God is so funny sometimes. The way He uses my life as an object lesson is just crazy.
let me bring you up to speed.. my feet are disgusting.. and have had a million problems since I got here. It all started with millions of mosquito bites covering my feet and my unconscious compulsion to scratch them. My scabs seldom stayed on my feet for long, because any little nudge would send them flying off. I was frustrated and so sick of bleeding all the time. But our mini outreach did at least one positive thing, as it provided my feet a refuge, because there were no mosquitos there. My feet healed and were looking so much better when I returned. However, there were many woes in Fort Portal, the least of which was not, Jiggers. They are little parasitic bugs that enter through one's toenails and are nearly impossible to spot at first. Then then grow in a circular pattern, turn black, and build a little house in one's toe. The process to remove these lovely creatures is less than fun, and I won't gross you out by describing it here. I was fortunate to receive two of these lovely guests in my toes. I found one the last day in FP and Bira graciously removed it. Then a few days after we got back, I discovered another one. A few days after that, it too came out.. in front of a large crowd who gathered to watch the excitement.
If you didn't think that those were bad enough, this week has been the kicker. I had an itch. Just a normal itch. So I scratched it. And then later.. the skin fell off... and turned into a huge scab. I put some ointment on it. And it appeared to be helping. Then I went running so I put a band-aid on it. A day later the band-aid fell off, and the scab was gone. Great. Then the sore started pussing everywhere. Even better. So I had Rachel, who is a nurse, look at it, and then clean it. She told me it was infected and that i needed to get some antibiotics for it. So, I went back to my room, cleaned my feet, and as per instructions, put on socks and crocs and proceeeded with my evening. As I returned, several hours later, I discovered a HUGE blister on the 2nd toe of my other foot. Funny? I wonder how that happened. I went to sleep. The next day my toe hurt a lot.. and the blister was just chilling. But by the end of the night my toe had swollen up to be HUGE and it hurt to bend it. I thought I might have broken it or something! Monday was even better. The blister popped.. and pussed everywhere. I couldn't walk normally. Tuesday morning I woke up and the blister had reformed, but it was a blood blister this time. Then, that afternoon, it popped. We prayed for my feet in class, a couple of times, and the last time, I really felt God say that He would heal my feet. In His timing. Let me just tell you, that my feet were disgusting. I got accused, mostly jokingly, a few times of having leprosy!! In fact, I found a verse in Isaiah that described perfectly the condition of my feet: "From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it. But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not been closed or bound up, or soothed with ointment." -Isaiah 1:5b Ok. Finally, Dr. Tim, the base leader, and yes, a MD, looked at my feet. He explained the reason for all of this... it all starts with the bites. Things here get easily infected, and my body is having an allergic reaction to the mosquito bites. He told me what i need to do is to 1) do my absolute best to not get bitten, 2) don't scratch!, & 3) get some antibiotics from a pharmacy in town.
Now, I'm sure that those are pretty obvious things to do, and if you have managed to read this far through all the nastiness you are really searching for the object lesson in all of this. Today, in class we learned about shame.. because nearly our whole class was struggling with it. And here it is. It all starts with a bite. Shame begins with the bite.. the lie planted in your mind by the enemy. Sometimes it comes from our own sin. Other times it's from the sin of others. Sometimes it's just low self-esteem caused by the media or the world around you. But that's the bite. And it has a small amount of poison, but by itself, it's not enough to cause any real damage. Nevertheless, lies like mosquito bites itch.And they are hard to leave alone. So you begin to scratch... you entertain that thought... you let it linger. Before you know it... sin is there to stay, and your mosquito bite has begun to bleed. The problem is that when you suffer an allergic reaction, your skin has a hard time holding onto the scabs.. so they bleed more.. and then more bacteria (lies) climb in. Before you know it, your wound is infected.. and what was once a small bite has now become a gaping, pussing, open sore. GROSS. The lie in your life becomes something you operate out of, a stronghold, some thing you, in a twisted perception of reality, now see as truth. That's how we end up believing that we are worthless, useless, ugly, unlovable, unforgivable. That is how shame becomes part of our life. And God is a healer, and He wants to hear us of our shame... just like He wants to heal my feet. The thing is, the wounds on my feet are crippling me, I walk with a limp. Shame makes me walk with a limp too.. I limp along in life, thinking and feeling like I am not good enough.. that I am worthless. So just as God can set you free by telling the Truth... He can heal your soul by telling you the Truth about who you are in Him. A beloved, beautiful/ handsome child of the King. YOu are redeemed, set free, victorious in Him, and He loves you and longs to bless you and to know you. So all you have to do is recieve your healing. And then: 1) try your absolute best to not get bitten, 2) don't scratch! & 3) if you do, put on the antibiotic ointment of His word!
So, here is the final update on my feet... for now. The healing has begun! The swelling in my toe is gone.. and my open sore is definitely on the mend. I can now walk without paining, and the girls brought me back anitbiotics from the pharmacy in town today! Whaoo! So.. God is giving me all sorts of tesimonies about things He is doing.
Just a quick sidenote-- life here is awesome! Our speaker is amazing, and it's Holy Spirit week. we should find out outreach locations tommorrow. I promise a long update this weekend, I had to cook last weekend, so that's why it's late! Love you all, miss you all.
JESUS IS AMAZING!
