Day 28: When you hear statistics on global surgery, it can be hard to imagine the humanity represented by the numbers. According to the World Health Organization, in countries like Ethiopia 9 out of 10 people can’t access surgery when they need it. This has made me think about the ways my family would be different if we couldn’t access surgery when we needed it. If that were the case:⁣

-Tim would walk with crutches or would be in a wheelchair after a horrendous knee injury in high school. It would be very unlikely that he would be a surgeon.⁣
-Sam might have hearing loss because of chronic ear problems when he was younger.⁣
-My dad may have died over the summer if he had not had a surgical procedure to correct his heart problem. ⁣
-My mom may have died years ago from consequences of her gall bladder and appendix needing to be removed.⁣

See how different my life would be without surgery? ⁣

And even more than that, boy would my life be different without Jesus. I wouldn’t know that God’s love for me didn’t depend on me being good enough, but depends only on me trusting in God’s mercy and goodness. I wouldn’t know that every hurt and pain in my life was accomplishing the good of making me the person God intended me to be. I wouldn't know that a good, loving Father is with me in the good and in the bad, is giving me strength when I’m weak, and is making me able to love and serve others with abandon. I wouldn't know that all the brokenness of this world will one day be made right for those who trust in Him—that death will die, there will be no more sorrow and pain, that everything sad will come untrue. ⁣

We have treasures of surgery and the love of Jesus. How can we truly love others if we keep them to ourselves? We hope that by God’s grace in our lives, we’ll share those things with people who are without them—both here and in Ethiopia. #31daysofcalling #lovesinethiopia