Ah, memories...

My dad was showing me some pictures of his Nepal trip from this summer that a leader from his team compiled from all the students, and as he was going through them I realized there were tears in my eyes. Not just for the many people in Nepal who have leprosy, are orphaned, sold into the sex slave trade, and poor beyond words, but also because I realized how far I have come since I was a teenager. In many ways I have grown in Christ and have seemed to have found my identity of some sorts in the world, yet at other times I see a materialistic girl who is so lost in trying to please others all the time and build this "life" that I have always dreamed of, I forget the rest of the world and how needy it is. I forget people are dying all the time of hunger and girls are being tortured sexually while I go shopping at the mall. I find myself suddenly longing to be the kind of person who has a heart and a passion to help those worse off than I. My trips with Royal Servants taught me so much, and as I look at some of the pictures below I am reminded of the days I honestly felt I was making a difference, or at least making some kind of contribution to others. I am going to frame these pictures, not just because they are amazing works of art, but because I want to look at them and be thankful God has giving me a heart for the poor, and help me get back to the place where I want to make what seems like huge (yet are really small) sacrifices for others.