Tuesday, June 25, 2013

A Life like Miss Rumphius




It took a little while but I am back in my hometown of Terrace.  After another tearful goodbye to another wonderful community in Victoria, my dad came to pick me up and we caravanned for the two day drive up to middle-of-nowhere Canada.  Not much has changed in this slow-paced town, only a few new shops, and my youngest brother’s growth spurt and deeper voice (which is seriously throwing me off!).  It is nice to be back at home and stationary, not living out of a suitcase for the next few weeks.  
 
Since being back to Canada, I definitely have felt the “celebrity status” everywhere I go.  I see my face on people’s fridges, have had countless of hugs, a class of grade 2 students screaming in excitement at my return to Canada, (ya, that happened) and several free meals or coffees with many people so excited to see me. (HA! Imagine that!)  As much as I have been so grateful for all the “attention” for what I do with my life, I want to make it clear that I am no more special than anyone else.  I do what I do to share God’s love with those around me, not for self-glorification.  Anyone and I mean ANYONE who loves Jesus and wants to follow Him with all their hearts can do the same as me or more.

One particular place where I have more “celebrity status” than anywhere else is at the school my mom teaches at.  The neat thing about this situation is that these kids don’t just look at the things I do with my life and go “Well that’s nice.  Good for her but I could never do that.”  Instead, they were inspired to partner with me in my adventure to Africa through prayers and fundraisers.   It’s so encouraging to think that by me simply going to Africa, these students became more socially aware of the world around them.  Some examples of their compassion and kindness include:

- Daily prayers from the classes for me and the country of Uganda.  One teacher had to make a rule to her class that they could only mention me in their prayer time once a day!
 
-          - Many fundraisers in the form of bake sales and lemonade stands for the children at God’s Grace Orphanage. They raised over $700!!

-        -  One eleven year old boy who has made up his mind that he will be a missionary when he grows up.
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             - One teacher taking a year of absence to go teach in Cambodia (I think? don't quote me on that one)

Believe me this wasn’t because of anything I did.  Lord, keep me humble if I ever think that I have anything to do with this.  You can see how infectious God’s lovingkindess truly is and how He works through the relationships we have made in various communities to grow His Kingdom. 

Here I am at Veritas Elementary this week where I shared pictures, videos, songs, experiences, and a glimpse of my life in Uganda with the students.  


So I have a terrible obsession with children’s books.  It’s actually a problem. I can’t go into bookstores because I will always buy books.  Even the people who work there know me well enough to recommend me the latest and greatest of children’s literature.  Anyway, did you ever read the picture book  Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney?  According to my mom’s fourth grade class, I remind them of the character Miss Rumphius.  If you haven’t read the book, I’ll spare you the time.  As a little girl, Miss Rumphius’ grandfather instructs her to do these three things with her life:

1.  Go to faraway places
2.  Live beside the sea
3.  Do something to make the world beautiful

So as I sum up this blog post, I will leave you with this challenge to travel to faraway places to make amazing cross-cultural friendships, and see God in the eyes of another, live beside the sea because well let’s be honest, who wouldn’t want to live by the ocean, and do something, no matter how small or insignificant, to make the world beautiful. 

Oh and I forgot a song.  I will leave you with Oceans by Hillsong United

Peace and love

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