When we were waiting to travel to Ethiopia to bring Joshua Gebeyehu home, there was NEVER an hour that went by that I was not praying for the people of Africa. They were a part of nearly every thought and every conversation I had. The poor, the needy, the oppressed, the orphans OWNED a huge piece of my heart. Almost every financial decision I made factored in how we could give more... do more... serve more.
We traveled to Ethiopia to bring Joshua home and I vowed to NEVER forget. As the mother of an Ethiopian child, Ethiopia has become a part of our home. We talk about Ethiopia daily. We advocate when possible. Support financially when possible. Pray.
But in all honesty, the rawness and passion I once felt has faded. As Joshua has become more and more attached, as our family has become more and more settled, the urgency I felt to DO and GO has dimished. Africa has started to feel more distant, less personal.
I was forgetting... I was becoming more and more like most other American momma's. I was more and more focused on school clothes, swimming lessons, and summer vacation plans. How can we "afford" to do all we want to do? The kids "need" so many things. My vision was becoming narrower and narrower. I was less and less focused on how we could serve, support, and reach-out to others. Funny how when I are so focused on what my family "needs" I become less and less grateful for what we have.
Last week I saw this. It is raw. It is sad. It is TRUE and needs to be watched.
Makes me realize than most of my "needs" are really wants. Makes me so very thankful that all my NEEDS are met. Makes me remember how very much I love the people of Africa, how very much I desire to serve them.
Father God, please send rains to Africa. Shower the people in Eastern Africa with rains of water, but also shower them with hope, stregnth, food, health care, peace. Meet their needs God. Show us how and where to serve. How and where to give. And give us the stregnth, self-control, courage, and love it will take to follow Your call.
