April 11, 2009 Happy Birthday to my baby sis Lindsi Lou my lil boo.
So Yesterday was Easter. I've always heard it is the holidays when you miss far away family the most. It is SO true! This morning I had to ask God's forgiveness for having self pity. Do you know that it is prideful to have self pity? It totally is. Thinking that we deserve something other than death is pride. By ourselves we are dirty rotten sinners who deserve death. Christians can not have self-pity. The self was killed on the cross. So this morning I poured my heart out to God, asking His forgiveness for feeling bad for myself that I wasn't with my family on Easter and my lil sis' B-day and how I missed cuddling with my friends.
ANYWAYS as I finished that prayer…maybe even while I was still praying it - Beatrice (who I just met on Wednesday on the trip to South Africa) sent me a text saying she was picking me up in 20 minutes. From about 11am to 11 pm I spent the day with an amazing group of God-fearing Kenyans (who speak English). They totally accepted me into their home from the very beginning, we ate breakfast together, lunch at a park, took walks, played games, ate dinner together, and there were two beautiful lil girls named Nuru (meaning light) 3 yrs, and Nema (meaning grace)2 yrs who invited me to their birthday party within the first 5 minutes of meeting them and who cuddled with me all day!!! At the end of the day I heard them say a few times "I want to be like Auntie Erica." Along with Auntie I was called sister, adopted daughter and friend. I was totally adopted into their family just when I needed one most. God cares about everything in our lives. Don't hold back your feelings from Him, He is always there and waiting to bless us.
There's a fine line between acknowledging our needs as finite humans & drifting into self-pity. Apparently God Himself agreed that you needed family on Easter. His family is so much bigger than our physical family & I'm glad He has some of His kids stationed near you, ready & willing to extend His family love to you. He is so good & so worth serving with our whole life!
ReplyDeletePS-When I grow up, I want to be like you, too.