Its June and Im THANKFUL

I am so very thankful for my trip to Honduras!
I am also very thankful to live in America, where we surround ourselves with comfort to the max.

It was almost humorous to me when I entered Dulles airport and found myself freezing from the excessive A/C. We have comforts on top of comforts. And just the INDEPENDENCE to do whatever I want all the time... I want Starbucks? OK- lets go get in my personal, air conditioned vehicle and go buy one. I find myself eating such variety (compared to 3 daily meals of beans and rice) and just in AWE of how gourmet my diet is- literally! It literally has been odd going around, resuming life, after being surrounded by poverty. God is working in my heart and I love it.

My roommate for the trip, Meredith, sums it up well in her blog:
"While I was taking it the beauty of this trip, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt that I have the opportunity to travel to these amazing places. Most Hondurans probably have not even seen the beauty of the islands in their own country. Before I left for Honduras, my grandma made a comment that she is glad we have these opportunities because when she was growing up, driving an hour to Richmond was really something big. It hit me in the gut. How do I reconcile all of my opportunities with the fact that other people don’t have the same options? Where is the balance between enjoying these gifts and not feeling the need to justify them?
I’ve been reading through Ecclesiastes and trying to understand these verses as I reconcile the the things I love such as traveling and dancing with burden I feel to spend my time doing things that aren’t so self-serving."

My mentor sent me an email over a year ago that really has stuck with me!!! She says:
"Comforts are not satantic, but there are satanic comforts. Think about it this way, pick something in your mind, I’ll use sex as an example—sex between me and my husband is good in God’s eyes. Sex between two unmarried people, not good; rape—NOT GOOD. Should we abstain from sex because it can be abused or can be something some people stumble with? No. There is even a time when Peter warns that in the last days “godly” people will tell you to abstain from sex and food. That is against God’s glory, not for it. Other examples: Rest—created by God! Sabbath, ahhh, rest from work. Laziness, bad. Friendship, yeah that was God’s idea too! How refreshing that can be to my soul! Trusting in men rather than God, bad. Hiking in the woods? Yes, I do that to the glory of God. Sex, yes—within marriage, my sex life is relaxing, fun, pleasurable, and brings great comfort to my soul, and my body…all to the glory of God! Food, feasting, dinner parties, brunches, tea parties…you name it, these too can bring glory to God, and Jesus Himself was a partaker in many a feast and dinner party. Feasting of course has its place, gluttony does not—we are to be good stewards of these bodies. Having a home? God knows our needs, He knows what we are made of, shelter is important to Him, and a home in which we can be hospitable, this is important to Him too. Working out? Excellent! Being obsessed with my image? Horrible. I hope this is enough to show that many good things can be abused, but being comfortable is not a sin—unless our comfort is found outside of Him. So how do we obtain that “unshakeable confidence that the joy we have tasted in Christ will not disappoint us in death." Be in His Word. Pray about Joy, about desires, etc. Thanksgiving—spend some time each day in genuine thanksgiving, read John 15:11, 17:13, Hebrews 13:14, And then Psalm 57 –ask yourself, what was David thankful for, when, and how did he express it? Note: the Hebrew word translated “lovingkindness” really means “covenant loyalty love.” Then read ? Psalm 69, and focus on vs. 30-32. What does thanksgiving do to your heart?"

I had a seriously phenomenal walk with a dear friend yesterday (gonna dub it the encouraging walk)... ;) We were talking about how gratitude is like our sword at the devil. When he throws something at us, and we are like THANK YOU because I know God is going to use that for my good. What does that do to the devil? Can you imagine everything you tried to use to discourage someone they thanked you for it???

Colossians 4:2 "Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving..." And Philippians 4- "Rejoice always, and again I say to you- rejoice!"

HOWEVER... while I do think that gratitude is the answer for the MANY gifts I have been given. (O Lord may I never complain about one single thing! Seriously. SICK- how dare I?) I also pray that my eyes would not only see and give thanks.... but joyfully SHARE the numerous blessings with those around me. True gratitude I think says- I have been blessed beyond belief. WOW. Praise God... I WANT to share because I have way more than I need. Not because I feel guilty that God has chosen to bless me, but because I have such a great GIFT! How great a salvation! I think its the same principle with evangelism... I dont understand why God sovereignly chose to save me! But I dont share with others out of guilt because I have been given that gift, but I share because Im overflowing with thanksgiving.

Right now I am. Remind me and encourage me when Im not!
There was a spanish billboard in the airport on a layover of the radical Chi (sp?) that said:
If Im going forward, follow me. If I stop moving- push me forward, and if I go backward, kill me. I feel like that in a way. May I never go backward, and when I slow, please push me with reminders.

PS- Speaking of spanish, I have already forgotten a lot of espanol. ;( YIKES.