I just had a moment, and wanted to share

So you know sometimes when something will just hit you at the strangest times, and you are thinking, where did that thought come from? Well, that’s kinda what just happened to me.

It’s an average day here in Masindi, and I was in our bathroom brushing my teeth. I looked around and all of a sudden I kind of teared up. I looked at how simple, and yet how full our lives are here and I began to picture what our lives would have looked like had we stayed at home.

Newman was working for Chick-fil-A with the plans of moving up to possibly become an owner/operator of a store. This was encouraged by the people he worked with/for and of course me, because I love Chick-fil-A, and that would be a pretty good gig. Also, Newman would be good at it. I had plans of finding a nursing job, hopefully in Charleston at one of the major hospitals, paying back my loans as quickly as possible, moving into a bigger house, maybe buying a boat, and then starting a family. Sounds good right??

So there I was in the bathroom, brushing my teeth (in the dark of course with no power), and tearing up. Not because I am sad that we are not doing all of those things, but because I am SO content here with none of those things. Now, I’m not saying that people who have lives which include all of the formerly mentioned things are wrong or unhappy AT ALL! And maybe, if that’s what God has planned for us, our lives may include some of those things one day. I hope at least a family is in his plans. My point is that whatever God has planned for us, it is always going to be way better than what we have planned for ourselves. I could never imagine feeling so peaceful and fulfilled while living in a place without my family and friends, a place where there is usually no power and sometimes no water, having no modern convenience close by, and a completely EMPTY wallet.

I would encourage everyone to look and see what is driving their goals and plans, and what they think will make them happy. I promise that God has big and specific plans for each one of us, but it’s up to us to follow his lead. We can have whatever lives we choose, but to live the fullest life, we must be living for Him. My family has kind of always lived by the verse Jeremiah 29:11. I think I have mentioned it before in this blog, and there is a small plaque with that verse on my parents’ front doorstep. It was also a big part of our homily at our wedding. The verse is, “For I know the plans I have for you.” Declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” He knows what his plan is for each of us, we just have to listen and be obedient. I also want to clarify that you don’t do this to be “happy.” I in fact do not like the word “happy” because so many people try and try their whole lives to find “happiness” and happiness is an emotion that comes and goes. It doesn’t sustain us. Following God’s plan leads to feeling fulfilled and at peace, but it does not always mean that you will be happy and comfortable or that life will be easy. Trust me, many days here are not easy and sometimes I am not happy, but I have never felt unfulfilled or not at peace. As soon as I start to feel that way, I need to reevaluate weather or not I am following God’s plan.

I didn’t mean for this to turn into a sermon, but I was just feeling called to share that. I just want to encourage us to always be reevaluating what we are doing with our lives and be willing to change them as we are called to. I promise, you won’t regret it in the end!

Love,

Trish

P.S. I will leave you with a picture of how laundry gets done around here. It took 5 pieces of long line to hang everything, and there is still more inside. You can tell we have waited till the last minute to wash clothes. And then I have to iron it all to get rid of the mango fly eggs so that they don't burrow into our skin....gross right?  Our sweet lady that washed the clothes was here from 9:30am to 1pm. I paid her and gave her a bag of rice and beans. You would have thought I had given her filet mignon and caviar by her reaction.