Do You Love Jesus?

                In downtown Tacloban, there’s a church that was an easy meeting point and, as a bonus, they allowed us to hang out there whenever needed. Late last week, while sitting in this church waiting for a few of our team members to show up before we went to a project, a little girl came dancing up to me out of the blue and asked, “Do you love Jesus?”

                I replied, “Yes, I love Jesus.”

                She followed up by whispering in my ear, “Do you hate EVIL?”

                I smiled and looked at her. “Yes, I hate evil.”

                On Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early to head to the airport. We spent the next 8 hours or so travelling to our next location: Boracay. (Take a moment to Google this location. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!) Upon arriving here, we were slightly disappointed to find that another typhoon is affecting the weather, making it windy and rainy. The afternoon was spent reading, exploring the island while donning our rain coats, shopping for souvenirs, and indulging in delicious food. Exhausted from travelling and sleeping on air mattresses for the past 2 weeks, we went to bed early and slept wonderfully for nearly 12 hours.

                As many of you know, Saturday also happened to be my birthday. When my parents asked how my birthday was, I responded, “It was okay!” They were disappointed to hear this, but I wasn’t really that disappointed; I was just being honest! Before my computer died while Skyping with them, I didn’t get to explain myself further… That instead, this year, I was able to focus on the gifts that God has given me, not just on my earthly birthday, but in life in general. After seeing several places in this world that are poverty-stricken, meeting so many people that consider themselves fortunate, and having the opportunity to enjoy luxuries that are in stark contrast to the majority of our world, I want to focus on the small things that many of us take for granted instead. (Note: This list is in order of things that happened throughout the day.)

1.       Hot showers. After having taken cold bucket showers for the past two weeks, I can now appreciate how wonderful a long, hot shower feels. Upon arriving in Boracay, this was one of the first things I did. I felt spoiled, ridiculously happy, and clean for the first time since arriving in the Philippines.

2.       My amazing boyfriend. It’s the little things he does to show me how treasured and loved I am. I’ll stop this one now to prevent myself from being too sappy, but just know that he’s the best today and every day and that I’m so grateful that God put us together in His timing.

3.       Great friends. Shawney wrote me a beautiful note of “Top 10 Reasons Why I Love Meghan”. She’s constantly making me laugh and we have decided that we have the same exact sense of humor (be warned in case you ever hang out with the two of us together!). Furthermore, I love having deep, meaningful, and thought-provoking conversations with her. Shawney serves as an example of how I hope I can live my life. I’m also grateful to be on this trip with Bonnie. She and I have grown so much closer this year, and, if possible, I feel like our friendship has deepened even more by traveling abroad. She is a passionate person in every sense of the word and I have loved seeing joy, generosity, and excitement in her through service projects. Bonnie and I are able to connect on so many levels – and now we have another beautiful memory to bond us together even more. In a nutshell, good friends make life more fun, more meaningful, and more treasured.

4.       A bed to sleep in. It’s warm, comfortable, and wonderful. How many people don’t have this luxury? I’ll never forget when I went to Belize in 2010 and was teaching a lesson about fairy tales. When I asked one girl what her biggest dream was, she responded with, “A bed.” Wow.

5.       Money. I don’t want to sound awful with this one, but the facts remain: Did you know that more than half of our world lives on less that $2 USD a day? How about the fact that the poorest Americans are still richer than 80% of the world? Recently, I’ve been marveling at the fact that I was born into such a fortunate situation. I am so grateful to have a job that I love, that I have a large income by most standards, and that I have the opportunity to spend money willingly and, by many, unnecessarily. I am spoiled rotten. You are spoiled rotten. What are we going to do with this truth?

6.       Food. More specifically, a hearty meal of your choosing that is delicious in every sense of the word. The hotel that we’re staying at serves a continental breakfast every morning that is one of the best I’ve ever had. You have three choices: American, Filipino, or International breakfast dishes, each of which is made-to-order. Naturally, I had the American one where I could tell the cooks that I wanted fried eggs, white toast, mango juice, and bacon. We’ve been drinking milkshakes (I had a surprisingly awesome one with potato chips mixed in it today, thank you very much!) and deciding between a bountiful amount of restaurants for dinner. I love food for these reasons, but how many people are out there that love food simply because it keeps them alive for another day?

Today, I challenge you to not take these gifts for granted. I know that I have before, but I’m being humbled and taught about what really matters in life. It’s not birthdays, it’s not materialism, and it’s not luxuries… It’s God’s blessings and gifts in their simplest and most basic form. Thank Him, praise Him, and be grateful for all that you have. I love Jesus, and my prayer for you today is that you do, too.