Sacrifice and Sugar

This past week was really challenging. We had a guy named Jim Yost come talk to us. Jim has been on the mission field for the past 35 years in some of the most remote tribes and in some of the most dangerous places in the world. He had some amazing stories about God's goodness and faithfulness through all the difficult times he has faced over the years. Apart from being inspired by his stories, I also felt a little bit guilty. I couldn't believe how this guy had virtually given up everything for the Gospel, while I on the other hand, find it extremely difficult to sacrifice running for a day if it means reaching out to someone. After processing my thoughts with a few other guys I realized that the point of his stories wasn't to make us feel guilty, but rather to challenge us to be willing to lay down anything for the sake of the Gospel. This is definitely not easy, but Jim mentioned that for this to happen you have to continually remind yourself that God is good and he isn't trying to make your life miserable. I still have a long way to go in this area, but I have been very encouraged to know that God loves us and wants the very best for us.

I went to my first Rugby game with Jay, Matt, and some other African guys this past weekend. It was super fun because all the fans were REALLY into the game. We just picked a team to cheer for and and went nuts the whole game. I kinda hit the wall and got pretty tired in the second half from cheering so much during the first half. But our team ended up getting the W, so it was all good!

I have been liking the African food out here, but it really seems to lack one major ingredient: sugar. I always find myself going to grab the jar of sugar for every meal. So finally this past week I decided that since I will be heading to Zambia in 2 weeks, where I probably won't be eating much sugar, I should start dwindling down on my sugar intake so that I won't have sugar withdrawals while I'm out there. So I told myself that I would try to give up chocolate and ice cream for a week. Well the first 20 hours went great, but once 8pm hit, I couldn't take it anymore, so I went and got a big chocolate bar. I'm actually legitimately worried that I won't be able to function without some sort of candy-type thing everyday while I'm out there.

I hung out with two good friends, Jarvis and Emily Jelen, this past weekend. I knew them from back in the States, but I hadn't seen them in 2 years since they have been living in South Africa. They ended up making a visit to Cape Town so we hung out all weekend and ended up having a great time. It was super refreshing to get away from Africa House (where I'm living) for the weekend and not have to worry about chores and sleeping difficulties.

My parents just sent me some Swedish fish in the mail (my favorite candy)! My goal is to try and save them for Zambia. But to be honest, I will be shocked if they make it to see next week.

And lastly, the Twins kick off their 2012 season in about 5.5 hours! I'm pretty pumped. As I keep looking through our schedule, I just don't see us losing a game this year (with the possible exception of the trip to Anaheim at the end of this month now that they have Pujols). But I'm gonna go ahead and predict 162-0. Go Twins!