One week left / Who defines what is meager?

So when it is all said and done, did I really do anything? I hugged some kids and told some orphans that they were beautiful. I helped some teachers get some ideas about how to use their classrooms more creatively. I taught a few Bible studies, and taught some new worship songs. I took orphans to the zoo. I took some college kids swimming. I planned out how to paint a line on the floor at the school so the kids could do their morning calisthenics in a more organized fashion. I taught some devotions for Christian teachers, and tried to encourage them in their difficult job.

Does that really add up to much? I don't know. Sometimes it all seems so meager. In no sense did I change the world. I guess in some ways I did change the worlds of some people (for the better?). Sometimes I wish that I had medical training and that I could help to cure diseases... I have always thought that was such a tangible way of doing something for someone that they could never do on their own... so what, so I sat for several hours and recorded Scripture verses on to a tape so that kids could know how to pronounce them correctly in English... does any of it really matter?

Man, I sure hope so. I guess that in and of myself it really doesn't count for much. But when (as the boy with the five loaves and the two fish) I present these meager things to the Lord to use and to multiply as He sees fit, it can be worth something... and be satisfying.

I keep coming back to these places not only because I want to help, but because I think that there is something here for me as well. Christian Hedonism at it's finest... finding our greatest pleasure in God Himself and the work that pleases Him as it intersects with our greatest desires. There is something for me here in Cambodia... ultimately I hope that it is Jesus Himself. I have often felt the deepest pleasures of my soul here, partly because it is such a departure from the norm, but more because I feel as if God, and my heart, and satisfying service all seem to intersect here. There is no paycheck that can equal that. I hope that as I get back to the States, I will continue to bring those seemingly meager acts to Him so that He can multiply it for His kingdom in Ohio, Cambodia and Thailand.