I sit here with the A.C. cranked up to a whopping 21 Degrees Celsius... and I almost feel a bit chilly and can't wait for the tea kettle to whistle so I can have some apple cider tea! It is the start of the October HEAT here in our section of South Asia. I love the seasons change, and here its more like Rainy and Not Rainy. I don't know if its just my memories of amazing cool, crisp evenings with leaves crunching and pumpkin spice lattes... or maybe I spent a few too many minutes on facebook being jealous of all the FALL IS HERE posts, but I started to feel sorry for myself. It is the second hottest month of the year, and lots of places (like our church) do not have AC. I sweated all day long. It is so hot and the humidity makes me feel like a limp wet towel! I love life here most of the time and I know that I am called to live here for this season, but when you are hot and tired, your brain becomes selective in its memories. Anyway, I started to believe a little lie... one that says, "If you don't get your kids photos at a pumpkin patch, then you are a bad mother" And another started, "Its too hard here, and you are missing out on the best things in life". For a split second (or maybe a few minutes) I doubted that October would be a good month... with the heat here and lack of football games and color changing leaves. We have Starbucks but no seasonal drinks. (wow, as I write it, I feel aware of my ridiculousness!)
So the only way I have found to remove a lie from my head is to cover that lie up with truth! My boys will NOT CARE ONE BIT if they have a picture in pumpkin patch. They probably will never ever bring up it or think that I deprived them by having them grow up in South Asia! What they will have is lots of memories of crazy and somewhat exotic vacations to Thailand and New Zealand. They will have memories of Daddy leading trainings and Momma serving lots of chai and telling stories of truth. And some days, it is hard here, but it could be SO much worse! We actually live in a comfortable place and I know people that are struggling with water shortages who are not complaining, and we have not even had water cuts yet, and I get to take the boys swimming everyday, and since its not getting colder, we will get to keep swimming for months. I know the best things in life are not simply Fall... even though I LOVE fall...the best things in life are those you can't buy at Walmart or find in a pumpkin patch. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Currently my best things are early morning time alone with my savior, two bundle of energy 3 year olds, and a husband who will not stop loving me even when I am at my worst. Its finding a person with which to share a story of truth with, and encouraging others to go out and do the same. Its being content in my season of life and finding that the things that I thought would make me happy are just dim reflections of the one who created all beauty.
As I cleaned the kitchen and had all these lies and truths, the song that came to my mind was For the Sake of the Call (I love SCC's music) "We will abandon it all for the sake of the call
No other reason at all but the sake of the call
Wholly devoted to live and to die
For the sake of the call"
This is why I stay. This is why I struggle. This is why I LOVE. No other reason at all. Would I leave behind the calling on my life for the sake of a pumpkin spice latte? Would I abandon my saviors beckoning to go to the lost for the sake of living in a place with four seasons? I pray that I always find truth to cover the lies in my head quickly so that I don't give in to them. It would never be worth to give up intimacy with God for comforts of this life. So I am thankful for my struggles. I embrace them instead of bemoaning them. (I might regret saying that tomorrow when something new comes along or when the sun is blazing the temps up to 95 again) But I want to leave behind all my earthly desires, and as we sang today in the "warm" church hall, "I surrender All." Let it be true of me.
So the only way I have found to remove a lie from my head is to cover that lie up with truth! My boys will NOT CARE ONE BIT if they have a picture in pumpkin patch. They probably will never ever bring up it or think that I deprived them by having them grow up in South Asia! What they will have is lots of memories of crazy and somewhat exotic vacations to Thailand and New Zealand. They will have memories of Daddy leading trainings and Momma serving lots of chai and telling stories of truth. And some days, it is hard here, but it could be SO much worse! We actually live in a comfortable place and I know people that are struggling with water shortages who are not complaining, and we have not even had water cuts yet, and I get to take the boys swimming everyday, and since its not getting colder, we will get to keep swimming for months. I know the best things in life are not simply Fall... even though I LOVE fall...the best things in life are those you can't buy at Walmart or find in a pumpkin patch. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Currently my best things are early morning time alone with my savior, two bundle of energy 3 year olds, and a husband who will not stop loving me even when I am at my worst. Its finding a person with which to share a story of truth with, and encouraging others to go out and do the same. Its being content in my season of life and finding that the things that I thought would make me happy are just dim reflections of the one who created all beauty.
As I cleaned the kitchen and had all these lies and truths, the song that came to my mind was For the Sake of the Call (I love SCC's music) "We will abandon it all for the sake of the call
No other reason at all but the sake of the call
Wholly devoted to live and to die
For the sake of the call"
This is why I stay. This is why I struggle. This is why I LOVE. No other reason at all. Would I leave behind the calling on my life for the sake of a pumpkin spice latte? Would I abandon my saviors beckoning to go to the lost for the sake of living in a place with four seasons? I pray that I always find truth to cover the lies in my head quickly so that I don't give in to them. It would never be worth to give up intimacy with God for comforts of this life. So I am thankful for my struggles. I embrace them instead of bemoaning them. (I might regret saying that tomorrow when something new comes along or when the sun is blazing the temps up to 95 again) But I want to leave behind all my earthly desires, and as we sang today in the "warm" church hall, "I surrender All." Let it be true of me.
Well said dear sister. Proud of you.
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