Hello from Jarabacoa!
I know it has been a long time – too long – since I have
sent an email update or newsletter or posted on my blog. It isn’t that I
haven’t thought about doing it many times – I have. It just hasn’t seemed like
I had anything to say or I didn’t have time to sort through all the things I
wanted to say. I’ve been here just over two months and most of that time has
been spent on two things – learning how to live in Jarabacoa and carrying out
my duties in sponsorship while at the same time learning just what those duties
are. This learning curve has been tremendously steep and I’m still climbing. It
seems every day there is something new to learn. I’m not going to try to explain
any of that here. That may be the topic of my next newsletter which will
hopefully be mailed soon.
Instead, I just want to tell you about something that has
struck my heart. On my lunch break for the last week or so, I have been reading
the book, Kisses from Katie, which tells the story of a young single
girl living an unbelievable life in Uganda. She has adopted fourteen Ugandan
girls and started a non-profit ministry to help support several hundred other
children. Someone recommended the book to me a couple years ago so when it
showed up in a box of books that were donated to the ministry here, I took it. It
is an incredible story of God’s love and His heart for children that is
reflected in the life of one ordinary girl. I won’t try to recount the story
here. I suggest you find the book and read it for yourself.
As I have read this book, one thought has kept running
through my mind – I am not Katie. I do not love the way she loves. I could not
live the life she is living. Yes, I have left family and friends behind to come
to a foreign country where I still don’t really speak the language at an age
when most people are thinking about retiring and slowing down. But, I have an
amazing apartment in which to live. I have a great car to drive. There are
challenges to life here, but I can get just about anything that I need – it
just takes a little longer. I can even purchase a number of my favorite foods
from the U.S. even if they cost a little more than I like to pay. I am
surrounded by others from North America who understand me and are here to help.
No, I am not Katie.
I want to be able to say that God spoke to me and told me, “It’s
okay not to be Katie.” But He hasn’t. Instead He continues to convict me and
challenge me with the example of Katie’s life. One quote from her journal, I
think, says it all.
“We aren’t really called to save
the world, not even to save one person; Jesus does that. We are just called to
love with abandon. We are called to enter into our neighbors’ sufferings and
love them right there.” (Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis, pg 214)
It might be okay not to
be Katie. After all, I am Karen, a unique child of God with a special plan
for my life specifically designed for me by my heavenly Father. But, it isn’t
okay not to be Jesus to those whose lives I touch. That just is not okay.
Father God, please pour out your grace on my life. Help me,
to love others the way that you love them, the way that you love me. Forgive
me for the times that I have failed, when I have let hurt feelings or pride or
my own ideas stop me from loving. I am so grateful for your mercy, that every
day you give me new opportunities to love those around me. Thank you for your
Son and his example of perfect love, thank you for your Holy Spirit who enables
me to love and thank you for loving me.
A new command I give you: Love one another.
As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
John 13:34
