Rice and Beans

Today, after a run around the neighborhood, I walked to the road just down below our street for a few errands. There is a sweet woman, named Katherine, who has a little store that I like to buy my eggs from. She plays Christian music, is so sweet that she even asked after me when I was sick, and also has a little gray kitten. Her niece, Florence, helped me today since Katherine was out. While Florence was bagging up my eggs, half kilo of rice, and kilo of beans, a woman came up behind me. The two guys behind me in line and this woman started talking to me a bit.

Woman: Mzungu (white person), how are you?
Me: I'm fine, how are you?
Woman: I'm fine.
Me: Gendi (good), ah. (Ah and eh are noises that I now add in to regular conversation due to the way Luganda is often spoken...)
Woman: Mzungu knows Luganda!
Woman and Men: (rapidly speak to me in Luganda that I can't begin to understand.)
Me: Neda (no), sorry. Eh, I don't really know much.

Woman: Take me to your country. (Yes it was this blunt. It often is.)
Me: Ah, nyabo (ma'am), you don't even know which is my country! I live here.
Woman: You're a citizen, no way. Take me home with you.
Me: Ah, no I'm not a citizen. But I live here.

Woman: (suddenly noticing my purchases) You eat RICE AND BEANS!?
Me: That's why I'm buying them! (All laugh...)
Woman: Ah, but I know you're mzungu. You eat Meat and Chicken, too.
Me: Ah...(awkardly trail off in conversation. She's right. I do.)

Woman leaves; men help me pay Florence since her English isn't so good. I buy a pineapple from the stand just up the way, and on the 10 minute walk back home, Jesus decides to teach me a hard-to-swallow lesson that I did not expect.

I eat rice and beans, and I eat meat and chicken. I eat seafood and vegetarian, and italian, mexican, german, indian, israeli, brazilian, and ugandan food. And until today, I've been pretty dang proud of that fact. I highly value being able to be flexible and diverse. I love being able to travel a lot and experience other cultures.

God asked me on the way back, "Will you eat rice and beans when you get back to the states? Would you ever feed your children just rice and beans? What about for the rest of your life; would you be able to just eat rice and beans?" Immediate response, "No, Lord. I want my kids to be flexible and well-versed and diverse like me." (Note: I'm referencing potential future kids. Not exactly sure why my mind was jumping so much to my kids today, but probably due to the fact that kids are on my mind from the Nsambya Orphanage this week..)

"Oh? So it's really important that your kids are able to eat lots of different kinds of foods? OR is it important that they know how to walk with ME?" he asked.

"Oh yeah. I'm sorry. You are the only important part, aren't you?" wide-eyed and chastised me responds.

And suddenly he brought to mind like 10 things that I highly value, from a cultural standpoint, that I realize are 100% not important. I really value and respect being flexible and well-rounded. I value looking presentable and professional. I value cleanliness ("My mother taught me that cleanliness is next to godliness"- Ever After quote...). I value having a nice home, because it will be a conduit for good hospitality, right? I value having a lot of varied experiences and being able to eat lots of different things. Seriously, I kinda highly value these things. Like, to the extent that I judge others when they aren't flexible, presentable, or clean. I judge others who lack much experience or accepting tastes. Yikes, right?

And I scoff at the thought of eating rice and beans for the rest of my life. I disapprove strongly of thinking of doing that to my kids. Don't want them to be weird missionary kids or something, right? I want them to be well-rounded and worthwhile people who are well-thought of by others. BUT GOD is the only important thing. Many things will flow out of that, but there is only one priority. There are no secondary priorities that fall in line after Him. Just Him.

The life of a Ugandan who eats rice and beans their whole life is just as valuable, respectable, and effective as the life of an American millionaire...if they both devote their lives to the Lord. The goal for my life and my children's ought to be a life that values Christ; that's IT. I know that, and you probably do, too. But I didn't realize until today how many secondary priorities I was trying to squeeze in close to Christ.

This is a poorly packaged summary of something God is teaching me. But I pray he will try to use my words anyway!

SForbes