"5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men." Philippians 2:5-7
The other day I had an experience that made me laugh. and I thought I would share it with you. My sleeping pattern has changed lately to where I sleep less at night and take more naps during the day. I don't know if this is due to aging or a God thing, either way it has led to some interesting and sometimes awkward moments to say the least.
The room I sleep in, was the office of Luciano at his warehouse that he runs with his two younger sons. There is a five gallon water dispenser in this area as well as my bed, there is no closet or shelves so my stuff ( food and some clothes} are piled on a chair, a counter, and his desk, plus over my three suitcases. There is an electrical cord that is no longer used so it now hangs across the ceiling for my shirts to hang on ten hangers and pants, I eat my meals on his office desk and I bought a small microwave to reheat my food that I cook in the kitchen, that is fifty feet from my room and the bathroom is also in another area about fifty feet away. There is no hot water, so I take cold showers and rinse with a pot of warm water that I heat from the stove in the kitchen and carry back to the open shower next to the toilet. Also in the middle of this triangle area is where they store a lot of stuff; like coils of black piping, large water tanks and bags of concrete along with other stuff.The hole area is very old and has metal roofing and tarps to keep the rain out, got the picture now, however, I'm sure it's much better than where Jesus was born. Plus I have wifi and a heat pump that keeps me warm or cool depending on the weather.
So from time to time they come into my room after knocking to get water for their coffee thermos or fill a large empty pop bottle to drink from during the day even when I am taking my naps. They start working at 7am until 5pm for their customers. And it's the only door that they use to enter for work that's on the main street of traffic and for certain deliveries, because the two rollup steel doors that open to the public are locked from the inside at night. I have no complaints considering Luciano does not charge me anything for rent so I can use that money also to help the poor. However, I have no phone or alarm clock to wake me up. I just depend on God to do that for me and it usually works fine. Plus I just enjoy being here knowing that God has brought me here to do work for Him and love the people of Paraguay.
So back to the beginning of this short story, I was taking a mid morning nap, and as usual I don't sleep with any clothes, and because of all the humidity. When one of the sons knocks and then comes in and sees me in bed again, however Lusiano then comes in and says on his phone that they have a delivery that needs to pass through my room to get to the storage area, and so I say, okay. Then I watch three men carry bags of concrete, two at a time, and one of the men carries the two bags on his head, through my room while I'm laying there stark naked with just my covers over me, I tried to cover my head and pretend this was not happening, but I eventually sat up and just smiled as they passed through my room about a dozen time each. When they were all through with the delivery, they thanked me and then left. I just sat there in bed for a moment and laughed at one of the most inbarrassing monents in my life and thanked God that I'm here to enjoy all this, because of His love and example of humility.
Then I got up and dressed and went next door to where there is a supermarket and bought some special candies and a cake that I have never eaten, but they sure looked good and gave them to Luciano and his sons to show them how much I loved them.
Phil. 2:3
3 Do nothing [a]from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
