Anyway

“People are often unreasonable and self-centered,

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives,

Be kind anyway.

If you are honest, people may cheat you, 

 Be honest anyway.

If you find happiness, people may be jealous,

Be happy anyway.

The good you do may be forgotten tomorrow,

Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough,

Give your best anyway.

For you see, in the end, it is between you and God,

It was never between you and them anyway.”

-Mother Teresa

When I read this quote this week, it was exactly the reminder I needed. Living in a culture where people always assume that “white people” have endless supplies of money, and are constantly asking for that supply, kind of wears you down. Makes you want to be bitter, and shut yourself off from really loving them. I was praying and thinking about it all, and wondering how you decide who really needs it and who is just trying to cheat you. Then I read this and was reminded, “For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.” Duh! It’s not about the world, it’s about God, and it’s about showing his Love. Sometimes that means that people cheat you, and sometimes that means that people take advantage of you, but in the end does that change the reason you were willing to give in the first place? Does that change the fact that you love this awesome God, and for some reason he loves us back, and all he is really asking of us is to share that love? He doesn’t ask us to not give because we are afraid of being cheated, he asks us to give, give, give, and give. 

“Do not be afraid little flock, for your father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

-Luke 12:32-34

I don’t think that means to not be careful at times, you want your money to go to someone who really needs it; however I think he is saying that we should give, all the time, and if someone cheats us, don’t get angry and bitter, because it was never about them anyway, it’s always about God.

God is really convicting me here, laying it on hard, not holding anything back, and it’s the reason I came here. I came here to learn to love. Learn to love like God calls us to, learn to give, learn to be humble, learn what it means to be filled with the holy spirit, learn to forgive and let go, learn to be the woman God is calling me to be. 

Sometimes I forget why I am here. Sometimes I miss home, and family, and friends, and my life. Sometimes it’s a struggle to be in a place where everything is new, where everything is foreign, where nothing is like home. Sometimes it’s just plain hard and I feel like I am all alone in this place. Then in my devotional it talked about Satan being a mole in our lives. It was about how we start to get really close to God, doing well in our praying and devotionals, and then something threatens that time. Without even noticing our quiet times become a burden or we forget to pray because we are distracted. Just little things over time that take away from God, and therefore we start to lose purpose, and meaning. All of this forced me to think about myself. When I start to doubt my reason for being here, when friends start telling me they miss me, or the exciting things that I am not there for, when I start to shut myself off, when times get hard, I realize those are the times when I have aloud Satan to take me away from my time with God. Those are the weeks when I forget to do my devotional in the morning. Those are the days when I forget to thank God, or reach out to him when things are hard, or turn to him with the aches of my heart. It’s funny that it takes coming to Africa to realize these things.

After last weekend, and the craziness there, this week has been surprisingly smooth. The kids have been great, we have a new staff member and she is wonderful. Things are starting to move forward, in BIG BIG ways, I am so excited to be here and see it happen, help where I can with the transitions, and love on a bunch of kids. We finally have some really awesome pending volunteers!!! There is one in particular that I am especially excited for, she is a children’s Christian counselor, and sounds really passionate about coming here. I am sad that Corrinne will be leaving in June; I really enjoy working with her and have learned a lot. 

This week we celebrated our first birthday!! Tumpe, our oldest child, turned 13 this week. Corrinne and I made chocolate cupcakes, and gave her a necklace. All the children sang happy birthday (a very interesting version of it) and she blew out the one candle we had! It was really fun and she seemed to enjoy having a day set aside for her.

               

Tumpe, opening her present!

I am in love with this life. I have moments where I forget that, but it doesn’t take too long to remember. Every Friday night is movie night, and we watch them on a projector. This week we were waiting for the last few kids to come in and so we had a dance party. We turned up the music and everyone danced around. Sometimes I think that I miss home more than I enjoy being here, and then I am reminded why this life I have been given is so great. At least for this year, I am exactly where I need to be.

Waiting for the movie to start!

March 24 Devotional: Jesus Calling, By Sarah Young

“This is a time in your life when you must learn to let go: of loved ones, of possessions, of control. In order to let go of something that is precious to you, you need to rest in My presence, where you are complete. Take time to bask in the Light of My Love. As you relax more and more, your grasping hand gradually opens up, releasing your prized possession into My care.”

“For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, 

Do not fear; I will help you.”

-Isaiah 41:13

Sunrise Children's Home Website has been updated! Here is the website:

 http://bibikay.com/