Love

The girls & I on our outing to Lake Victoria

For quite a while now I've wanted to write a post about what I've learned about love since I've been here. I figured this was a great week to do it! (mostly because I can't seem to find the ribbon to tie together all my thoughts from this week!) And no, this isn't about the love in our so-called "love relationships," (although, it is applicable) but rather the tangible love we're called to show to the world in every action of our lives, to every person we encounter - I'm talking about Christ-like love.

In the past year or two of my life, I've been puzzled by this conundrum: What is love? Really, is it even possible to define love? Surely not God's love, because it is higher, deeper, wider than we could ever imagine. It is eternal and everlasting. But what is love defined - at least in our inadequate words? Well, this is what I've come up with after lots of studying:

Love is expressed through action and is, therefore, a choice of each individual. It is always

concerned for others' needs and feelings above all else; it is selfless.True love does not depend

upon how the other person treats the one showing love. It harbors no bitterness or hard

feelings - in love, the past is void. It is an open-armed approach to people regardless of who

they are, what they've done, or where they're coming from. True love is Jesus Christ -

the Father, the Son, the Spirit -

laying down His life.  

It's never a complete trip without a jumping picture!

Now, by no means is this even close to a correct and complete definition of love, but as I've said, it's what I've learned so far. Anyways, this kind of love, "agapao" in Greek, is action love. It is how we love our enemies, how we love everyone around us even if they've hurt us; it's how we love despite the way we feel - because it is an action, not a feeling. "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for one another...Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth" (1 John 3:16 & 18). 

Kelsey & I with the kids in our class who memorized
at least 5 out of  9 memory verses in Sunday School

In my 5 months (wow! can you believe it's been that long!?) in Uganda, I've been learning what it means to love. Whether that means hugging and snuggling a child that smells as if they've rolled in trash, doing the job that nobody else wants to do, or paying school fees for a student who can't afford it - God reminds me consistently that "If I speak in human or angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).

With my winning team at Brainstorm!
(Back: Robert; Front: Nicorus, Frank, Kevin, & me)

Nahni & I with our whole class at New Brainstorm

Today, we went to New Brainstorm Primary School. After watching four of my boys beat the rest of the classes we were competing against (who were all older, I might add), in a cone relay (GO TEAM!) and playing games with my class for another hour, we had to say goodbye. It was the last time I'll ever get to do a program there and work with my class, and I realized as I was being smothered in hugs and letters - I love those kids. I would put my life on the line for them. If I'm capable of that kind of love here in this messed up world with my sinful nature, how much greater is God's love?! I would like to leave you with one more verse to ponder. 1 John 3: 14 says, "Anyone who does not love remains in death." We've been put on this earth to love - deeply, unconditionally - and if we live in any other way, it's useless. It's death. But praise to our Savior, Jesus Christ, who chose to love us with a pure, true love! He is the ultimate example of love. 

Rain

When it rains here, it’s miserable. Not necessarily the rain itself, but the effects produced by the rain: mud, mud, mud!! In fact, if it rains hard enough, school is cancelled because the classrooms flood. It rained a LOT this week, and we had three programs cancelled because of it. Don’t get me wrong: rain is SUPER important. It creates growth and new life, but in the midst of it, it can be just plain awful. As I was looking back over the week not only did it rain a lot here, but have you ever gotten the feeling that it’s “raining” in your life? Yeah, I have that.

It’s not necessarily like everything is going wrong; I’m just overwhelmed (like I wrote about last week). There's a lot of stuff going on that I can't just "fix" like I want to. There are things I have to wait and trust for, things that are heavy on my heart. Thinking about all this in terms of rain reminds me of Superchick's song, "Stand in the Rain." This is the chorus: 

So stand in the rain

Stand your ground

Stand up when it's all crashing down

You stand through the pain

You won't drown

And one day, whats lost can be found

You stand in the rain

Sometimes we go through times in life where we just have to stand in the rain, soaking wet, waiting for the sun to come out. Honestly, it's not very fun to "stand in the rain;" it's hard. But every time I felt like I was on the brink of just giving up, God's Word sustained me. 

"For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob, little Israel, do not fear, for I myself will help you," declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel..."

-Isaiah 41:13-14

"Praise be to the LORD, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens."

-Psalm 68:19

His Word is perfect, absolutely perfect, and it's still SO relevant today:

   

At Jonah & Jennifer's Introduction with:
me, Katie, Unice, Hannah, and Kelsey

       How long, LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my  enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, and my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," and my foes will rejoice when I fall. But I trust in Your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in Your salvation. I will sing the LORD's praise, for He has been good to me.

                       -Psalm 13

Often times in his Psalms, David starts out complaining to God - telling everything that's wrong and how he feels about it - but then he ends in praise of God. I used to think David had some really crazy emotions... or maybe he had written the first part and then came back later and wrote the second part after God fixed the problem. However, what I've realized is that (no matter how he wrote it) his Psalms are a perfect example of surrendering. It's an example of what we should do when we're standing in the rain: we have to say, "God, I'm choosing to trust you. I don't feel like giving it up to you and trusting you and praising you, but I'm choosing to do those things anyways because You're worth it, and you are faithful."

At Jonah & Jennifer's Introduction

And God proves Himself faithful: just like He did with Noah in the ark. After the rain had finally passed, God showed Noah the rainbow that signified His faithfulness in keeping the promise He made. All in all, God uses rain. He uses it to make us grow, and to provide an opportunity to show His faithfulness to us - despite all the muddy roads and cancelled programs. 

Overwhelmed

After carving pumpkins!! 

Well. I can tell you one thing: it's been quite a week!! Last Saturday, the girls and I went out to a very American place to eat (we had pizza!!), and on our way home, through a series of shady experiences in a taxi, one of my friends, Nahni, and I had our wallets and cameras stolen. It's just like the devil to attempt to ruin a perfect day, isn't it!! But honestly, I feel like he failed. Yes, I was somewhat upset - mostly at my own ignorance - but I wasn't as distressed as I should have been. There was just an overwhelming peace that came through me. It's just material things that were stolen; we're safe, and I'm still WAY richer than the men who stole our belongings because I have Christ. Everything is working out fine in the recovery process, and we're confident God will pay back in abundance what the enemy has stolen. In fact, I've already been informed that a loved one was planning on sending me money before the theft even happened; it was almost exactly seven times what was in my wallet!!

At Sunday School with Gerald

Our awesome Halloween costumes! 

With the neighborhood kids after our special
Halloween "program" (games!!)

Sadly though, that's not the only hard thing that happened this week. One of the employees at EAC had their house broken into and many of their belongings stolen, one of the sponsored kids in Kampala died in a fight, and one of the girls from the village also died. On top of that, many things having to do with my future have been weighing upon my heart as well as family and friends back home. I'm simply overwhelmed; it's too much for me to carry on my own. But even as I'm writing this, God is throwing His Word into my mind and heart, "When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply till I entered the sanctuary of God...," "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (Psalm 73: 16-17, 26) "He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand." (Psalm 40:2) I am overwhelmed, but He is not!

You all know I couldn't resist
putting a picture of Winnie in her new dress!

Another part of that though? I have to let Him have it all. One of the biggest lessons I learned that initially brought me to Uganda was the lesson of surrender - choosing to give everything up to Him. It's a hard lesson, and it still is! I'm learning once again to let go and trust God. Do you want to know the hardest part about it? The fact that surrender is continual; it's not a one-time deal. I can finally choose to give everything up to God, surrender it all, and then two hours later start worrying about it again and have to start surrendering again, and again, and again.... Yeah, it's hard, but this is the hope I hold on to:

"I lift my eyes to the mountains - 

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth."

            -Psalm 121:1-2

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. but take heart! I have overcome the world."

-John 16:33

Blessings to you all!! 

....and because I don't have my camera....

**All picture credit to Katie Simon and Shannon Lundberg**