I read an excerpt from Sara's website and it really struck home:
"There is a scene in the movie Dances with Wolves where the Sioux are on a much anticipated buffalo hunt. As they come up over a hill, they are shocked to see a field full of buffalo carcasses. The tragedy of that moment is that where the Sioux use every piece of the buffalo-the bladder holds water, the bone makes a tool, the skin is a covering for a tent- whoever has done this has taken the best part of the buffalo for himself and has left everything else to waste. There is no way to make good use of all that is lying in this field.
I was so convicted when I went to Africa that I am not using all of my spiritual buffalo. I have developed this one side of my personal relationship with God. I go to church, I have incredible worship, and I listen to incredible speakers. I have money to buy devotionals, and leisure time to do those devotionals. I have spent a lifetime grooming a personal faith in Christ, but have I been taking the best piece of the buffalo for myself? There has been a joy in discovering the good use of my life. There is a reciprocal redemption that happens when we enter into stories of helping our neighbor-not just around the world, but in our own communities. When I came home from Africa, instead of feeling guilty for my life, I began to hear God in a very clear way say, ‘that thing carries water, that thing makes a tool, that is covering for a tent.' There is a beauty to the good use of a life, and to the acknowledgment that everything you have and do has a Kingdom purpose."
Now, it took her going to Africa and seeing what was there to realize she wasn't using all God had given her. But what I have to ask myself is, am I? What do I keep for myself? What parts of my life am I NOT using for the Kingdom? And should it really take any of us going half way across the world to be hit with the reality of the fact that, WE ARE NOT HERE FOR OURSELVES. So why on earth do we keep acting like it??