Behind the Thirst

Ok. I am not a seasoned blogger. In my last posting, I reference cutting our athletic club membership and other financial choices we have been pondering. What I didn't make clear is that some of these choices we have made and other's we are considering for the future. I still go to the athletic club. I still love/hate it. I had this thought that if someone see's me at our small town athletic club, they could think me not very truthful. So I say all this for clarity. What I was driving at in the last post was our hearts. It concerns me that my heart is resistant to giving up the athletic club. I want to observe the posture of my heart so that I am not loving anything or anyone more than Jesus.





I was asking Michael what story I should tell next. He reminded me of a picture of him holding a native baby with coffee colored skin and round cheeks. The village men standing around Michael were looking at him as if he was very odd. It is unusual for men in Uganda to hold babies. The women were giggling behind their hands at this foreign guy and the men were shaking their heads. In their culture, men do not show affection and are not very involved in the lives of their children. To see a big white man holding a baby girl was not how they view the role of a man.
That is sad to me It is a beautiful thing to see a man hold a baby. It is a very strong picture of God to me. A contrast in strength and frailty.





Many people in Kapchorwa are becoming lovers of God. It has been a desire of our church to help them be lovers of each other as well. Marriages are often difficult because men do not know how to express love for their wives and children. Michael's hope in holding that lovely baby girl was to bestow honor on her and all children.





Often when we think of the needs of a third world country, we think of the physical needs. They are desperate. They should be addressed first. But is this where it ends? I have witnessed people in our community going to Uganda to attempt to relieve some of the physical needs. What I love is they keep going back and refuse to ignore the needs that are awoken behind the thirst.





And as I contemplate that last line, I wonder..what needs are awoken behind my thirst? And your thirst? For that matter, do we know what our thirst is? We all have a thirst for Jesus that we strive to satiate with people or things less satisfying. I pray this post will have us considering two things. 1 - What would it look like to peer behind the physical needs of those we seek to love? 2 - What is awoken behind our own thirst?





If you go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR_cLbx you watch a video and about 3 minutes in catch a glimpse of my hubby holding a precious baby girl.