Flotsam and Jetsam

So I'm back home now, even if my luggage still hasn't made it here. We juggled between three different flights on our last leg and Southwest had a hard time keeping our luggage with us. Hopefully I won't run out of clothes before it gets here or it's going to be pretty awkward waiting on customers at the store. Plus it will be cold.

This picture has nothing to do with this post, I just love her beautiful face.

It's been a bit of a pain that I can't really share about what we did or where we went during this mission trip. Most of you that are actually reading this are probably also getting my emails, in which I can be specific. I am at liberty to say that it was a very good trip and I left confident that the seeds we spread will grow, many will flourish, and hopefully a few will spread. The local team we worked with were mostly top notch and of the four trips I've made, this is the one that I left feeling the most confident in. By the way, if you're not on the email or snail-mail list, give me a call or drop me a line and I'll get you added.

Some things are always a bit of a shock when I get back. The weather, of course, is quite a bit colder and I have to say, I didn't miss having to scrape windshields in the mornings. We did have cooler weather in India this year, cool enough to need a jacket in the evenings. Still, landing at DIA and being met with 12 degrees was a shocker. Landing without our luggage and almost seven hours later than planned was another.

Jet lag and getting my sleep back on track is another struggle. I've never been a real succesful sleeper anyway. Add the 12.5 hour time zone difference and I'm really thrown for a loop. It's odd as I never seem to have any difficulty adjusting to India time, but adjusting back to Nebraska time is always a chore. I did sleep for most of the night last night so I am getting there. It just takes time.

The thing I usually struggle with the most when I get home from these trips is our wealth and consumerism. After working with and seeing so many people in extreme poverty, it's easy to get disgusted with what we spend on everything from food to phones. It's easy to feel guilty about my own spending and wastefulness. For me it's particularly ironic as without excessive American consumerism, I'd be out of business. I'd like to get all philosophical and argue that music is an essential part of life, but if I'm honest, I can't. After all, nobody ever died for lack of a trombone or stereo system.

I also get fairly disgusted with what the vast majority of us think are important things. This last couple of weeks saw the deaths of David Bowie and Glenn Frey and I watched as my Facebook feed featured hundreds of tributes and farewells to these two iconic artists. I probably saw hundreds of posts about one movie or another or people with new toys they were showing off or complaints about things like their cable tv service or the bad meal they got at a restaurant. I could have missed something, but I only saw one post about the persecuted church and I don't believe I saw any concerning saving the lost, starving children in the developing world, or the countless murders of the unborn that happen every day.

Of course, the thing I get most disgusted with is the realization that I'm just as guilty of these things as everyone else.

 

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