Uncontainable Contentment

Thank you Lord for loving me.

This has been a growing month for sure as I reach the one month mark I have already learned so much and I have been able to be so involved in this short amount of time.

Friday I got to rest in and spend time with some of the team. We have a couple kiddos living with us right now. I am just finding so much joy in my housemates and I am so thankful for the growing friendships I have with this team. They teach me something new everyday.

Saturday we went to an introduction it is much like an engagement party and it is more extravagant than the wedding itself. Beautiful tents, so much culture, lots of food, and beautiful decorations. I was shocked. I had always heard of them but never attended one while I was here last time. It was a series of many people just welcoming the man into the family and the man has to really show and prove to the family why he deserves this girl. It is seriously like totally a show of how good of a party the groom can present. Little did I know that we were a part of the ceremony. We got to dress up in the traditional dresses called Gomesi's also known as Gomez' they are pointy shouldered- make a statement fabric kind of dress. AND they are like a toaster oven. It was so fun getting to dance and greet, and just be a part of the ceremony. One of the women told me that I am too happy and she wanted to give me to her brother. I declined.  I was so thankful for the opportunity to experience this Ugandan tradition. It was a very long service, The man gave so many gifts complete with many baskets of food, living room sets, and cows! The whole side that was seated on the grooms side just kept pouring in with more and more gift to show the girls family that he values her.

It just made me think of the "introduction" that we have with Christ and we really don't have to show anything for. We don't have to lavish gifts on him and try to prove ourselves. We have to simply give our lives to Him. I am so thankful for such a loving and giving savior. I, all too often,  take that for granted and don't realize the opportunities that he has put in my life to show him how much I love him!

Then today I really got thinking about our purpose in life and how do we find that purpose? How do we know if we have chosen the right path and if we are really following the calling God has for us? Did I make the right decision coming here? Is this where He wants me? What if I had gone to school? What if my husband is waiting for me at GCU right now? What if...

But living in the past brings regret and that is where right where Satan wants us. I am so thankful that I am sitting in a bunk bed in the middle of Uganda listening to turkeys and constantly being covered in red dirt. I love it. I know that God has me right where he wants me and it has been confirmed countless times and I don't have to wonder what my life would be like any other way because I know that God is using me in an incredible way. God has shown me countless times that He has a plan for my life and all I have to do is trust Him.

People keep telling me that they couldn't imagine me being anywhere else and I feel the same way...NOW. All this time I hadn't realized that God has been preparing me for this my whole life. From the first time I saw an outline of Africa down to the fact that I hate wearing make up. Protecting me from relationships. From the big to the small. God had a purpose for me and he knew it was going to be used right here at this point in my life.

I can honestly say that I have no idea what tomorrow will bring or if I will go to school, or stay in Africa, or even live in a mud hut for the rest of my life. All I know is that I am going to follow the Lords leading in my life no matter where he wants to send me. I am so grateful that I have the chance to serve in such a beautiful place. I am thankful for the dirty stained feet.  My life is changing. and lives are being transformed for Christ. not only here. but in America as well. I pray that the Lord will use me and they will see Him through what He is doing through me.

 

1 Timothy 6:6-19English Standard Version (ESV)

⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain, ⁷ for we brought nothing into the world, and^[a] we cannot take anything out of the world. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. ⁹ But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Fight the Good Fight of Faith

¹¹ But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³ I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before^[b] Pontius Pilate made the good confession, ¹⁴ to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
¹⁷ As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. ¹⁸ They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, ¹⁹ thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.