Sunday, July 15, 2007

Reflections on the First Month Here


The group is at church and I have opted to stay back and listen to a sermon here. I truly cannot believe that I have been here over a month, and I don't even want to think about how quickly this next month is going to pass. Before I know it, I am going to be back in Austin. That's exciting in some respects, but a lot of me doesn't ever want to leave! I am trying to enjoy every minute, to not be frustrated when I am exhausted, to love even the hardest to love well.

I think that one of the biggest lessons I have learned being here is just how little I need to survive. I was sending an e-mail to a Young Life girl of mine whom I love and I made a list of things I missed about Texas. Surprisingly, I found my list to be very small, comprised mainly of people--my family and friends and roommates, etc. All the comforts of the US -- my bed, air conditioning, reliable water, my car and cell phone and clothes; all those things are nice, but here I am, not just surviving but thriving without any of those comforts! Really, we are spoiled here in the MAK house. I am sitting here, on the Internet, with a fan pointing at me.

I am so thankful that the Lord is teaching me not to depend on my earthly possessions. I feel like he brought me here to break me of sin in my life and that each day he is forming me more and more into someone who possesses a joy not from anything this world can give, but solely from him.

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