Jaclyn serves with MAF in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Here, she shares how a visit to another MAF program caused the green-eyed monster to raise its ugly head.
No way. What?!
You have uninterrupted electricity for weeks . . . sometimes MONTHS at a time?!
It gets cool enough that you actually get to put on SWEATERS?!
You don’t have to drown yourself in bug spray EVERY SINGLE TIME you leave the house?!
And you get to speak ENGLISH?!
Our family flew to an MAF base in a neighboring country last week to help out with some specialized maintenance on one of our airplanes. While my husband worked with the guys in the hangar, the kids and I spent some time with good friends we hadn’t seen for a few years. We chatted, swapped stories, and learned about life in each other’s world. As we went about our days there, it became very apparent to me that this—THIS—was a place where I could live! I mean, sure, it was still “Africa,” but it seemed so much LESS DIFFICULT here!
“I could live here . . . really LIVE here,” I told my husband one night. “Too bad they are a ‘maintenance only’ base and don’t have openings for pilot/mechanics,” I said, half joking/half hinting at how comparatively wonderful my life could be in this place.
One evening, after yet another conversation with my husband about how much nicer it seemed here, how much safer politically, with better opportunities for the kids, etc., etc. . . . the Lord brought to mind a passage of scripture. It was a verse so familiar that I hadn’t stopped to really ponder it in many years. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside the still waters . . .” (Psalm 23:1-2).
Wait. Green pastures. How come others get to hang out in greener pastures than mine? I’m envious, Lord! I know, I know, the grass is always greener on the other side . . . but here, it really is, Lord!
And in His gentle way, Jesus spoke to my heart. “Who was it that led you to the pasture? It’s not for you to search out the greenest pasture; it’s for you to follow your Shepherd.” Oh, yeah. Right. Woops. Thank you for the reminder, Lord!
No matter how green our pasture is, or how much greener the pasture looks on the other side, when we follow our Shepherd, we have all that we need. Period.
Have there been times in your life when you could see “greener pastures” elsewhere? How did you handle it? What did you learn? I’d love to hear your stories!
