A judgment and a confession

In the beginning of July, my sister Kaylee and I went to Costa Rica with Mt. Pisgah on a mission trip. It was incredible- the Lord was so present in every moment and built wonderful relationships between our group and the Costa Ricans that we visit there. Also, Bobby and I got engaged! Overall, a very memorable trip!

My mom and little brother Adam are visiting me in Miami right now. Today is my last day in Miami; tomorrow we will visit family in Central Florida then we will head home to Atlanta on Monday.

I am quite excited to return home, and then to get back to Athens. Miami is a vibrant and fun city, but the love of money, lavish lifestyles, and physical beauty is more palpable than anywhere I've ever lived (yes, even Alpharetta). Certainly this is characteristic of our nation as a whole, but this summer I've felt especially frustrated by the attitudes that accompany this lifestyle. It's like running in a hamster wheel- I don't see the point. Jesus says that his burden is easy and his yoke is light. I am so glad to pick up his burden instead of the burden of this world. The yoke of this world is so heavy. It is so demanding and all-consuming! It says "keep working, you have to look out for yourself, watch your back, you can only be happy with more money, with a bigger house, with more, more, more, work, work, work!"

Yet if only I had held out the candle a little more into the darkness and not so much hidden it under a bowl. I agree with the words of William Wilberforce as I've read in Amazing Grace, a biography of this great British politician credited with ending the slave trade in Britain. So I will end this blog with these wise and heartfelt words of confession.

Wilberforce wrote in his diary "I am filled will the deepest compunction from the consciousness of my having made so poor a use of the talents committed to my stewardship. The heart knows its own bitterness. We alone know ourselves the opportunities we have enjoyed, and the comparative use we have made of them... To your friendly ear... I breathe our my secret sorrows. I might be supposed by other to be fishing for a compliment. Well, it is an unspeakable consolation that we serve a gracious Master, who giveth liberally and upbraideth not... Yet I am but too conscious of numerous and great sins of omission, many opportunities of doing good whether not at all or very inadequately improved."