happy is he

Proverbs 14: 21

He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he.

Being on a hospital ship in Africa has made me feel the tension of life in ways I have never felt it before. The tension of the third world and the western world. The joy of helping vs the pain of suffering. Embracing the unknown while longing for the familiar.

I have very little figured out. At the end of the day there are always more questions then answers. More conflict than peace.

But such is life on earth. It makes us yearn and question and long for hope that which does not disappoint. For the day when eternal justice will reign. What a day that will be.

I've had difficulties in discerning my place with the people of Liberia. How to help in a way that doesn't hinder. What to say and when to say it. What to give and how much. When to be tender and when to be stern. When to be empathetic and when to be instructive.

I realize that I cannot actually define these lines or really make a difference in the overall scheme of Liberia's growth. I am just megan. I am small small.

So why even try? Why pay to clean up vomit and empty bedpans? What would make people from all over the world leave their comfortable 9 to 5 lives and pay to work long hours when in reality, the most we can hope to do is make a small difference?

The answer I have found is love.

1 Corinthians 13: 4-8

Love suffers long, and is kind; love envies not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Does not behave unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, think no evil: rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

That is the whole of the story. Today God showed me in His Word His heart for the poor. He loves them. With the same love He has for me. The same blood was shed for us all.

Happy is he that hath mercy on the poor. I feel happy right now. I really cannot believe that I have been granted the privilege of spending my life in this manner. To hold the hands of those that have been forgotten. To kiss the foreheads of the outcast.

It's not about solving the worlds problems. It's about loving people. And love never fails.

love, meg