I just need to vent

Lately, I have been thinking quite a bit about the environment and this world. With the oil still gushing into the Gulf, this has been on my mind. I am 3,000 miles from this tragedy that is unfolding in the area I call home and it is crushing my heart. I feel so helpless as I watch birds wallow in the tar, dolphins wash up dead on the shore, and fishermen out of work. I morn when I see the beautiful Gulf coast blackened by our human greed and materialism. I begin to feel guilty every time I crank up my moto, knowing that the gasoline I put in it began as oil drilled somewhere.

I think of the creation story. After God created the heavens and everything on the Earth, He looked at it and saw it was good (see Genesis 1:31.) Then, in the second part of the creation story, the part about Adam and Eve, God put man in charge of the Garden of Eden. Genesis 2:15 says, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” (NIV) Before the fall, the job of taking care of the Garden was given to man! After the fall, Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden and sent into the world. God said to Adam, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.” (Genesis 3:17b-18, NIV) It is because of sin that the Earth is not in the perfect state that it was created. Sin entered the world and the Earth has to suffer the consequences, as well. Now, I’m not trying to be like the televangelists, stating that this disaster is because of the things that go on along the coast and in New Orleans. That area of the country is no less sinful than the rest of the world. If that were true, then what about New York or Los Angeles? What about London or Paris? Sin is sin and God does not state that any sin is worse than another. What I am saying is that the Earth is not what it was originally created to be because sin entered the world.

God originally put Adam and Eve in charge of taking care of the Garden. I believe that command stands true for us today. Psalm 104 talks about the glory of creation. The Psalmist is praising God for His beautiful creation. He states in verse 24, “How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.” (NIV) Taking care of this Earth is a form of worship before God. Yes, I fully believe that God created things in this world for us to use. He created meat for us to eat, fuels for us to power our lives, and materials for us to build our homes. But we should not exhaust the supply that God has entrusted us with. Neither should we be careless in our use of these gifts. I truly believe that this oil spill is a portrayal of human carelessness and greed. Proper safety regulations were not followed. Also, the clean-up plans for BP made a provision for walruses! (http://docs.house.gov/energycommerce/Docs_06152010/BP.Oil.Spill.Response.Plan.pdf - page 249) That makes me wonder how much research and care went into these plans. (Check out this article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/15/AR2010061505288.html ). Now, eleven men are dead, hundreds of animals have lost their lives, and thousands more are in danger.

As Christians, we should be praying daily for this. We need to pray for the clean-up effort. We need to be educated on what is going on and pray that things will change. This is not a time for pointing fingers or name-calling. This is a time to be concerned about stricter safety regulations on these oil rigs. We need to be concerned about where we drill. We need to make sure that we have the proper technology before drilling that deep again. We need to invest in cleaner forms of energy. We need to make sure that this never happens again. I firmly believe that 20 years from now, we will still be dealing with the repercussions of this disaster.

Bug troubles

I am currently sitting in my living room with a bucket nearby ... just in case. ;) I've had an amoeba for the past two weeks and I am finishing up my treatment for it today. Now, I try my hardest not to be whiny when I'm sick, but I really want to right now. I feel like something my cat caught, played with for a few hours, and then laid, half-dead, at the side of my bed. The medecine is worse than the actual amoeba itself! It leaves a metallic taste in your mouth all day and gives you some pretty bad nausea. But I know that by tomorrow it'll be all over and I'll feel much better. Thankfully, today has been cloudy and cooler, so it's not that bad. Sorry, I just needed to whine a little bit!

With that being said, my summer has so far been a good one, amoeba and all! My new house is in a high traffic area, so people are always stopping by. It's good, but as an introvert, I have to really make an effort. Three sweet young ladies just left, as a matter of fact! Sadly, I wasn't up to dancing to Rihanna's "Rude Boy" with them! There's quite a bit of potential with these young ladies. I'm praying about ways I can witness to them - ways I can share the Gospel of Christ with them. Please pray for me as I not only get to know them, but as I share my faith with them. I also pray that my life would be a reflection of Christ to them. I pray that they see that I am different, that there is something different about the way I love. I truly believe that how you live your life is your greatest testimony. Please pray that I will be able to love these young ladies with a Christ-like love.

Recent happenings

Kim asked me this morning if I had written on my blog recently, and it dawned on me that it has been over a month since I've done so! That inspired me to catch all of you up on recent happenings. I have been busy organizing school books and cleaning all day, so I thought I would take a break and cool off!

I have since moved houses! I am very excited to be in this new one. It is much bigger and there is no upstairs apartment (hence, no splitting the water bill with anyone!) I am forever indebted to my supervisors for working all this out for me. I know nothing about setting up a house in Africa - what needs to be done or how to get said things accomplished. Now I just need my soon-to-be roommate, Mallory, to arrive!

That is another exciting happening! As many of you know, I only have about 4 months left here in Senegal. Many of you prayed for someone to replace me and God has provided! Mallory is another Journeygirl currently serving here in Senegal, but with another family. Through some changes and reshuffling, she has been assigned to teach my kiddos when I leave! Please pray for her as she prepares for this change. She should be moving chez moi in a few weeks.

Like I mentioned above, I ONLY HAVE 4 MONTHS LEFT!!! I cannot believe it! It is a very bittersweet feeling. I am very excited to be going home (if you didn't notice!), but at the same time, I am sad to leave my friends here. I know I'll be back in Senegal one day - possible short-term mission trips, but I'm pretty sure long-term is not in the future. I am very blessed to have been here for this season. I'll discuss in another blog post how God has broken and changed me since I've been here. Now I am anticipating what God has in store for the future!

Anyways, other recent happenings - we have finished this school year. But I'm not planning on a lazy summer! Yesterday, I went out with Liz and a group of students to a beach area nearby for a day retreat. Liz and I taught these young ladies about purity and what God says about it in the Bible. This is a topic that not many people in this culture talk about. Many parents don't even discuss it with their children! I was very excited (and nervous) to have this opportunity. Now I just pray that these young ladies take the teachings to heart and truly apply them in their lives. As for the rest of the summer, I'll be doing some things with Liz to help prepare for the FOUR Hands-On ladies we have coming in August! Yes, four wonderful young ladies are giving five months of their lives to come serve God with us here! We are VERY excited! But there is a lot of preparation work to do. Pray that everything will come together and please pray for these four beautiful young women!

The one major thing going one right now is rainy season! It's not quite here yet, but it's on its way! People all over are getting ready for the potential floods. My new house is in an area that flooded pretty badly last year. I'm almost 100% that the water will not enter my house, but I know that the road outside my house will be completely full. Yesterday I was watching some lightning in the distance from my roof (sadly, the rain that was with said lightning completely bypassed us,) and I just started praying for all my new neighbors. My heart was broken when I started thinking of what will possibly happen to their houses when the floods come. No, my house most likely will not flood, but theirs will almost definitely do so. Please begin praying for the rains and for all these people. The rains are needed for the crops, but the flooding is an unfortunate side-effect.

That's about it for now! I'll have to begin posting more of my thoughts and insights now that school is out!