A Lot Can Happen in 36 Hours (Part 2)

September 28, 2014

I wake to the sound of chopping wood for the cooking fire and I know coffee’s not far off.

Father, this is your day. Use us in any way you will. Forgive us for all our waywardness and help us throw off the shackles of sin. Give us strength to fight the good fight and help us run the race with perseverance. Fill us with your spirit and give us the power to speak the words of life to those around us. Thank you for the cross as we kneel in humble repentance. For such love there are no words…Amen

Sunday morning and the area around is filled with people. Children from the church, children from school, children, children everywhere. Let’s see… 200 gifts and at least 400 children. image-2

I suggest we get them all together and use the 1-2 method. 1’s get one. 2’s don’t. Won’t work. Need to distribute so each family gets something. Complex! When church is over we will meet in there to work it out.

Separate them into classes and get them quiet and we begin to speak of these things:

“You all are hoping for a gift but what is the greatest gift? The greatest gift is the love of God. And how do we know this love? We know His love in the gift of His Son who loved us and gave himself for us all.” ….and we try to help them ponder the birth, the life, the death on a cross, and resurrection morning of the Son of God! What a message of love and good news! THE GIFT! I hope they received  it, but I must leave that to heaven.

image-3Then the passing out of the gifts to each child with a word of encouragement, a handshake or a hug to each and every one. Looking into their eyes and to what lies behind hoping to send a word of love that can’t be spoken. It was a joy.[spacer]

 

image-6But the day is waining and it’s a long journey back and I’m some concerned that we will be caught in the night. A steady rain is falling and even the mules are shivering with cold.

Loading all our gear is a pretty damp undertaking. As I sling my leg over the saddle and splash down with a foreboding feeling that my backside may not fare so well, I already look forward to seeing that rusty old pickup with a dry seat and springs!

I wish I could paint you a picture of the mountains and hills, valleys of gardens with all the greens and grays, earth tones of ochre and tans and browns, here and there a giant morning glory of violet and deep purple and maybe a bright yellow daisy.

Such a beautiful world filled with families struggling to survive, only able to think about the physical with little or no thought for deeper realities.

Is it possible that we, too, walk in a world we don’t see or appreciate.  Trudging through paradise unknown. The Creator of all things bright and beautiful made this day and do we truly look up with eyes full of wonder and thank Him for the gift of His heart?

Thank you Father for the gift of our days so full of beauty, truth and grace! Thank You for all the blessings of family and friends and all the wondrous life that surrounds us. Let us not lose sight of what is real or exchange the truth for a lie. Heal us, change us and

Hold us to your heart!

And yes I survived. Little the worse for wear and a lot better for having chosen, well.. perhaps like Frost,

“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I..
I took the one less traveled by.
And that has made all the difference.”

Blessings on you all.

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Bill is a retired carpenter and farmer. He lives in southwest Missouri with his wife Janet. They have 6 children and many grandchildren. Since 2010 he has spent much of his time in Haiti. His passion is to help people with what he has been given.