Learnings

Good morning!

I have become thankful for those that ask me, "What did you learn in Nepal?" rather than "How was Nepal?!" I have found that the first question has 100 very straightforward answers, while there is no way to answer the second without a three hour conversation.

For the first question, there are many many answers for me to choose from. And each day, there has been something new that I have only now realized I learned there.

You'd like to hear a few? Great, I'd like to write a few.

I learned that I love country music more than my heart was even aware. 

I was shown that as much as I love being on my own, I love being with people just as much. The nine others that He provided me with to travel? They are forever some of my favorites to be around, just doing life with in a completely foreign culture. 

I saw that when people are in need, there is action required of us as Christians. 

I was reminded that I love children; whether they speak only English or only Hindi, whether they go to private school or spend their days playing marbles on the streets, whether they are soft and kind-hearted, or whether they're hard and calloused. There were those whose first thought when I walked into their home was to run up and envelope me in a hug, and then make Nepali tea, coffee, or serve up the Mountain Dew. And there were those who would run up and hug me on the street, then ask if perhaps that day I had changed my mind and actually brought them the drugs and glue that they were craving. Half of the kids broke my heart into tenths, while some others would sew it back together with the testimonies of how God has changed their lives. Either way, I loved them.

But if there was one truth that will never leave me (I pray none do), it was that I saw the simplicity of the gospel message.

Christ died for the righteous and the unrighteous, the godly and the ungodly, the kids in Christian homes and those addicted to glue on the streets. He died once, and his death atoned for the sins of the world.

"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit" 1st Peter 3:18 (ESV)

The response? Live in light of that.

Living in light of Christ's all-atoning death on the cross changes the way I feel, and what I do, about absolutely everything. It changes how I treat my family, how I view myself and my worth, how I incorporate prayer and the Bible into each day, how I treat my friends, and how I love.

It changes each and every relationship.

Instinctively I think back on what I should have done differently in my friendships in years gone by, but Jesus doesn't open our eyes to his truths to make us feel guilty for the past. He gives us clear instruction for the future.

It changes how I view opportunities for the gospel to be put on display, and how I see the world's need for the hands and feet of Jesus.

More on that tomorrow. See you then!