Change

Oh how I love NWC. Even when I'm not on campus they still have me debriefing on paper. I sent in a Summer of Service Evaluation yesterday. Since I spent so much time writing it, I thought I should probably share some of my thoughts with the rest of you. So as I sat to write about things that had happened in my life, I realized that there were some things that had really changed me. As I thought about it, I came to the conclusion that it would be a huge waste of 3 months not to change. With that said, here are a few of the random ways I’ve see my experience play out in my life.


· Being independent is necessary only to the point of realizing the need for God.
· I’ve started to seriously take hold of the power of God’s timing and live in union with it instead of in conflict against it.
· I’ve learned that non-Christians can change a Christian for the better.
· Doing something that will truly show the love of Christ to the “least of these” is a sacred calling not meant to take lightly. It involves deep love, long work hours, humility, passion, confrontation, encouragement that leads to empowerment, and many years of hardships. It’s a life decision…not a $100 bill.
· I observe better; I listen longer; and I think deeper.
· As I learned more about the demographics of a people group, my outlook on history and how it affects a culture changed. This also changed how I viewed characteristics of my own culture as an American and as a Christian.
· My attitude about how the Church interacts with non-Christians sadly became more realistic.
· After one interaction with a missionary couple in the Ukraine, I understood that it is impossible to live a joyful life without vision.
· Somewhere among having to budget for each month, going to work every day, cooking each night, and still trying to stay connected to the people I love back home, I’m scared that I actually grew up a bit.
· In order to become more Christ like we must change despite what the people around us want.
· I should not ever take for granted the power of Christ’s presence through a single hug or the deep, penetrating connection to fellow believers.
· Without a loving Christ, Christianity is worthless and without allowing someone else to love and change you, you cannot love or change them.
· The best part of a meal was after dinner when we all sat down for 30 minutes conversing with a cup of tea in hand. Tea is the symbol of a habitual commitment of time given in order to love the person sitting across from you.
· My perspective on foreign aid changed drastically. It is now hard for me not to ask the question, “Is this a temporary fix, or is this something that will truly show God’s eternal love?”
· The things I miss have revealed to me where my priorities lye…both the good and the bad.
· After recognizing that for most of my summer God was the only one that knew what was going on in my life, I took one step closer to truly loving my Savior.