Small observation - huge implications

This past week has been extremely busy as we have visitors in from the US. The wife, Vicki, has been staying with us while her husband and son have been doing work a few hours away. We have taken Auntie Vicki (what the kids call her) all over, introducing her to the kids, women in the community and taking her to a few tourist places in Kampala.

This past Monday, Auntie Vicki and I had dinner with Auntie Rose. Auntie Rose lives on the church property and her and I have become very close over the past month. Auntie Rose is absolutely amazing. She makes a very small income as a teacher but has taken in 6 children. 4 of the children are sponsored so there is a little relief from food as they are fed through the school, but she cooks for them, buys them clothes, cares for them when they are sick and most importantly shows love to them everyday - she is wonderful.

Dinner with Auntie Rose was great. We ate a huge feast with all the kids and spent hours enjoying each other.

The next day I asked Auntie Vicki if she had a good time the night before. She told me that she was a bit overwhelmed with Auntie Rose's generosity and hospitality. She said, "In the US we give out of excess and Auntie Rose gives out of sacrifice."

It is Thursday night and I am still thinking about that. It is absolutely true. Auntie Rose truly gives out of a joyful heart regardless of how much she has. She has very little, lives in a small 2 room house, sometimes has 10 people sleeping under her roof and feeds any person that comes into her house. I have a lot to learn from Auntie Rose and I am so grateful to have several more months with her.

Auntie Vicki's statement is so true and I think has huge implications. In my mind the big difference between those that give out of excess and those that give out of sacrifice is trust. It doesn't require trusting Jesus if we give out of excess but it takes tremendous trust in Jesus to give out of sacrifice. It requires us to trust that while we give what little we have, He will provide more. It requires trusting that loving people and sharing what you have with others is more important than keeping all you have for yourself in the event you may need it in the future. I definitely have a lot to learn and pray that God would be patient and persistent with me.

As a thank you for the dinner, Auntie Vicki wanted to buy Auntie Rose some food since she couldn't have her over to her house in St. Louis. It was incredible. We spent about $70 and probably bought enough food for 2 or 3 weeks. We bought rice, sugar, tea, onions, tomatoes, beans, cooking oil and soap. We also bought her a lantern since using a candle each night to do homework can be very dangerous (especially with 5 kids running around a very small space).

We brought the food to Auntie Rose last night and I have no doubt that she will turn around and use that food to feed others.

This is why I love it here - because of people like Auntie Rose.