Well, Roy made it back just fine and we are now looking for new ways to minister. God is so cool! We have a pair of swallows who have made their nest on our porch. It was a big process to get them there as most of the people here knock down the nests. We, however, wanted them there as they eat mosquitos - a big bonus! Well, their young have hatched and yesterday we got to witness their first flight out of the nest. They were doing very well until it came time to reenter the nest which has a tunnel doorway up in the corner of the porch. I could almost hear their little voices, "This flying stuff is great! I think I'm getting the hang of this! WAIT! How do you land this thing...! The mother bird repeatedly flew out and then reentered with great patience trying to show her offspring that it really could be done. They eventually made it. The kids and I had a great time watching this, and then in the quiet of my heart the Lord said, "I have not forgotten you - I will keep showing you the way. Don't forget what my word says about the birds of the air and how they don't have to worry." What a visual lesson! God is good! Roy and I have started reviewing the picture bibles with a small group of guys and tomorrow Roy is going with a few of them to ask some nearby towns if we can start holding weekly services with them. In addition to that, I am going to start offering a health and wellness class to any of the area women who would like to come. Please pray for us as we look for the best ways we can serve God and help those around us.
So many people have said to me, "I could never do what you are doing". Well, I want to set the record straight. We are all fledgling birds out for our first trial flight - just trying to make it count and not completely crash and burn. For each of us God is there, quietly demonstrating the way it should be done, letting us know that he is there and will not desert us! I still worry what to fix for dinner ( esp without any beef, potatoes, cheese, or vegetables) and I still just live everyday the best I can obeying Him just for today - isn't that what we are ALL doing? Okay, so your noon is my evening and I wear less sweatshirts than you do - but other than that we are all the same. Well, there is one significant difference. I have gotten accustomed to having to search for pieces and parts of cameleons around my house and coming across tails, heads, whatever in the middle of my living room floor. (Jeepy eats cameleons and like any wild animal, he stashes some for later- so I have had to learn to find them before they stink) I think it's safe to guess that is NOT one of your daily obstacles - but he is just so COOL! :)
P.S.
To explain the new picture: Seth and his buddies were playing soccer one evening. Rain here can come up very quickly and with great gusto -so the game was unexpectedly rained out. They all ran to our porch and innovatively came up with a new game while they were waiting for the rain to stop. They each climbed in an empty rice bag and then hopped around like a potato sack race but playing soccer. It was a lot of fun to watch. On a side note, we put out two five gallon buckets under the edge of the roof (no eaves troughs) and within half an hour they were full.