I’ve
just returned from two back-to-back trips that left my mind swimming. Two weeks ago I went with a team of five
others to serve on a week-long mission trip at the El Hogar orphanage in
Tegucigalpa, Honduras. 12 hours after I
returned home, Tim and I took Rachel and Scott on a once-in-a-lifetime three
day vacation to Orlando.
Within
the space of 24 hours I went from the Third World to Disney World. Less than a day after I saw children scrape their
plates to get at the last bit of their meager dinner of refried beans, I saw families
leave huge piles of uneaten food behind for someone else to clean up. I went from watching a child without a family
play happily with nothing but a piece of yarn, to watching a child melt down
because his mother wouldn’t buy him a $110 Harry Potter robe.
The trips, and my responses to them, were extreme. I spent a week serving the poorest of the
poor and came back filled to overflowing.
I spent three days surrounded by extravagance and indulgence and came
back…tired.
There’s
nothing wrong with Disney World or Orlando or fun. I believe God loves us and wants us to enjoy
all the goodness He has to offer (which is plenty!). I loved being able to treat the kids to such
a fun holiday and I am grateful that we had the resources to go on this kind of
trip. But I thank God that I had the
opportunity to serve in Honduras first. It
gave me some perspective.
Jesus
came so that we can “have life and have it to the full.” I shouldn’t mistake a “full” life with a
self-indulgent life. I don’t want to spend
all my energies making me and mine as comfortable as possible before I comfort
those in need. Yes, I want to give good
things to my family, but they are not the only ones who deserve my attention. I can’t give only when I have “extra” money or
serve when I find the “extra” time. I
want my giving and service to be common in timing and uncommon in generosity.
And
I want to teach that to my children. I
want them to know the difference between the fleeting giddiness that comes from
a theme park ride and the true joy that comes from serving. There is nothing wrong with the first, but
there is something profound and wonderful in the second. I wouldn’t want them to miss it for the
world, Disney or otherwise.
Just read your post. As always wonderfully written. It really made me stop and think. Made me think about how much we take our lives for granted and how much we complain about not having more when there are people that would be grateful to have a quarter of what we have. Makes me think about how Im raising my boys, who at times seem to feel they are entitled to a new toy just for walking into the store (only to toss it to the side by the time we are home) or that it's okay to eat only 1 bite of that happy meal burger because what they really wanted was the crappy toy that it came with.. Don't get me wrong my boys are very loving and will happily give there toys or anything else to someone in need but your post made me think about not only being thankful for what we have but how to teach my family to really appreciate the things in our lives. Haha sorry to babble so long on your post!
ReplyDeleteNo need to apologize - I'm glad you wrote what you did. It's so easy to get caught up in thinking about what we don't have, focusing on what we'd like to have, and forget that: (A) we have so much already, and (more importantly): (B) there are so many others who are truly in need. These trips were a big in-my-face clarification of the difference. And they really made it clear to me that I need to be intentional in teaching/modeling that to my kids.
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