Since the team has left me (a few different departure dates), I have been in my new “home town” of Mbarara. I’ve been telling people as they ask how I’m liking it, that I think it might be the perfect place for me to settle. It’s not a huge city like Kampala that can seem confusing and intimidating. But it’s not remote at all either. There’s even a three-story supermarket with so many things…though some of them are a bit expensive…yeah, I’ve signed up for the rewards card already. The weather is also perfect. Though there isn’t a huge variation in temperatures in Uganda, like there is back home in Illinois, some other places are hotter with higher humidity, and some others cool and not really hot at all. Mbarara has the perfect temperature…although the locals are really hoping for a little rain in the midst of this dry season.
The ABIDE graduation for the boys’ program is this coming Sunday. After they finish, they will move out of the ABIDE house, and I will move in. Until then, I’ve been staying with my friends and missionaries Matt & Crystal Kehn, and their four children. I’ve been sitting in on classes at ABIDE, meeting with Joseline (the girls’ director), and preparing for the girls’ program which is about to start.
I’m looking forward to moving in (of course doing a deep cleaning after six months of young men staying here), and getting set up for the girls. I have a few books to read through in the next few weeks as I anticipate teaching!
Yesterday I went to a church service where the pastor has preaching through the book of Romans for what sounded like at least a year. (What a task!) This Sunday he was teaching through Romans 8:28-30.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Of course this is familiar, but I felt like God was giving me a new insight…one I sense I should have picked up on a long time ago. Verse 28 is one quoted very often, with the hope that all things will work out for good. This leaves me unsettled sometimes as I see people focus on this, and maybe even misuse it. But reading on through verse 29 my eyes were opened to something that probably seems so obvious to many of you: the good he is referring to is being conformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ! So, when I’m going through difficult things, yes I can hold onto the truth that it will work out for good…but not necessarily circumstantially. I need to hold onto the reality that God is using that to shape my character, to transform me into a more Christ-like person. So, in the midst of troubles, my prayers shouldn’t simply be for a way out, but to become a better reflection of Christ as a result.