I Surrender

We may not get to choose our circumstances, but we can always choose our attitude. I have seen and felt the presence of the Lord more in the past two weeks than I have in a long time. On Monday, Catherine, Tori, and I went to the home of a woman named Jenifer who had given her life to Christ just the week before. We were going to drop off a Bible for her and disciple her. She was so excited to see us and invited us and one of her neighbors inside her home (her elderly mother just so happen to visit so she was also there). We prayed with Jenifer, answered questions, and offered encouragement for the struggles she had revealed. Then we started asking about whether or not the neighbor, Rita, knew the Lord. She didn’t, and wanted to so we told the story of Jesus and she decided to accept Christ as well! Now the only one we didn’t know about was the elderly mother (I forgot her name or else I would use it, so let’s just stick with elderly mother). I could tell she was sick and somewhat in and out of our conversation, but we decided to pursue anyways. She said that she had never accepted the Lord because she didn’t know the story.....so we told it. Afterwards, we asked what she thought and she wanted to give her life to the Lord as well. So because of the Lord’s power and Word, two more people will now join Him in heaven!!! Before we left, we asked one last time if they had any questions. Rita (remember she has just given her life to the Lord) said that she didn’t know why she had to go through such hard situations. That she felt like God wasn’t there during those times because they were so bad. She couldn’t imagine that He would be okay with her suffering like that. At this moment, I was reminded of how much God loves His Son and how even though He loves him, He let Jesus go through much suffering and hardship on this earth but HE NEVER LEFT HIM. So I reminded Rita that God promises many times in His Word that he will never leave or forsake us. We may not understand and it often doesn’t make sense why we should suffer, but that there is a reason for it and we need to trust God (Proverbs 3:5-6) and believe what He promises. I left that house feeling different. I feel like I can be doing so much more. It was so easy to explain to Rita and the mother about Jesus and it changed their ETERNITY. Wow. I think people who store up their treasures on earth, namely Americans, are the hardest to accept the Gospel. They don’t need the Lord. People in Africa are desperate for something that will save them, something that will give them Hope and a future. They are desperate for Jesus Christ. Honestly, if I am walking in the Spirit I should share Jesus with everyone I come in contact with. Whether it’s by my words or just my actions. People should know that God lives in me. But do they? Do I contain the fruit of the Spirit all the time? Nada (that means “no” in Lugandan). I can tell when I am walking in the Spirit and when I’m not. I just finished reading “Forgotten God” by Francis Chan so this has really been a conviction of mine since I started it two days ago. It was a great book and I recommend everyone should read it. As a person who has accepted Christ, I have also accepted His Spirit. It’s up to me whether or not I choose to use Him to guide my every move. I can’t explain my desire to be led completely by His Spirit, but even though I desire it more than anything, that doesn’t mean I let Him all the time. So this is my prayer: that I may fully surrender and walk completely by His Spirit, the Counselor that He gave us to help us make decisions, walk away from sin, and reveal His Glory to the world. I want people to know that I can’t do anything apart from Him. He sustains me. He directs me. He gives me strength. Without Him, I am truly nothing. Nothing. There is no better time than now to really start living like this. “I surrender.” That is something I have said numerous times over the course of my stay in Uganda. And the feeling I get afterwards is the peace that surpasses all understanding. Over and over again, I am overwhelmed by the Grace He gives. It’s all for His Glory. Everything I do and everything I am. All for Him. I was initially going to blog what is below but really felt led to write about this before I wrote about the fun stuff we have been doing. Remember, the fruits of the Spirit represent a life led by the Spirit. Make this your prayer: that God would dwell inside you and you would encompass His fruit.

Here is my original blog:

It was so wonderful to have Josh and Claire here in Uganda for a week. We were extremely busy so it went by fast. Josh loves movies so one night we decided to get out and watch Prince of Persia. This was probably my least favorite of all the ones we have seen since being here. It had snakes and lots of blood. Not a Carrie-friendly movie. One night we took them bowling. We wanted them to experience the night part of Africa as well as the mission part. On our way home, we got pulled over by the cops because we had 7 people in a 5 passenger car. I was pretty frightened, but everything ended up being okay after we paid a fine. Praise the Lord Daudi, the guy that was driving, didn’t get arrested! Friday we went to Jinja to see the source of the Nile, the falls, and to bungee jump. I really was thinking all day that I had the courage to bungee. Once I saw it, I decided I would take pictures of Josh and Claire and then decide if I was going to. We started walking up the steps and after about the 4th flight, I froze. I couldn’t move. Something about stairs and being able to see through the wood just freaks me out. So needless to say, I didn’t take pictures and I definitely didn’t bungee. All in all, I had a great week with Josh and Claire and was very sad to see them leaving. I got back to the apartment Sunday night after being away for a week, and was told that I had been calling our guard the wrong name this whole time. This isn’t shocking since I make up words and pronounce things wrong all the time. I have been calling him “Lester” when his name is really “Nesto.” The funny thing is that I have made sure to really pronounce “Lester” each and every time I see him. At least we all got a good laugh out of it. Sorry Nesto! From now on, I will be calling you by the right name!! This past week was a busy one as well. We spent most of the week at Joel’s school, Rays of Hope. Mason and I painted the baby room and we all took Joel out for his birthday on Thursday. Thursday night, my little sister, Margaret, came to Uganda!!!!! It was supposed to be a surprise but somehow I found out. I was thrilled to see her and we have enjoyed spending time together since. I am looking forward to a great week with Asbury getting here! Hopefully I can update more this week.

Remember, God is good and He never leaves us.