Expectation vs Reality

Since I was little, I have had the dream of going to Uganda. If you know anything about me, you know that when I get an idea, I get set on it for a couple of days and then forget about it in about a week. Uganda seemed like a dream, not a reality. 

One day, a girl in my sorority texted in a group message of over 60 members and said that she wanted to find a good thrift store in Birmingham, our new home. I was the only one to respond and we looked up the best thrift stores in town, and the cutest one we found was a store called "Sozo." We met up sometime that week and headed to the new thrift store. As we went to check out, I saw photos by the checkout that were taken in Uganda. The cashier told me that all of the funds from the store went to their organization that they had founded in Uganda. I told her how I have always wanted to go, and she told me about the trips that they send through their organization, in Uganda. A month later, I was signed up for 3 weeks for a missions trip in Africa. 

Before I knew, I was packing my bags and getting ready to head to a place that I had only even heard about. 

"Is there even anything there?" "Are you scared?" "What is it like?"

I told everyone that I had no fears, but deep down, I was terrified. 

I had a feeling that God was going to protect me, but little did I know, He was about to show me Uganda through His eyes. 

My expectation: I am about to be the light to the people of Uganda. They need me because I really believe in God and have a strong faith. 

I landed in Uganda and was so excited to share The Gospel.

What I didn't realize was that God had a plan to change my life forever. 

I have never been more excited than I was, the next morning when I woke up. 

It was about a 20 minute drive to where we were headed and I couldn't keep my eyes off of what we were driving through. It was unlike anything that I have ever seen, no words could describe the beauty that I was experiencing. I expected to feel sad, seeing the "poverty" that I had imagined but all I saw was God. In everything, God was there.

A few days passed and I began to realize that the people of Uganda were the complete opposite of what I imagined. 

They weren't some charity case. 

It wasn't me teaching them, it was them teaching me.

They aren't in poverty, but I am. 

They weren't ungrateful, but I was. 

Many people that I encountered knew the Lord, which made them rich. With God's love, to many, He is enough.

I began to realize that God was answering my prayers and showing me the way that He sees people.

It has and never will be about our possessions. Our wealth will always be based on our love for Him.

When we make Him number one in our lives, he will bless us.

Now when I say that he will bless us, I don't mean with material items, but with His love and strength. To God, He is sharing with us, gifts that are much greater than anything we could ever obtain on our own.

In the book, Love Does by Bob Goff, on page 80, he talks about how it is so commonly seen that people will turn down the invitation to fully live, every day when it is offered to us. 

He gives examples of the common ways that people miss out on fully living:

1. We easily view something truly beautiful as "normal." 

2. Refusing to forgive and holding onto a grudge that is only holding us back.

3. Not being grateful.

4. Being wrapped up in fear in envy. 

This really stood out to me because they are all things that I do on a day to day basis, and for the first time, I truly began to see the way that God did. 

I do not always give Him the credit that he deserves, and because of that, I do not see the beauty that He does

I do not always forgive, and for that, I do not live every day the way that I could.

I am not always grateful, and for that, I become self centered.

And when I am wrapped up in envy, I know that I am not being the example that the Lord has set me out to be. 

Now, reality: Uganda is not some place that needs help, it is the people that don't have the Lord as their number one, that need help. 

Beauty does not come from what we have but from the way we reflect Christ's love to others.

Faith is not a religion, it is a lifestyle that we must act out, not only believe. 

The Lord is not just someone we can turn to when we need Him, but someone that should be the focus of every thought and every deed.