Lessons Learned in the Dump

As I sit back and think over the last two weeks, I realize there are many things that can be learned from my time in the dump.  Each time I visit there, I'm reminded of all the things I should be grateful for.  And each time I write about them.  I guess it's a reminder to me when I look back and reminisce over past trips.  I hope these things will stick with me more, but I am human, and well, my humanness takes over, and I forget.  So I'm thankful for the continual reminders.  Just this morning as I showered for church, I was reminded that I have a shower.  Sometimes I'm thankful for hot water to take a shower with, but today I was reminded to just be thankful to have a shower.  The lady we built the house for had no shower.  She had buckets.  Buckets to wash herself, her babies, her clothes.  She still has no "real" shower, although she now at least has a pila.  This is a sink with a side scrubbing table that she can use to clean her clothes.  She can use the water from the sink to sponge bathe.  She has no running water inside her house, and the spigots outside in the streets don't always work.  So I'm reminded to be thankful for a tub with a shower head and a place to bathe, a place where I can let the water run over me and feel its warmth.  I'm thankful for a properly working toilet.  Jackeline now has a toilet to use, but she will have to fill the tank with water each time she wants to flush it.  I'm thankful that all I have to do is press the handle down and all the work is done for me.  Did I mention that just having running water inside your house is a step-up from what she has?  Can you imagine having to leave large barrels or buckets outside your door to collect rain water in or walking down the street to try to find water to bathe or wash clothes in?  "Man, I'm so 'lucky'" I think to myself, but in actuality, there's no 'luck' involved at all.  All that I have is nothing more than a blessing from God.  I'm thankful that I don't have to dig through mounds of garbage every day in order to make money for my family.  Jackeline works from around 7:00 every morning until nearly 7:00 every night.  She has two trucks that she works, picking through the garbage on them.  If she misses one day, she is fired and has no way to provide for her family.  These are just a few of the things that I'm reminded to be thankful for when I reflect on the last two weeks.  I could go on and on.  But the lesson I learned is to ALWAYS be thankful.  When I begin to feel sorry for myself or think about the hurt & pain I've endured in my life, I think of the people in the dump.  I see the face of Jackeline, whose lips are so parched from the sun that they are cracked and bleeding daily.  I see the children playing in the nastiness of the street, where garbage, sewage and who knows what else is every where you turn.  I'm reminded to be grateful, to thank God each day for what I have.  Will I forget?  Absolutely.  But will I try my best to remember what I've experienced and seen there? YES!

The second lesson learned from the dump is that I am not nearly hungry enough.  And I'm not talking about food.  I'm talking about being hungry for God and His word.  OH TO HAVE THE HUNGER THAT THESE WOMEN HAVE!  I mean, I pray, I read my Bible, but do I really, truly desire it in the way that these ladies did?  No.  They asked if we could come speak to them.  So we went.  I shared (on the fly, might I add) about God's love and His desire to have a relationship with them.  It was certainly all God speaking at that moment because I was not prepared at all.  We finished and got ready to leave and the ladies asked if we were coming again tomorrow!  The next day I went back, still with jumbled thoughts and no real clarity on what to say.  As we gathered in one of the women's homes, I looked to see about 8 of them sitting there staring at me.  I began to cry as I was so overwhelmed that they were looking to a worthless sinner like me to share the Word of God with them.  They wanted to hear from God, and in that instant, He chose me to share with them.  WOW.  Just WOW!  I was so blown away.  The ladies asked if we could come back once a week and have Bible study with them.  Don't get me wrong, I love a good Beth Moore Bible Study, but really, at the end of the day, am I hungry to hear from the Lord the way these ladies were?  So much can be learned from these women!  Give me that kind of desire for the man who laid down his life so that I might live eternally with him.  I could have spoken to them all week!  For several years, I've really felt the Lord was pulling me away from children's ministry (which is pretty much what I've always done) and into women's ministry.  Now I know why.  For some reason, he is allowing me to be his hands and feet, and allowing me the AWESOME privilege to share His love with the women in the dump.  I'm amazed and overwhelmed!

So as always, I walk away with the reminder to be thankful.  There are so many times when I'm so ungrateful, and I have MUCH to be thankful for.  And I'm reminded to be hungry.  To be truly hungry for the Word of God, the things of God, for God himself.  Oh, Lord, help me not to forget.  May I hunger and thirst for you and your righteousness.  May I seek you as if there is nothing else in this world.  May I not forget the lessons learned in the dump.