Cleaning house

(Ben) Today we cleaned out Javonta's room and one storage closet . Our room is next. It's amazing how much stuff he has (or had)! Oh well. It's all gotta go. We cleaned out the monsters from under the bed as well as all the hidden dust bunnies buried deep in the obscure reaches of his closet. Turning to our storage closet, I emptied out everything I could (also quite a bit).

We live in a three bedroom flat. It's amazing how much STUFF our family has accrued. A few of our friends have wondered at the logic behind the universal material purge of all our possessions. On the night Jesus sent His disciples into the neighborhood to carry the Gospel, He commanded them to travel as light as possible. Elsewhere, Jesus points out that seeking the Kingdom of God is not about amassing wealth, but rather seeking the presence, righteousness and peace of God in all circumstances. I haven't touched most of what we are giving away. Why do I really need to carry it around with me or store it up? The happiness and joy of life is not found in things, but in relationships with each other and with God. We can always get new things. And the peace that has come over us is pretty great. It has been fun simplifying our lives. We are only taking what we can carry on our backs.

I have been learning about extreme poverty and what is necessary to posses. Yesterday, one of our Facebook friends posted a link to a video that showed the plight of many Ugandan children. Most have nothing except the shirt on their back (if that). It amazed me to see that simple shelter, a meal and love were by far the most longed for "things".

In Africa, our focus will turn to ministering fully to God and fully to people. It feels good to empty ourselves. Our prayer is that God will fill us with Himself and provide what we need. We have heard reports of how God has been providing. In Mozambique, we have heard of how God has been miraculously multiplying food. He has been healing the sick of malaria, cancer, aids as well as providing families for past orphans.

Our lives are so short. In the eons of eternity, our seventy year presence on this planet is like a drop in the ocean. What is worth living for? What is worth dying for? So many people live for themselves and to amass as much stuff as possible citing the age old philosophy, "he/she who dies with the most toys "wins"". But is this really the end of human acheivement? To get a lot of stuff or to experience as much as possible? To "eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die?"

What hope is there outside the hope of Jesus Christ? The Gospel is basicially this (1) Give and receive love to Jesus Christ as hard as you can (2) Give and receive love from people as hard as you can and (3) know that another life awaits us. A llife of joy, peace, unrivled excitement and happiness. No pain. The fulfillment of love.

That sounds good to me. There is too much pain and death on this planet. I am excited about the next life. It is what I live for. For what profit is it to gain the whole world, but forfeit the soul? As I press on in my real time relationship with God, I notice that He wants me to give all of myself to Him. I'm not saying owning things is bad, but i'll be honest, I have been kind of distracted with the "Rat Race" of the American lifestyle. You know, go to work that I don't like, to get money to spend on stuff that doesn't fully satisfy me anyway, repeat. It's never enough. We are always wanting more.... How many people who have "made it" are truely happy? Compared to much of the world, I have "made it" already. So, since I have "made it", is it that hard to lay it all down and run hard after God. Maybe I can run quickly and hard after God with all my stuff as well. Or perhaps not....

So my cleaning house isn't so much a response