fix everything, instead He has blessed me with change and given me the opportunity to start in a fresh spot. I wasted so much time stressing over the many details and when the time came God just opened the door I was supposed to go through. Figures, if I had just had a little more faith in the beginning I wouldn't have had anything to worry about. I'm really in awe of just how well God knows us and our every need. He always provides in our best interest, and blesses us so much more than we could dream of. 

Summer was a time of struggles and tears but also a time of new beginnings and so much hope. Of figuring out how to fit back into my life here in Redding and understanding where God is leading me to next. To be honest those last few weeks I was in Gabon, I didn't want to leave. I was fully alive doing what I have created to do and I didn't want to go back to a normal life. When I got home I struggled with almost everything. I was so overwhelmed and frustrated by how the world worked. I couldn't deal with the fact that we live in a world where poverty is accepted and ignored. I couldn't just fit back in and I refused to accept the world's conditions and standards. It's taken this whole summer for me to really find my place here. To understand why I'm here and how important this time is for me. To see how I am not the same as the world and I can choose to fight instead of accept.

The entire summer my mind has been traveling back to Africa and my heart aching for the people I left there. My only true comfort, was know I'm going back and that my "goodbyes" are only for a short time. Still, I wasn't prepared for how hard being home was going to be. I wasn't expecting the reverse culture shock to hit me SO hard. In the beginning I didn't want to go anywhere and I couldn't stand being around people, even my friends. I was miserable and feeling as if I had to put on a good face made it worse. At first people seemed interested in my trip but that didn't last very long. Soon after I got home I realized, people move on so much quicker than we do. Before I left everyone wanted to know about my trip. While I was there people wanted pictures and stories and sent me encouraging words. But as soon as I was home it seemed as if none of it mattered and I was expected to move on like they had. When that is when I really needed those people. To ask to for pictures, to listen to my stories, and give me those encouraging words! I came home a completely different person and was expecting everyone to embrace me and that change. That's not how it works though. People just want you to fit back into the place you left from. It wasn't until I understood that I was letting other people's reactions bring me down, that I was able to let those frustrations go. I had to accept that Gabon and my experiences there were pretty much meaningless to everyone except me, those I shared it with, and God. That I will be reliving moments, going through pictures, thinking of those people my whole life, but that I can't expect others to do the same. It isn't fair to either of us.

I have so much more I want to share but it's late and I don't want this to become a novel......so, I will add more later.