Climate Complaints

Last month was the second-wettest June in recorded history in our area. While I appreciated the cooler-than-average temperatures, I was ready for the sun to come out after three weeks of thunderstorms every day. It was difficult not to complain. I mean, when you have a toddler who likes to go, a brand new swingset in the backyard and a pool down the street, and yet are confined to a few hundred square feet in the living room, who could blame me if I did? I made a conscious effort to appreciate the fact that we were finally not in a drought, but some days the complaints slipped out.

This week, summer has finally shown its face. The swampland we affectionately call our back yard is drying out, and it’s warm enough to swim without going into hypothermia. You’d think I’d be thrilled, right?

And yet, complaints have already begun to rumble in my heart. Man, it’s too stinking hot to play outside! Oh, it’s so humid, I break into a sweat just walking to the car! Now the electricity bill is going to kill us…

Paul says he learned the secret to being content in any circumstance. It’s hard for me to think about Christ being sufficient for my climate complaints, but He satisfies every need I have.

So, today, I am thankful for air conditioning and a house that protects me from the elements. I’m thankful for clean water to satisfy my thirst, water that comes directly into my house, on demand, ready to drink. I’m thankful for a refrigerator that keeps my food from spoiling. And I’m thankful for my daughter who is dancing around with a bucket on her head, saying “Hi, Dog!” to her stuffed animals and entertaining me as I type.

GHR: Who Is God - Christ is Sufficient

For me, the sufficiency of Christ was the most profound lesson I learned on our trip. Let me approach this from a couple angles.
1) As I mentioned in my last post , we expected to minister to the people we encountered. After all, we were from the United States. We own plenty; the Africans have little. I don’t think we realized the arrogance of our mindsets until we realized how little we did have to offer. For one, the needs are so overwhelming that we didn’t even know where to begin. Additionally, we found ourselves being served more than we were able to serve. Families sacrificed their only meat for the month, so we could have a meal that we didn’t need. Our hosts gave us chairs, while everyone else sat on the floor. Children serenaded us with songs prepared in advance for our arrival. It impacted all of us deeply. I was completely humbled by the fact that I had absolutely nothing to offer, although I thought I was going to be some sort of hero, serving them. All I had to offer was Christ, and He was sufficient.

2) We visited many Christian communities during our visit. One such group was a church comprised of people suffering from HIV/AIDS. They banded together as a community because their communities had rejected them. In East Africa, AIDS is a socially isolating disease, which is a major part of the problem. Several people shared their testimonies with us. They talked about the lack of access to proper medications, the lack of food to eat - not only so they wouldn’t be hungry, but so the drugs they were able to take didn’t make them sicker, the lack of clean water and the lack of love from their families and former communities. But I don’t believe they shared these problems with us to gain our pity. Their testimonies didn’t stop there. They talked of their love for God who watches over them, who cares for them when no one else had and who they can’t wait to see when they leave their earthly bodies. Then they sang praises...praises from the lips and hearts of people whose God is sufficient for them. As our group debriefed that evening we could barely talk about our experience. As I sit here and type this, I can hardly keep from becoming emotional all over again. From an earthly point of view, these people had no reason to be joyful, and yet their love, their joy and their hope was more profound than ANY place I have ever been. He alone is sufficient.

3) Lastly, the so-called title of this little blog series came from my lowest point during the entire trip. I lay on my bed in a grass hut in Sudan, and it was about half way through the trip. I saw and experienced so much in those first three weeks and the weight of it all began to press down on me. I cried out to God, “I can’t do this, Lord. I don’t know how in the world to love these people. They are nothing like me. I have nothing to offer them. I can’t live in a grass hut. I miss running water. I don’t like the bugs. I’m tired. I don’t know how to even make it through the rest of this trip.” And I recalled the verse in Philippians, chapter four. We often quote verse 13 (I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me) as a sort of mantra that “we can do it”, but we pull it out of context. Verses 12-13 say, “...I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” What is Paul saying? Christ is sufficient. He is sufficient in any situation we are in, and His sufficiency is what gets us through.

I know this is a long post, but this lesson was monumental to me. I’ll leave you with a few pictures and words that I shared during our reports back to the churches who supported us. I’d love for you to comment on how you have found Christ to be sufficient for you.


Where we expected to find despair...we found HOPE.



Where we found death and sorrow, we also found LIFE and JOY.



Where we found the fatherless, we found the FATHER.


We found that we are inadequate. We have nothing to offer ourselves, but Christ is SUFFICIENT. Philippians 4:12-13

Photo: Church service at AIDS church, Rwanda (2004); Congregation at AIDS church, Rwanda (2004); Genocide Memorial, Kigali, Rwanda (2004); Coffins holding at least 10 people each from genocide, Kigali, Rwanda (2004); Street children, Rwanda (2004); Sudanese orphanage, Sudan (2004); Family watching, Rwanda (2004)