Thank you for your continued prayers and encouragement. Even though I’ve been abundantly blessed this month, it has been a really hard month for several reasons. I have also been physically ill which has made me very homesick. (I mean, doesn’t everyone want their mom and dad when they’re sick?!)
I signed up for The World Race not fully aware of what I was getting myself into. I am halfway through Month 3, and I still struggle with day-to-day life on the field. I knew I would be serving and living with “the least of these,” but I didn’t know exactly what that looked like.
My Race started in India with extreme culture shock. We lived in our tents. We didn’t leave our gated home except for ministry. We were probably the only Westerners some of the people we served would ever see in their lives. We fetched water with a bucket and rope from a well, hand washed our clothes, took bucket showers, used squatty potties, threw our trash over a wall so it could be burnt later and really didn’t have much access to the outside world at all.
We spend Month 2 in Nepal. We had a lot of freedom; we could even walk places alone. (Alone time on the Race is basically nonexistent, so this was a big deal.) We lived in a large home with a lot of luxuries most people in Nepal live without, but we still didn’t live like we are used to in the United States.
Now, we are in Cambodia. We are living and working at an orphanage that runs like a home instead of an institution. I spend my days teaching and loving on some pretty awesome children. The local market sells Hershey bars, Coke Light (Diet Coke) and JIF peanut butter. We have air conditioning at night, a washing machine to wash our clothes, Western (hot!) showers and toilets you can actually flush toilet paper down. We have a kitchen with refrigerator to ourselves, and our host even allows us to use her oven if we want to cook something that requires one. (Ovens are not common in Asia!) We also have 24/7 access to WiFi. We are living very comfortably and very much like we would be living in the United States.
Oh, the struggle…
In my mind we aren’t supposed to be comfortable this year because we are living in third-world countries serving “the least of these.” I didn’t want to share our situation with anyone. I didn’t want people to know we had so many luxuries. I felt so guilty!
“God remembered her…”
When we read those three words in the Bible, it is not because the Lord forgot about anyone; He is preparing to shower someone with a blessing, and we see it several times.
For example: Sarah, Rachel, and Leah… They all desired something they didn’t have. As soon as God “remembers” these women, He blesses them by giving them the desires of their hearts. Their stories are different, but they all wanted the same thing- to become pregnant. He blesses all three women with exactly what they wanted.
This month, God remembered me. I didn’t specifically ask for the things He blessed me with like the women above did, but they are blessings nonetheless. When the Father blesses His children, He is giving a gift that should be happily accepted and not questioned. We shouldn’t feel guilty, but instead we should praise and thank Him for the gifts He has given us.
Our lives are full of blessings. Don’t forget to thank God for the blessings He has given you… No blessing is too small to be thankful for!
