The contrast is more than I can take.
The wind is slightly bending the trees in the Starbucks outdoor seating area. Iced vanilla coffee in hand, I'm reading Kisses from Katie as I enjoy the sunshine.
Red dirt. Vomit. Scabies. One woman's fight to save the children of Uganda and provide the basic medical neccessities to keep them alive. My heart is torn with hers and my eyes fill up with tears as I read about the precious children she loves.
I lift my head from the pages and watch a Lexus drive into the upscale Wilmington shopping center where I am sipping my drink.
"Lord, what am I doing here?" my heart cries within. But as I continue to read, I am struck by her words to me. No condemnation falls from her lips, only encouragment to live for Him.
It is then that I realize: It matters not where, it matters not how. I feel the scales fall from my eyes as I see disease all around me. Not the kind that screams on the outside, but the one that whispers within. A life without Him, is no life at all.
I may never write a book that is published, or make the New York Times Bestseller list. But everyday I write pages in people's lives, for good or evil, for Christ or for me.
Love just one more life, for just one more matters. It may not be Africa, but whomever He places in your life today. And tomorrow. And for the rest of your life. Do we not believe that He is sovereign to give, and to ask? Worthy enough to serve?
I came home to receive a letter from one of the girls I taught over the weekend for a church retreat. This is what she wrote:
"All my life I have craved so much more than than this world could offer. I had no clue where to start, or how to begin a true walk with Christ. Your messages answered so many of my questions and truly gave me insight into God's love. Before you came, I was slipping away, but I thank you for giving me my life back"
Humbled. I went to the retreat thinking I was wasting my time... how could one weekend change anything? It can't.
But He can. One more life to love, because one more ALWAYS matters.
