Where did the time go? I remember at different points thinking, "I just wish it was May already so I would be going home soon." And now here we are practically in June. My grandpa has this saying that just like a toilet paper roll, the time goes faster and faster as you reach the end. Well I know I am no where near the end, shoot I just turned 21, but I can definitely see the truth in this. Every year, the older I get, the faster the time seems to go.
After being here this long, I have been around to experience political, economic, and social changes. When I arrived in September empanadas, the staple argentine go-to food, was 5 pesos and if you were lucky 4. Now the are more than 6 or 7 pesos! Inflation is not cool. Currently the inflation and exchange rate of the peso to the dollar isn't even accurate. The dollar is super important to argentine life. All big purchases, technology, homes, rent, etc are paid in dollars. Starting around January, President Christina implemented strong economic protectionist policies. Strengthening over the months, the argentines currently find themselves in an unstable environment politically, economically, and socially. What started out as a restriction on the amount of dollars one could obtain has now turned into an all out dollar blockade. Details on the matter are quite extensive so I will skip to the point.
We, as american citizens, are beyond blessed. Yes our country has issues, politically, economically, socially and all the rest. I know. So many citizens of other countries look to the US and practically idolize it. I will be honest, this irritates the heck out of me. In my experience here, some many argentines seem to think that nothing bad could happen in the "good ol' US of A". When we both know that is far from the truth. But the more I thought about it and really tried to put myself in their shoes, in my cases the Argentine's, we are better off. No our country isn't perfect and we have our own mound of problems; but when I think about permanently living here in Argentina, where the government could take your money from the bank at any point (happened twice to the woman I live with), not allow you to withdraw foreign currency (even when you are abroad because that much control exists) or where the police are bribed and the government functions on a whole other level of corruption that we as US citizens do not know, I have to realize american citizens are blessed.
One night as I was walking back to my apartment, the Lord really opened my eyes to see that no matter how much it irritates me to hear people's idolized thoughts of America, the truth remains that if I were them I might be idolizing it too. It is not to negate our country's problems. In fact it is just the opposite. The United States of America is still the land of the free. A place where I can walk the street without fear. A country where our criminal justice system is trustworthy and our elected officials have laws and rules that they abide by. I know there are exceptions. In the middle of my walk home, I realized I want it to stay that way and I started to pray. Over the years I have heard that we should pray for our government officials and our country. However, the number of times I actually did that would probably fill one hand. I didn't see the importance.
The Lord is the most powerful of all the universe. He can do anything. He loves, better yet longs to hear our prayers. Our government is no less important to him. I can't control people and their actions. I can't change our government. But the Lord can.
Praise the Lord for the blessing it is to live in the US. It is a huge blessing that I all too often take for granted. But don't just stop there.
Pray with a sincere heart for our government. It is never to late for the Lord to work.
Pray for those currently in office, whether believer or not, that they would truly be for the people and not their own interests.
Pray that those christian brothers and sisters in office would stand firm for the Lord and make decisions that reflect him. That the Holy Spirit would strengthen them in an environment extremely tempting and challenging.
Pray that the Spirit would prepare future government leaders and they would obey the Lord's call to dive into the battle that is politics.
We who are in Christ are all missionaries. We have been called to all ends of the earth to spread the good news we have in Christ. All ends of the earth includes the realm of politics. We have a blessing living in the US and equally an obligation to pray for it to stay or even improve its current state. How beautiful and powerful would it be if we, as a body of believers, lifted up our nation to the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment