Mine

I worked for it.

I bought it.

It belongs to me.

It’s mine.

God used a very little thing to humble me in a big way today. I came home from work with only a couple hours before I needed to be at Casa Monte Plata to teach piano lessons. I needed to make and eat lunch, clean our guest room for some upcoming visitors, wash sheets for the guest beds, and plan our craft for Clase Biblica tomorrow. I got to work on washing the sheets right after eating lunch. I filled the washing machine with water, dissolved the powdered soap, put the sheets in, turned the dial…and nothing happened. My first reaction was “Perfect, the power is out,” (which happens frequently) but then I realized that the porch light was on. I glanced down and saw that the extension cord that I purchased to connect the washing machine to the power outlet was missing. I asked my roommate if she knew where it was and she told me that she saw someone at school using it today. If you are reading this, please brace yourself to have all your preconcieved notions of how missionaries behave shattered.

I got mad. I got frustrated. I got really annoyed. You mean to tell me that someone came onto my porch, unplugged my washing machine, took the extension cord that I bought, used it at school, didn’t return it to me, and didn’t even ask me first?! What right do they have to do that? Don’t they know that the extension cord isn’t theirs?! It’s mine!!

I hope you are rolling your eyes and laughing at me right now, because that is what I am doing to myself. I sound like a two-year-old, don’t I? I don’t know where along the way I allowed myself to stop believing that Jesus didn’t really mean it when he said to give away all you have. I don’t know when I decided that I didn’t need to take Philippians 2:3 seriously when it says “but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” I don’t know when I learned that “love your neighbor as yourself” applies only when it’s convenient and not when you loved yourself enough to buy something but don’t love others enough to share it with them.

Needless to say, I found the power cord, finished washing my sheets, and then had a serious chat with the Lord about my sinful attitude. I am being convicted about how much this attitude pervades my life. It’s my time to relax, it’s my food to eat, it’s my schedule to control, it’s my space to live in, it’s my (fill-in-the-blank). When we look at the life of Jesus, we see Him giving so much of Himself that He ultimately ends up giving His own life for us. How is it that I call myself a follower of Christ and say that I desire to be more like Him, yet I continue to live with such a selfish attitude? This is just another one of the many ways in which the Dominican culture is challenging me to be more Christ-like. So many of my Dominican friends and neighbors live with such a different conviction about earthly possessions than I naturally gravitate towards. I appreciate their selflesness, their willingness to share, their ability to say “We’re friends, we love each other, we trust each other, so I shouldn’t have to ask you to borrow your extension cord because I know you love me enough to let me use it when I need it.” How thankful I am that Jesus once said to me “I’m your friend, I love you, I don’t need to ask you if you need me to give my life for you because I already know that’s what you need and I’m going to give it for you whether you ask me to or not.” May we all continue to share, give, and sacrifice more and more like Jesus did.