New Wineskin

As I sit here folding up my newly washed clothes, the ones that had been with me in Uganda, I can't help but feel angry at them. They stare back at me all clean, soft,  good smelling and perfect. Did they forget where they had been the past 2 months? How could they so easily go back into their American form? Didn't they remember they were the ones that gave a malnourished child comfort? The ones that Margret marveled over? Did they even remember their counterparts that I had given away to African women who gleamed when receiving them? Couldn't they still feel the red African dirt in between their threads?  No. They didn't remember, they couldn't feel. All they knew now was that they were washed clean and ready to fulfill their new purpose, which was to be worn in America.

How could they so easily change back and forget when I can not. As I was toiling over this truth, I realized some things. I had vowed to myself that I would not let myself forget the things I experienced this summer. I had so much determination in doing so that my experience had began to squeeze the life out of me. It had constricted me, paralyzed me, from doing what I am called to do in America. There is no doubt that I was changed this summer, but instead of applying these new found truths to my life in America, I decided to retreat instead. It was almost like I felt like a traitor if I did anything American. My heart didn't want to betray the people and things I learned in Uganda so instead of going into life full force, I decided to just be reserved, bitter, and sad about being back. Surely, if I just kept this animosity up towards America and withdrew from people it would show my loyalty to Uganda and to the changes that were made. However this is not true.

Just like the clothes that were hand washed for 2 months had to come back and be machine washed, so do I. They have a new purpose and so do I. Their purpose is to be worn in America, not Uganda. My new purpose is to be used by God in America, not Uganda. He does not want me disguard everything I learned, but to use what I learned to better serve and  love people in America. I don't need to hold on to my experiences, they will hold on to me, because now they are a part of me therefore they'll never leave. I don't need to be bitter about coming back, I should be joyful because God has ordained for me to be here. I could have been born anywhere in the world and He chose this place, this country, this town. It's not a coincidence that He has me here. He has something for me to do this year that no one else could accomplish. By sending me to Uganda He grew new gifts, characteristics, and talents in me that will further help me accomplish the goals and plans He has for me. If I am ever fortunate enough to get to go back to Uganda I would like to Thank her. Because through her beauty, love, and joy she allowed the creator of the universe to teach me truths that America never could. But now America has to teach me new truths that Uganda never could. And just maybe when the time is right me and Uganda will meet again...

He told them this parable: "No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.- Luke 5:36-38