His power, His creation, His character - terremoto

Yesterday morning we were awakened by an earthquake. Small in nature (reports vary from 4.0-5.3 on the Richter scale) but enough to shake the ground, our house and everything in it. It was 8:55am and we happened to be on a skype call with Ronnie Brock, when suddenly Bob looked at me and yelled for all of us - including the sleeping kids - to "get out of the house!" I, of course, thought nothing of it and and exclaimed "Relax, I just have an uneven load in the washing machine." Duh. I can't tell an earthquake from a lopsided lavadora (washer). Ronnie of course was live through all this and laughed his head off at my naivety. 

I hope on the day of the Lord's coming that I am more aware. (Mt24:7, Rev 6, 8. 11, 16)

God is making me more aware of His power, His creation and His character every day. 

We hiked a mountain last weekend that culminated at the peak with a 80ft cross overlooking the valle. Although the hike was difficult (maybe not for some of you, but definitely for my 46 year old knees!) it was the satisfaction of reaching the top - reaching the cross - that made it all worth it. I looked over what the Lord has made below me and stood in awe of the precision, grandeur and beauty that I am blessed to see every morning. The people that farm the terraced hills are one of the reasons we are here. God has the power to shake these hills whenever He desires, but it is up to us to "go and tell" them the Good News before the final earthquake occurs. 

Speaking of "go and tell", I am preparing my students for the big Christmas program...a highlight of my job:-) I have decided to let the Pre-K and Kindergartener's sing "Go, Tell it on the Mountain". For those non-Brook Hills readers,  this has been a BH favorite for years, thanks to a fun, funky instrumental background track that the kids absolutely LOVE! I am not so much interested in perfect pitch or crisp choreography, but more on the message. I am blessed to be able to explain to them what we are telling and why we need to tell it. The kids identify with the mountains (as we are surrounded by them here), but I am encouraged by their knowledge of who made the mountains and how we will we will "go and tell". I am beyond blessed to see His character in these little ones every day.Yet there is still so much to do...

Lastly, a little known fact: you can find pumpkins in Ecuador...it's just that they are green and obviously make a great snack for hungry puppies. Happy autumn everyone!

Nuestra Basura

I finally did something today that I have been putting off for a very long time.....

I picked up trash on the 1/4 mile stretch of road that runs between the Foundation and Campamento!   

It has been here since we moved in and the piles continued to grow.  We see it daily as we go to the bus, store and anywhere outside our gates.  People, as they pass by and go about their busy lives, use this stretch of road to throw away the things in their lives that they no longer care for, need, want nor know where or how to deal with it.  I ignored it as long as I could until I had to tackle the problem.  The main reasons I put it off for so long were:
a)   Its just plain nasty!  What a dirty job.  Think of it, old shoes/clothes, construction debris, mucho plastico, every kind of bag you can imagine, old tv parts and many, many items which will remain unmentionable!
b)   It was someone else's responsibility, ie. people on down the road, my ministry partner who was closer to it, the city of Conocoto (yeah right like that's going to happen) and how about the people who put it there!  "Hey man, that's your job, not mine!"
There is a sign clearly stating not to dump trash there.  We even said, Please!  You would think people would listen.......then as I returned feeling good about myself I noticed in our yard that several pieces of trash were blown about everywhere from the dog, kids and my weekend projects!

 
Doing the right thing is much different than having the right servant heart/spirit.  How can I deal with others 'trash' unless I face my own.  I think that's what the Lord was trying to tell us in Matthew 7:3-5.  Simply,  Deal with the trash in your own yard first.  Ann and I just had our 18th Wedding Anniversary this weekend.  Fresh from the celebration, last night we had an disagreement/argument (and those of you who have been married about the same amount of time know all about how the play unfolds:  I know where this is going, I'm going to jump to conclusions, I'm going to stop listening and make sure I get my points in, ect.....)  The particulars are not important other than we both had valid points and most of our facts right.  I messed up.  Instead of leaning on my own pattern of behavior and response, I should have heeded the same advice that Paul gave Timothy in a time of transition in 2 Timothy 1:13 (by holding on tightly to the Lord's resources, not our own)  "a pattern shaped by the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus." 

Whatever life presents, whatever we are doing, regardless of what continent we are on, culture that surrounds us or whose trash is laying on the ground:  Deal with it, Pick it up, Get rid of it - Burn it completely, don't just move it to another place!  People are watching us.  Lets deal with Our Trash (Nuestra Basura).  There's too much at stake - our families, marriages, kids and peoples eternity. Don't settle for a band-aid, a temporary or temporal fix when we can have a permanent one that lasts forever.

I'm grateful today He reminds me that He always picks up after me and gives me another pattern to follow...... 

What I am learning.....

Random thoughts on my run this am of what the Lord is teaching me....

No matter how much help I have, gravity always wins when several inches of rain fall on 25 acres (thanks alot Adam, you really are to blame)...

For his walk, for his plainness of thought, for his humble discipleship of multiple generations, for his service to our country and telling Harry Truman exactly how he felt face to face, for his multiple successful businesses and careers, for how he thinks younger than me, for how he is spending his life, resources, money and time spreading the gospel, for how he loves, Tio Bill is the best man I've ever known (here on the foundation-orphanage)...........

Hearts right with God can be completely wrong politically, environment influences people (my buddy Milton regularly paints pictures of Che Guevara).......

Loyalty runs deep in the animal kingdom......

Tight clothing reveal more of whats on the inside than out......

700 square feet exposes  hidden talents, character flaws and hygienic deficiencies....

Gospel clarity does or does not play out in our lives, words mean little....

My family is amazingly strong, resilient, brave, honest and learning God's deep capacity for Grace!


God provides what we need, not always what we want.  Why can't we learn that!  As I was writing this, not only did our morning driver tell us to call him to work out continued service but we had an individual come forward who offered to pick up my family from school (currently they are taking the bus home.)  Both us and others have prayed hard to resolve our lack of transportation and He answered within 24 hours.  Caveat.......continue to pray, the man driving home has only one eye which explains his poor driving!  Leaning on Him and focusing on needs, not wants.....