12-12-11
We are going on 5 days with absolutely no water on campus at Familia Feliz. No water for showers, cooking, washing dishes, washing clothes, cleaning…. nothing. Our buckets of rain water have been long used up and we are almost to the bottom of our big bucket of saved water from when it was working. Times like these make it hard not to think about home. It’s the Christmas season… but here it doesn’t feel like Christmas. Erin and I find ourselves thinking and “dreaming” about how nice it is at home just being able to go take a shower whenever we want! Living here has been teaching me so much. About myself, people, the world and life. How many millions of people live like this their whole lives, and never experience the comfortable life I’ve always known? Living in the jungle in Bolivia is not comfortable. Nothing about it is. From not being able to shower, to the inescapable hoards of bugs and itchiness, to foreign diseases and infections waiting for you behind every turn, to the intense and overwhelming heat. I’ve become so accustomed to living a life of comfort in the United States. It’s hard to go through this much physical and mental pain when you know there’s something better out there… yet I can’t help but think about Jesus and how he made the greatest sacrifice of all. Coming to the jungles of Bolivia from the U.S.A. doesn’t even come close to Jesus coming from heaven to our sinful and broken world. Despite everything, there is much to be thankful for. I am blessed beyond measure by wonderful family and friends back at home, Erin my “sister” here, little boys that I have fallen in love with and a God who was willing to come down to this disastrous earth from a perfect place for us.
Sierra, you are one of God's finest creations. If you are comparing yourself to Him, then maybe you are experiencing your "40 days in the desert" now....no water, no family, and lots of stretching. If you compare too much, you do reach the point of realizing He went through way more than you are, but that is because He was made for that. God made you for this. We weren't made to go through as much as Jesus did, but God will give us what we need to get through wherever we find ourselves. You already know all that, i just love you Sierra :)
ReplyDeleteSierra: I hope you get more for Christmas than just a shower. Like me. I got some feminine hygiene products from one of my favorite kiddos here. Thanks buddy. Hope you have a merry Christmas!
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