So I have been coming to the realization that we all have been made for specific reasons...duh right?
But I found myself getting upset that not EVERYONE had the same passion I did for Africa, Ethiopia, Kechene and their people.
But I found myself getting upset that not EVERYONE had the same passion I did for Africa, Ethiopia, Kechene and their people.
You see I have this burning, intense, flip my world upside down passion inside me!! I have never been so in love with Jesus. And this comes from seeing 1st hand what poverty looks like. God has put me in widow's homes, God has put me in orphanages, I have kissed African women and children infected with HIV. I feel like I know why Jesus was so broken for the poor and marginalized and until I felt that 1st hand I do not think I really "knew" Jesus and what it truly ment to be "Christlike."
Now when I step back and I think about what has transpired in the past few years of my life I am very troubled by who I have become with all of this. You see it is very easy to get angry at people who do not feel the way I do, or see things how I do. It is easy for me to become prideful because I "get it." But lets be real!
I do not "get it" at all!
I have never experienced what it would be like to have my child die from hunger. I do not know what it would be like to give my children contaminated water because contaminated water is all we have to drink, I do not know what it would be like to be and orphan child and have to protect and raise my younger siblings, I do not know what it is like to be taken from my parents at 7 or 8 disfigured and then put out on the streets to beg for money.
I do not "get it" as much as my pride would like to think that I do.
But in the past few months I have begun to "get" something. This passion is not about me! All Glory goes to God! I have to continually remind myself that I have done nothing to deserve to be in this place where I can make a difference! God is using me and I am trying HARD to HUMBLY accept the path God has set me on.
"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.
~1 Corinthians 12:4-6
Not everyone will experience the passion I have be given from God to help educate and protect the children of Kechene. Not everyone is called to adopt children. And all I am doing is trying to be obedient and deepen my relationship with Jesus. This is God's path for MY life,
Not your life, my mom's life, or my best friends life.
So I ask each one of you today not to look at anyone else "path." God will led you if you will allow Him to! (trust me it is more fulfilling then you could ever imagine)
What passion has He put in You?
Leave a comment and let me know!
I do not "get it" at all!
I have never experienced what it would be like to have my child die from hunger. I do not know what it would be like to give my children contaminated water because contaminated water is all we have to drink, I do not know what it would be like to be and orphan child and have to protect and raise my younger siblings, I do not know what it is like to be taken from my parents at 7 or 8 disfigured and then put out on the streets to beg for money.
I do not "get it" as much as my pride would like to think that I do.
But in the past few months I have begun to "get" something. This passion is not about me! All Glory goes to God! I have to continually remind myself that I have done nothing to deserve to be in this place where I can make a difference! God is using me and I am trying HARD to HUMBLY accept the path God has set me on.
"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.
~1 Corinthians 12:4-6
Not everyone will experience the passion I have be given from God to help educate and protect the children of Kechene. Not everyone is called to adopt children. And all I am doing is trying to be obedient and deepen my relationship with Jesus. This is God's path for MY life,
Not your life, my mom's life, or my best friends life.
So I ask each one of you today not to look at anyone else "path." God will led you if you will allow Him to! (trust me it is more fulfilling then you could ever imagine)
What passion has He put in You?
Leave a comment and let me know!
2 comments:
Jolene,
LOVE your heart and your passions!!! I completely understand how you feel. It's awesome to see you challenging everyone to use the passions and gifts God has given them. Just finished this book, The Me I want to Be. It's awesome! It's about how the best person we can be is the one that God truly created us to be...I have an extra copy if you want to borrow it:)
Jess
Hey Jolene,
Thanks for sharing your heart about this. Honestly, this is something I struggle with at times too. I got (and get) so frustrated at times because no matter how much I say, no matter how many pictures I show, no matter how many stories I tell, no one who hasn't been there can truly understand. And it's not a reflection on them, it's just a totally different exerperience hearing about it then seening it with your own eyes, holding those poor malnourished and neglected kids. But that's why it's all the more important for you to keep your passion alive because you do know! Thanks for sharing your heart!
Cassie
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