50 Kilograms=110.23 Pounds

Homecoming starts tomorrow here at the University of Tennessee at Martin. Conveniently, mid-terms begin next week as well. This means the number of cups of coffee I drink a day will outnumber the hours of sleep I get each night. I'm not the only college student feeling this pressure. Sorority women, fraternity men and the men and women of the hundreds of organizations here at UTM feel the pressure of doing the best during Homecoming while also keeping their grades up and eyes open in class.

ADPi 2012 Ropepull Team

     The weight of practices, quizzes, exams, assignments and professors who believe in stressing students to the max is a very heavy burden to carry. This weight reminds me of the afternoon after the first day of the Women's Conference in Jinja, Uganda this past summer. The interns and the women's team were helping the staff clean up the kitchen, put things away in the church and get ready for the next day of the conference. Uganda uses the metric system therefore instead of pounds they use kilograms. There was a 50kg bag of beans for the next day sitting in the outdoor kitchen. Me, being the "macho" person I am, decided that 50 kilograms was easy to carry; I mean, I had been carrying 50 pound kids at Amani in the weeks prior. Little did I know that 50 pounds was not the same as 50 kilograms. I picked up the bag of beans, using my knees of course, and carried the bag to inside the church (a path that involved uneven terrain and steps).

Faith helping her mom clean-up

     As soon as I placed the bag on the floor of the church, I felt like I could fly. The weight of the bag had weighed me down so  much it was as if gravity was turned to maximum strength. Have you ever felt like the world is on your shoulders and gravity is dragging you down more than it should? The other night I was at my sister's apartment, supporting her while she cleaned her room, and I saw a verse on her nightstand.

 

"For I am the LORD your God

who takes hold of your right hand

and says to you, Do not fear;

I will help you."

~Isaiah 41:13

 

I read this verse over and over again and felt great comfort as I thought "I may not have it all together, but God's got me and that's all I need."

Next time there's a 50 kilogram bag of beans on your shoulders, remember that God's got you and He's there to help you carry that weight.