GOD AND THE MOUNTAINS

Because all of our work in deep in the mountains, I have a lot of time to think and appreciate the beauty that surrounds us. As we drove to a community the other day, I looked and saw the mountain ranges, but their top halves were covered in clouds (pretty normal during the rainy season). I thought, How interesting, if I hadn’t been here in the dry season, I wouldn’t really know what is hiding behind all those clouds and really appreciate the splendor of the mountains. Then it struck me, the parallel with God and how we view Him. So many times, we see God, but only a part of Him. We are too busy with our own lives to notice Him, or distrust Him because we feel let down, or just don’t really care about Him. And because we only see a part of Him, sometimes barely at all, we are not amazed and are often disappointed because He doesn’t live up to our expectations. But no matter how we feel, God is still there, in all His power and majesty. When the clouds of disappointment, doubt, guilt and apathy clear, if only for a brief moment, we get a glimpse of just how awesome God is, and how great His power and love is for us. I was reminded that no matter how I feel about God, sometimes up, sometimes down, it does not change the truth: That He is always there for us and will never forsake us, and I need to remember that. We can rest in His peace.

SLOWING DOWN

Monday morning, July 28, I (Steve) commented to Colleen that I really felt like I needed some quiet time alone with God, to meditate and read His Word. I was feeling restless in my spirit and felt that some quiet time with God would be just the ticket to restore my peace.

I was planning, that day, to ride the motorcycle to the countryside to deliver some messages and retrieve some information from the communities where we work. As a bit of an afterthought I stuffed my Bible into my backpack, with the idea that maybe I could stop somewhere along the way for a bit peaceful contemplation.

However… of course God knows me better than I know myself, and He knew that it was not highly likely that I would take a break from my frenetic pace (though there was really no hurry) to quiet myself. Therefore, he placed some obstacles in my path to force me to sit for a while.

I was only a part of the way there when all of the sudden the rear tire went flat on the cycle. This being the first time I was not sure what to do so I called a friend for advice. He told me to remove the tire and wait for a bus to take me to town to get it repaired. I will spare you all the details, but suffice it to say that the people were quite kind and helpful to me. I waited for close to an hour for a bus, which never came, and finally a friend came by with his truck and gave me a ride to town. The patch job did not take long , but I waited nearly 2 hours for a bus (2 passed that were so packed I could not have possibly gotten on) to take me back to the cycle.

During this quiet time I, amazingly, never really felt impatient, but instead realized that the experience was an answer to prayer. I spent some time reading the Bible and in the end God reminded me of the verse Micah 6:8 “… What does the Lord require of you? To act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before your God.” This is my new challenge: What does it mean to ‘act justly’ in a place where we are surrounded by so much injustice.

Eventually I fixed the cycle and continued my trip only to have the tire blow out again. I parked the cycle on someone’s porch, removed the tire and took the last bus back to the city. I did not really “accomplish” anything that day as I only arrived at one of the communities, but it was a rich and fulfilling day because God spoke to me and I returned to the house in peace.

Praise God that He always knows just what we need.

Suffering for the LORD

Well, it was a rough month, health-wise. I barely wrote any emails and did almost no blogging, not to mention we missed church and a going-away party. So, below you will find a compilation of pictures and stories of what we did this past month (besides suffering in bed...suffering for the LORD, right?). Enjoy!

BOYS will be BOYS

Here are a few shots of our boys. They enjoy playing together, but they also know how to push each other’s buttons! Zachariah is all boy, I sometimes wonder if he is made of pure testosterone. Nathaniel is a more of a softy, but Zach is teaching him all his wrestling moves. Our housekeeper remarks on their physical differences quite often; she probably finds it hard to believe they both came from me! I can’t say I really blame her; sometimes when I look at Nathaniel, I wonder where he came from, as well. I was playing around with some of the settings on the camera, so enjoy the photos.