After spending 25+ hours in the air, we arrived in Uganda around 7 p.m. (East African time) last night. We stayed in the dorms of UCU (Uganda Christian University) for the night to prepare for a busy day ahead. Today has been filled with meetings, meetings, and good food. Tonight I will meet my host family and spend the evening with them. Tomorrow me and 29 other students will head to Rwanda for the week. Since it is the “winter” season over here, we are wandering around in 80 degree weather….not too bad, if I may so say myself. I am greatly anticipating what the next 4 months hold!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Leaving is hard, but going is easy.
Over the past week, saying goodbye has become difficult as the time to go to Uganda approaches. I hate sad, sappy moments when everyone feels like life will never be the same, but I guess they are right.....Life will never be the same. Today I realized that life never being is the same is a good thing. Some people adapt to change a little bit better than others, but I think it's more about the willingness to embrace change rather than change itself that really, well, changes us.
What brought this to my attention is a passage that I recently shared with a friend as I was dealing with leaving. In Matthew chapter 4 (verses 18-22), Jesus calls his first disciples. In verse 19, Jesus gives them a simple invitation: "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men". The response of these fishermen blows me away. Verse 20 says "At once they left their nets and followed him".
In bold obedience, the first disciples dropped everything they owned, knew, and loved to follow the calling of Jesus. I can't imagine the thought process of these men! To give up everything immediately. I wish we all responded to God's callings in this type of obedience!!
At this point in time, the disciples had no idea the adventures that would take place in their own lives as a result of following the Savior. On the other had, they also had no idea of the heartache, disappointment and punishment they would face.
In my own life, whenever I have to make a decision, I think about how it immediately affects me-not the end result. I wonder which of these is more of the disciples thought process. If I were on the boat that day when Jesus called them to drop everything and follow him, I would have hesitated, just like I did when I was beginning to apply for the Uganda trip.
I knew being accepted for this trip meant leaving everything I knew and everything (and one) I loved. That was my first thought, not the end result. I knew that leaving in itself would be one of the hardest things to not only do, but also explain to everyone else. I will never forget the response of the students at Central when I told them I was going to Uganda for a semester.....they focused on the immediate effects as well. With disappointed faces, I heard "you're going to leave us?" over and over again. That broke my heart. I tried to explain my leaving in a positive way by saying that it was only for a semester, or that I would be doing mission work, but no matter how I said it, my leaving meant things were changing: that life would never be the same.
The disciples may not have known what to expect as the end result of following Jesus, but their instincts at the time told them it would be worth it. I knew leaving everyone would be hard for me, but I knew that going to Uganda would be worth it. The disciples learned in one day what took me 7 months to realize: Leaving is hard, but going is easy. When you are doing what you know you are supposed to do, it becomes worth it, no matter the cost. For the disciples, this meant leaving their family, friends, jobs, and a consistent life, and they did it anyways-yet we hesitate at even the smallest beckoning of the Holy Spirit out of fear; we fear our plans and our lives getting interrupted.
I pray that we all become obedient to God's leading-even if that requires leaving and going, because even if we don't like it, life really will never be the same.
What brought this to my attention is a passage that I recently shared with a friend as I was dealing with leaving. In Matthew chapter 4 (verses 18-22), Jesus calls his first disciples. In verse 19, Jesus gives them a simple invitation: "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men". The response of these fishermen blows me away. Verse 20 says "At once they left their nets and followed him".
In bold obedience, the first disciples dropped everything they owned, knew, and loved to follow the calling of Jesus. I can't imagine the thought process of these men! To give up everything immediately. I wish we all responded to God's callings in this type of obedience!!
At this point in time, the disciples had no idea the adventures that would take place in their own lives as a result of following the Savior. On the other had, they also had no idea of the heartache, disappointment and punishment they would face.
In my own life, whenever I have to make a decision, I think about how it immediately affects me-not the end result. I wonder which of these is more of the disciples thought process. If I were on the boat that day when Jesus called them to drop everything and follow him, I would have hesitated, just like I did when I was beginning to apply for the Uganda trip.
I knew being accepted for this trip meant leaving everything I knew and everything (and one) I loved. That was my first thought, not the end result. I knew that leaving in itself would be one of the hardest things to not only do, but also explain to everyone else. I will never forget the response of the students at Central when I told them I was going to Uganda for a semester.....they focused on the immediate effects as well. With disappointed faces, I heard "you're going to leave us?" over and over again. That broke my heart. I tried to explain my leaving in a positive way by saying that it was only for a semester, or that I would be doing mission work, but no matter how I said it, my leaving meant things were changing: that life would never be the same.
The disciples may not have known what to expect as the end result of following Jesus, but their instincts at the time told them it would be worth it. I knew leaving everyone would be hard for me, but I knew that going to Uganda would be worth it. The disciples learned in one day what took me 7 months to realize: Leaving is hard, but going is easy. When you are doing what you know you are supposed to do, it becomes worth it, no matter the cost. For the disciples, this meant leaving their family, friends, jobs, and a consistent life, and they did it anyways-yet we hesitate at even the smallest beckoning of the Holy Spirit out of fear; we fear our plans and our lives getting interrupted.
I pray that we all become obedient to God's leading-even if that requires leaving and going, because even if we don't like it, life really will never be the same.
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