happy is as happy gives

"The really wonderful moments of joy in this world are not the moments of self-satisfaction, but self-forgetfulness." Piper. Dont Waste Your Life. 

Im reading this book for my internship. Food for the Hungry sent me it as part of my preparation. I've always wanted to read it and read a little for Jubilate but it's really making me think now and I'm completely engrossed. 

This quote is so for real. I've been thinking about it for a while.. Like, how giving is a way of receiving and we actually give to receive. Juliana, explain yourself. 
One of the happiest moments I can remember from life so far is me in tivas and scrubs, dirty and sweaty, taking blood pressures in a make-shift clinic in Morocco. My wanting to go overseas and work in development or anti-trafficking efforts is not me sacrificing my happiness for the happiness and health of others. I'm going there and doing that because it makes ME happy and makes me feel fulfilled and like my life is worth something. Selfish? lol Life really is about being happy.. we've just been going about it the wrong way. I think that's something every one has in them. When we serve, when we give, we are the happiest.

Cause we're not made for ourselves. That's why I think so many American teenagers are depressed and complaining about their (amazingly spoiled) lives. They haven't gotten it yet. That it's in giving that we find our purpose and living for themselves, for the next pair of shoes or the next car, is no way to live and will not make them happy. I'd love to kidnap about 20 depressed Americans between the ages of 13 and 18 and take them to Morocco and stick some grubby clothes on them and make them paint schools and teach kids English. I bet they'd come back with a different view about life and what they're living for. Maybe they'd look for a way to make a change in their community. 

It's not just for Christians. In everybody this need to give and serve is in us. Some people get it. Like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. They got it. They give a ton of money to developing nations to support healthier communities. I read an interview with Jolie once and she was saying she wished she could stay there in Africa but had to come back to the US and make movies to make money to send back. We look at people like them who give so much and we say, "Oh, what great people! Giving so much away." But they do it because it makes THEM happy. They get it. (Can I just speak to the sadness of the fact that they get it and so many Christians dont...)

We're made to seek our own joy by serving others. I really believe that's legit. We're not made for ourselves. Regardless of whether our motivation is a love for Jesus or not, it's programmed within our hearts that when our mind and purpose is not on ourselves and we take on the cares of others, the happiness that we create within others overflows to fill our own hearts.