Considering it Joy

The summer before my senior year of high school my youth group went on a missions trip West Africa. Our church supports an orphanage in Sierra Leone. I had never been out of the country before going to Jonathan House.
During our trip I often found myself playing soccer (or football!) with some of the boys. It seemed like there was always a game going on. The older boys would play a game every night before supper. This attracted most of the kids and stuff much like  a high school football game. These games were very selective so usually I just watched with the girls and younger boys. One afternoon, in the middle of our trip I was playing with some kids and one of the older boys, Backeri, invited me to play in the soccer game that night. I was so excited!

During the course of the game I hit the side of my leg on a stump on the edge of the playing field. I kept playing but a minute later my youth pastor noticed I was bleeding pretty badly. I had to sit on the sidelines the rest of the game. I was a dissapointed to say the least. I wanted so badly to play with the boys. It was more than a game to me. I was becoming very close to these boys, and I felt like they would not let me play again.

That next afternoon I was sitting on the sidelines again. I was looking around at all the kids who were also watching. In the corner of my eye I saw a boy named Matthew. I decided to sit and talk with him.
When Matthew was younger he was hit by a car and his leg had not healed correctly. He walked with a limp and cannot run with the other boys his age. He loves soccer just as much as I do. We talked about the game until supper that night.

Throughout the whole trip I never saw Matthew complain or use his leg for sympathy. He often led prayers for the kids and would dance and dance. Matthew touched my life that day. He never complained about sitting out and supporting his friends, his brothers. I sat out of two games and I was selfish and dissapointed.

When I asked Matthew how he could be so happy, so content. He smiled and simply replied,  “Consider it pure joy.” That day I was reminded to not look at the bad, but the good in every situation.