Lately, God has really placed the idea of poverty of spirit on my mind. We live in an area of the world that is so priveledged and most do not even realize it. When we think of the "Rich" in the United States, we often think of someone like Bill Gates or professional athletes, or movie stars, but in reality, everyone reading this blog is "rich." The mere fact that one can even read, means they are priveledged. If you own a book, you are "rich" beyond understanding. There are so many people out there who never have the opportunity to learn how to read, let alone, to purchase a book.
Now, I can't speak for everyone, but I know for myself, I am always thinking about what I want next. New shoes, a better dress, a decoration for my home. I am not saying buying new things is bad, but when we consume ourselves with these earthly materials and forget the real purpose and mission God placed us here for, then we are in trouble. Lent has reminded me that when we die, we do not take any of those material items with us. Life on earth is so short, so why am I using this time to build an image of myself instead of serving others and glorifying God? If you went to the grocery store with a huge grocery list and you had 1 hour to get it all done, would you waste time doing other things? NO! Of course not. You would work hard to get your task done in that amount of time. The same thing applies for our time on earth.
This leads me to poverty of spirit and how I can live this out in my daily life. I struggle with how I can serve God in my state of life. Having 2 young children makes it difficult to serve at a pregnancy center or a soup kitchen, but I know there are ways I can let go of material things in my life and focus on serving my family with a pure heart. I can also make sure every conversation I have with others will glorify God and not tear him down.
I really struggle with not being able to head overseas to help others. I realize I need to put these concerns to deep prayer. We are making our plans to move back to Washington soon, and I worry that we will get into a routine at home and forget to reach out. I pray that we do not get too comfortable where we are and forget to reach outside our own families, and most importantly, that we don't get too comfortable that we miss God calling us to truly pick up our cross and to follow Him. No matter where that takes us.
Thank you God for working in my heart and helping to transform me to grow closer to you.
AMEN! Great post sister! You have a beautiful soul.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Athena! It is really difficult to remember all of the amazing social justice types of things we did in college and contrast them with the lives we lead now, but just remember that God calls you to serve him in different states of life. I struggle with this all the time. I always think of serving at CAST or lighthouse or Calcutta and then think about the silly tasks like laundry, diapers and grocery shopping and how those just don't compare. Then someone (or maybe something I read, I can't remember!) reminded me that those spiritual and corporal works of mercy are practiced at home as well. Small things with great love. :)
ReplyDeleteGod has called us to a special work, raising up new little souls and directing them towards him. I know for myself, that this lent is going to be spent trying to focus myself more on the little ones while I can instead of ......internet shopping on amazon or other dumb things I do instead of playing with, educating, and spending time with my kids.