Brazil - Trip Reflections

Lar Batista Reflection

Lord, as I have been back in the states for a week now, I pray that I will keep my renewed sense of mission and my increased desire for You to work through me from getting buried in the reentry process. “Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstance I have learned to secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Phil. 4L11-13. Things aren’t as important to me anymore as are people and the time I spend with those I love. Keep me that way, Lord. Not a single day goes by without me praying for my Lar family. Anytime I enter a store, I think of how little they have and yet they are exceedingly happy. That picture alone is a good reminder for me not to buy what I don’t need. Being at Lar has caused me to reflect on the following questions frequently: • Do I own things or do they own me? • To what extent is my self-image caught up in what I have instead of who I am? • How can I simplify my lifestyle, and in that process find ways to channel what I save into missions. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the father is not in those who love the world; for all that is in the world-the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches-comes not from the Father, but from the world. And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever.” I John 2:15-

Cheryl Pittman