Since Ethiopia....

So many thoughts & directions to go in.

I believe I have been truly, heartfelted-ly changed since Ethiopia. How could I not be right?

But the main thing was having to really examine my life, it's value & worth & how much am I willing toactually give it up for God? We got mixed messages & warnings form people regarding going toEthiopia. Some warned us, flat out, to NOT go. That caused me to really take a hard look @ myself & ask wha I was really willing to give up & sacrifice for God. Did I trust god enough to give up my very LIFE? if asked?

Or worse, did I trust God enough to land myself in a foreign jail, a million miles away from home?Did I trust God enough to care for my family if I was gone? For 2 weeks or forever?

I put my trust in God. I figure what IS my life if NOT God's? HE is my life. I want Him to be my life & what right to I have to it if it truly belongs to God anyway?

Thn upon returning...I was able to process everything more & more each day...what those people need, what we all need, is JESUS. Plain & simple. I can dig a well, I can send a child to school, I can feed the homeless & give them dollars. BUT w/ Christ, what is tomorrow? The well will have no eternal value. Th dollar will help them for today. Ony Jesus Christ, as their personal Lord & Savior can save them provide for thier needs.

Not to discount how serving others & providing for thier physical needs is important. It can be a means to be able to share the everlasting love of Jesus Christ but it is only a tool.

What people really need is Jesus. When the child is orphaned by AIDS, what is left? When the mother dies from AIDS, what is left? When the water is gone? When the money is gone? When the education is finished...then what?

W/o Christ as a foundation & root, w/o the ROCK of Jesus Christ, ALL is lost.

But eternity is eternity & that is really ALL that matters in this life.

SO what am *I* doing that is of any eternal value?
What am I doing to make a lasting impact on my family, friends, perfect strangers i meet on the street?

This is the 'place' I am in right now. Examining all I do. It can be overwhelming & I do have to stop sometimes but my focus is changing. I am beginning to weigh each day w/ a new scale. What have I accomplished that has any lasting value? Our time is short...but the challenge is still there none the less.