You Give Me

Along with the communal way of living here, comes a sense of ownership lost.
A good example of this is the way the children who makes the beads (villageofhopeuganda.com). They get paid as a group, for the amount of beads made. The oldest kids have access to the money. They buy things like goat for the entire village they come from and dance outfits for every child at the village. They share everything.

It is really beautiful to admire. But after awhile, you are expected to become part of it.

I have gotten pretty close with the cooks. Aggy, Esther, and Grace work seven days a week, from dawn to dusk, to make us, and dozens of construction workers, every meal we eat.

The other day, after lunch, Aggy told me she liked my headband. Then she asked me if I had only two. When I told her no, that I had more, she looked straight at me and said, “You give me.” I smiled and got up to find my spare headband. There was a moment of hesitation, a desire to be asked kindly, a sense of possession. And then I remembered, everything I have is Gods. Down to every little piece of elastic cotton. I relished in being able to give Aggy something she likes and will use. Over the past month I have gotten to know her better, heard stories of her children (who are soooo fat like Tom, she says), her husband, her parents. I felt really proud of myself. Until I realized that this should be the norm. I should be constantly looking for opportunities to bless people with the things God’s given me. But I don’t, I hold onto them tightly. On one of our girly nights, where we lay under the stars and talk about things whilst eating trail mix, we talked about giving everything vs. being responsible with the things God’s given us. Can we do both? How do we do both?

This is what I have been pondering this week.

Excuse the shortness of this blog! My parents are here. I have been enjoying them so much! And things always get a little nuts while people are here.

All my love,
Suz