It's the little things

One of the things I really love about this place is the exotic fruits. I went to the grocery store and saw a bottle that looked like it was full of snot. I almost started jumping up and down, I was so happy. I've encountered this thick green quagmire before and I know that its flavor is well worth the ocular trauma.

As I write this I am polishing off a bowl of homemade yogurt mixed with this green syrup and a little bit of sugar. Mmmmmm!

Dust!

A little sweat, a lot of dust, and who needs hairspray?

The Community of Faith

Praise God for my friends.

Three nights ago I was asking God why, every time I opened the Bible, I read about brutal battles or laws about mildew or something else that seemed to have nothing to do with my situation. I was asking Him why I never seemed to hear from Him any more, why I sat in my chair night after night and morning after morning studying the Bible and it didn't seem to have much impact on my life or help me to figure anything out. As I ranted I suspected that the answer had something to do with community. I think in the past three days He has been proving that to me.

I praise God for SK, who sat me down for 45 minutes on Thursday and helped me to put some important struggles into perspective.

I praise God for Friday night. M's monologue about suffering was insightful and helped me more than he realized. The others had good thoughts as well.

I praise God for my friends who take the time to write thoughtful blogs. In recent days several blog posts have touched my mind and heart and shed light on some of my questions.

I praise God for S. Last night she sent me a marvelous email.

I praise God for Dr. A. This morning his sermon was the perfect compliment to M's monologue and S's thoughts.

I praise the Lord for placing me in a body, a community of faith. I thank Him for using others to bless me with the insight, wisdom, and faith that He gives them. May He help me to be attuned to His spirit so that I can also be a blessing to them in return.

We don't need to fly solo.

Romans 6:8

Will this fall ever end?
Will I ever hit the bottom?

Thunk

The bottom brings no relief.
A shaking, a tumbling
Cold and darkness

Time.
For what purpose?
Existence.
To what end?
I am wasting away
Why am I here?
My end is near.
Does anyone care?
Does anyone even know?

Day consumes day,
Month consumes month
Decay consumes my flesh

A final stroke
A fatal shudder
I am torn apart,
My soul laid bare.
I am finished.


But what is this?
There, poking from the fissure in my rotted shell
A pale, fragile bud
Pushing out against the cruel earth
Slowly displacing one grain of sand
Then another
Gathering strength to push again
An agony of effort
Moments of unparalleled struggle
Following one after another
For days upon days
in the cold and dark

A final heave
Sunlight!



(John 12:24)

This made me think tonight

The sights

Our tiny dining table. Talk about lack of elbow room!

One of many villages along the river

There is a very nice rest- aurant here.

Fishing hut- you can see a boat along- side.

Grapefruit!

The regional capital

View to starboard

The Pad

Before I show you the special animal, here is a quick tour of the place we stayed. My internet was running really quickly when I uploaded the crocodile film so I took advantage of it.



And here is a film of the birds.

The critters

One of the interesting aspects of the trip was a bizarre farm that raised crocodiles, just about every fruit you can imagine, and even a coco tree!

I think the teeth speak for themselves.

Awww, look at the babies!

The farm also had a porcu- pine. I had never seen one before!

Jellyfish! No... I don't think so. Jellyfish have tendril thingies. What is this?

Here is another one. Can anybody tell me what these are?