Monday, February 17, 2014
When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer. Psalm 94:19
Necessities. What truly qualifies as a necessity? Or what is more closely a “nice”cessity? I struggled with this last month as we were making preparations for what we really need to bring back to Congo with us for Baby Berry’s entrance into this world.
I don’t have all the answers. But in this context, I do know that according to my American baby registry list, Baby Berry MUST-HAVE 260 items, not including diapers, wipes, and clothing. Really? It’s a miracle that any baby survived before we had all the “nicecessities” available that a baby must have this day and age. I went through my registry list step by step, working with other mothers, narrowing down what do I truly need to take back with us for Baby Berry’s first 6 months – 1 year of life. It was a long process, and to be honest my conclusion left me a little annoyed with my home culture and myself.
We took back with us the bare minimums according to the standards of an American newborn baby, but my American baby is still going to see more in their first years of life than any other Congolese baby ever will, but yet, I still brought those “nicecessities” with me. I don’t feel bad that I was raised in a culture of Wal-Mart, or a culture that demands more and more. I don’t feel bad that I was raised in a culture that teaches us that the more we have, the better off we are. I don’t feel bad that Baby Berry is starting life with a lot less than most American babies.
Instead, I feel sad that we are serving in a culture of severe poverty and I am powerless to change it. I feel sad that I am living among other pregnant women who are lacking the proper nutrients to grow a strong healthy baby, while I take pre-natal supplements and lack nothing. I feel sad that I am powerless to change it. I feel sad because Baby Berry will have a future simply because of their skin color and the language they will grow up speaking, while living among other children that will only dream of such luxuries, and I am powerless to change it.
I hate the feeling of being powerless. I don’t know how to really help those who are in such pain around me. I don’t know how to really help those who lack their basic necessities, and yet the Lord has asked us to endure and live among this culture that I am powerless to change.
But how can I? Simply because it’s the Lord who leads us, guides us and sustains us. He hasn’t called me to fix problems that I feel powerless to fix. He has simply asked me to live among the people of this culture, encouraging them as I can. Sharing my heart, my experiences and my love for Christ. The Lord has His plan for Congo, a plan that is greater than me, and He is NOT powerless to change it.