I’m once again sitting in Amsterdam and trying to unpack another packed trip to Uganda before I arrive home to unpack the real bags.
Unpacking Our Trip To Uganda
There is a lot to unpack, we stayed in five different places throughout this trip and that results in a lot of packing and repacking for three people in 10 days. I’m not only talking about the clothes and toiletries, but the baggage that comes with moving around and staying in different spaces is a blessing. Moving around also involves weighty things to carry.
I prefer talking about all the blessings. Talk about how great the girls did, and how loving our boys were. Communicate how our friends from Christ Sanctuary International Ministries blow us away with their love and hospitality every single time. Shout praises to God for our brilliant and successful friends Mulondo and Joan. They are generous and hospitable and they outdid themselves on us as they do with everyone they know. Offering praises and thanksgiving for all involved with the soap project and beyond. Speak about the Joyful Hearts that we danced and shared life lessons with. Celebrating the birthday of my youngest, with some of the elders we know in Uganda from America. Singing praises to God for His faithfulness and enjoying the goodness of God through many answered prayers over the years of investing in relationships.
Prayers-Prayed-Answered
The prayers that were prayed over this trip blessed me right through my socks and to my very bones. God saw us through every step. Two, four, six were our feet and He was with us every step of the way.
Blowing by the blessings would be a mistake. But, the Lord has on my heart to talk about the hard stuff first. I know it’s Him, because I don’t really want to do it, and yet, I can’t seem to get around it.
Dirty laundry is always the first thing that needs to be addressed in the process of unpacking. It’s the good stuff that gets displayed and put in its rightful place, over time. Dirty stuff goes in a heap and needs to be dealt with right away.
What Do You Do?
Unpacking for me starts with the question, “What do you do?” Maybe this is a sore spot with me because I don’t seem to ever have an answer that satisfies. For some reason in our culture this is the first question and usually the only question asked.
I don’t know how to answer it at home or when I travel from home. I struggle to answer, because I don’t know how to put, “Nothing you are interested in”, into four kind words or less, and it quickly gets awkward. To which people respond awkwardly and then start answering their own question. They begin to tally my kids and tell me how busy I must be. It’s really nice in a weird way. I know most people are busier than me, doing more, tracking more, and reporting more. I’m a hundred percent (well maybe 90 percent ok with that.) Part of me that still gets all fidgety when I let comparison creep in, but mostly I congratulate the accomplishments of others and move to relationships you can’t put a number on.
Getting To The Root
The Western world spends a lot of time telling the rest of the world what we know, and how to DO what we do. Because we are very good at doing, we think others should be doing it to. Pride and superiority can take root if we plant what we do over who we serve.
Western culture has a lot of money compared to the rest of the world and influence comes with money. Giving money power, to control, is idolatry. Those who have a lot of it and those who want a lot of it, give it power that quickly turns bad.
Proverbs 30:7-9
Proverbs 30:7-9 And then he prayed, “God, I’m asking for two things
before I die; don’t refuse me—
Banish lies from my lips
and liars from my presence.
Give me enough food to live on,
neither too much nor too little.
If I’m too full, I might get independent,
saying, ‘God? Who needs him?’
If I’m poor, I might steal
and dishonor the name of my God.”
Money and Control
The curse of money happens when we begin to think highly of ourselves for having it, but it really has us. When we use it to influence or persuade we have given it power, and control it wasn’t meant to have. No amount of currency is right or wrong to earn or give or want or have. It’s what happens in our hearts when we give money power over our lives and over others.
Keeping our hearts from being bossed around and controlled by money is not an easy balance. To sum it up, it’s a condition. A heart condition. Conditioning is a daily exercise. Maezie summed it up in her devotion that she shared. Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart oh God and renew a right spirit within me. Cleaning and renewing are a constant thing. Not one time, or one size fits all. It’s up to us to surrender our hearts to God and up to Him to do the rest.
Money Has Influence
I suppose this is heavy on my heart as I unpack this trip because I see it in Uganda a lot, and I had several conversations surrounding this topic. Not just in ministry related situations, but not excluding ministry either. Money has too much influence, it’s given too much power.
Before offering our two cents, in ideas and funds, it’s important to ask questions. Not to assume the one with the checkbook knows what is best to do. I know for me, I have a grasp on the needs and the running of my household better than someone that comes to visit. I also know the climate in which I live, so I can advise people on what they need to bring to the table. I believe it’s this simple.
Getting To The Heart
A better question to start with, to ask ourselves and one another is, “Who do you serve?” This question gets right to the heart of all that we do.
Matthew 6:24
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
