Being versus Doing

Being can be so much more powerful than doing

Uganda has been nothing but humbling. One of my favorite times in the Lord is not “doing” ministry, but staying back with the kids and being around the people that have been cooking, cleaning and doing laundry for us. These guys don’t get paid anything, but yet work so hard in making meals from scratch from 8am-8pm. Remember, there aren’t stoves here or refrigerators so everything is bought daily. It’s not like America, where we just have sandwiches and chips for lunch either. They peel and cut up potatoes, they cut all the vegetables, they sometimes even make their own bread. With laundry (no machines), everything is hand washed. They have a few different tubs and they wash with soap every part of each piece of clothing 2x, my clothes often come out cleaner here than America. They are doing this for a team of 12 people every other day.

The best part of the whole thing is, their attitude while they work. Nothing but smiles, joy, laughter, singing and love. They don’t complain, don’t get tired and definitely never ask for help. It truly challenges me as a stay at home mom who actually has stoves, ovens, laundry machines and refrigerators. I definitely have complained, had a self-pity attitude and have been exhausted doing it all. They know where their focus is, and that’s Jesus Christ. They find everything they need in Him; they are constantly praising, worshiping, dancing and laughing. Depression, misery and complaining doesn’t seem to exist in Africa.

God cares more about the state of our hearts. I believe God wanted me to come here to be around people filled with joy. I used to be extremely depressed and negative, and God has used the people here (in the opposite spirit) to truly uplift me. He has used Africa to heal parts of my past that have never been healed. Here I am thinking sometimes we are here to see miracles, salvations, healings and change people’s lives. It has been more the people changing us westerners more than anything. We need the transformation more than them sometimes. The simplicity of life, child-like faith, humility and joy has been contagious, and I pray fervently, that this spirit would stick when we travel back to the first world in about 5 weeks.

Thank you so much for your support, prayers and love, hakuna matata! Enjoy the photos of the house we’ve been staying at for the past month. We have been adjusting to no toilets, cold showers, sleeping in mosquito domes, but these small adjustments are nothing in comparison to the things we’ve been seeing: