There is a contrasting side to all of my desires to live a simple life, away from all worldly care, as well as my love of travel and seeing new places and cultures and all of the beauty God has created. One or the other of these two contrasting ideas has occupied a good deal of my thoughts over the past months.
First, having a life of little or no commitments is pretty dreamy, but for me and what I want my life to be about, there are too many needs around me, at home and abroad, to self-indulgently isolate myself and not concern myself with the suffering of others, or deficits in culture, society or governments. I may not singlehandedly solve family, community or world problems, but I can certainly share my unique gifts and my time to help somehow.
That leads me to my second conundrum, travel. I love to travel with my family. It is one of our favorite things to do together. It opens our eyes to how people and cultures and governments are different, and how we are all the same in our love of family, a desire for freedom and equality, and our need to survive. It is amazing to see God's endless creations, and how more and more we are not careful stewards over them and the resources they provide. And having meaningful experiences together as a family creates unity and love through shared memory.
At the same time, travel is expensive. Here we have several months of travel planned, and yet we see that the children at the orphanage that we grew to love in Cambodia are in need of basic rice. We see that trash is a serious problem along a beautiful, pure archipelago. Children don't go to school after primary school on the island because there isn't enough money to build another building. We meet a woman barely feeding her children because the monthly rent of a tuk tuk is so expensive, but buying her own for $9000 is out of the question. The cost of an international trip or two could have serious impact on any one of these few issues.
In reality, our time and our means are God's. I've been asking myself if I am taking this truth seriously enough. Am I using my time and means in a way that is pleasing to Him? Am I too concerned about my own needs and wants and comforts that I'm not considering how He could use me as an instrument to help, even in a small way?
I'm not believing that God expects us to run ourselves dry or give ourselves poor. I believe a prayerful and deliberate balance and moderation is the right answer. However, I am realizing that I must be careful to give more emphasis to the prayer part, as it would be easy and natural to tip the scale a little more to my own comforts and conveniences!
I am grateful for these thoughts and observations. If this is the gift of this time together away from home, I will not let it be forgotten.
First, having a life of little or no commitments is pretty dreamy, but for me and what I want my life to be about, there are too many needs around me, at home and abroad, to self-indulgently isolate myself and not concern myself with the suffering of others, or deficits in culture, society or governments. I may not singlehandedly solve family, community or world problems, but I can certainly share my unique gifts and my time to help somehow.
That leads me to my second conundrum, travel. I love to travel with my family. It is one of our favorite things to do together. It opens our eyes to how people and cultures and governments are different, and how we are all the same in our love of family, a desire for freedom and equality, and our need to survive. It is amazing to see God's endless creations, and how more and more we are not careful stewards over them and the resources they provide. And having meaningful experiences together as a family creates unity and love through shared memory.
At the same time, travel is expensive. Here we have several months of travel planned, and yet we see that the children at the orphanage that we grew to love in Cambodia are in need of basic rice. We see that trash is a serious problem along a beautiful, pure archipelago. Children don't go to school after primary school on the island because there isn't enough money to build another building. We meet a woman barely feeding her children because the monthly rent of a tuk tuk is so expensive, but buying her own for $9000 is out of the question. The cost of an international trip or two could have serious impact on any one of these few issues.
In reality, our time and our means are God's. I've been asking myself if I am taking this truth seriously enough. Am I using my time and means in a way that is pleasing to Him? Am I too concerned about my own needs and wants and comforts that I'm not considering how He could use me as an instrument to help, even in a small way?
I am grateful for these thoughts and observations. If this is the gift of this time together away from home, I will not let it be forgotten.
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