4/22/22
Happy birthday Pastor Ed!
This morning I read in Acts 10-11. Another example of how God prepares us for things that we don’t even know are going to happen yet. First, God gives Cornelius, a gentile, a vision to go to Peter, so he did. Then he gave Peter a vision about clean & unclean things to eat. The vision wasn’t really about eating, though. It was about taking God’s word to the gentiles. God was preparing Peter to receive and teach Cornelius and other gentiles the gospel. I have seen many times in my life how God has used circumstances I’ve been in to prepare me for something He has coming down the road. He will not send you to do something for which He will not prepare and give you strength.
Our day began with a fruitless search for new shower heads for the mission house bathrooms. The owner of the shop hadn’t shown up yet. So we headed back out to Kuchere to deliver corn to church families who’d lost their crops. As we drove up, Ovi wanted to get some video from his drone. The children were either fascinated or frightened. It was funny! When we got there, the men spoke for a bit then everyone sang praises to the Lord and prayed before unloading the corn. Some of these men had to push a bike with two 50lb bags of corn balanced on it for nearly 2 hours to get to their homes! They are desperate for food right now. One bag will last an average family about a month. The whole time this was going on, the children from the school were gathered around watching. Men chased them off several times but they would just scatter & return. It was cute!
After Kuchere we came back to town, had another fruitless trip to the hardware store for shower heads (they were now on lunch break) and had lunch. The men went off to the hardware store while sending Janine & I in to order lunch. It was our first solo and we were determined to be successful. Let’s just say we got our food. 😉 Seriously, Janine ordered and then handed me the money and said, “Here. You pay!” I hadn’t been aware I was going to have any part in this but managed to give the sweet (and giggling at us by now) girl the correct amount of money. And we laughed again. I’ve mentioned several times how my cheeks hurt from laughing. Very glad I have had this chance to come serve God, His people, and laugh with Janine. We came back to the house and chilled for a little. We kept an eye on Ethan while Ovi & Lita went to the grocery store then Ed & Ovi made another—this time successful—attempt at finding shower heads. Lita came down and we three ladies had some quality gab time. When the men got back they went to change out the shower heads and I struck up a mean game of pool with Jessica. (I lost 2 games to 1 because I cannot seem to keep the 8-ball out of the pocket. Ugh!) All the other kids started cheering for Jessica until I told them I wasn’t going to play ball with them anymore. Haha! We had fun.
This evening we went to an Italian restaurant to for dinner and in honor of Ed’s birthday. While waiting for our food the Cornea family introduced us to a couple new games which I will have to teach my kiddos when we get home. The food was delicious and the company even better. On the way home from dinner we had the windows rolled down and I could see the stars. They were incredible. I simply cannot fathom how vast our galaxy is, much less our universe. Much, much less how great our God is. He created the vastness of the universe containing stars so large they would eat our solar system, yet so far away they look like pin pricks. He is so Great and powerful that he created all of this with a word. But he also created us—tiny and frail. But so much more than this—He LOVES us! Why? I cannot possibly ever live up to His love for me! And I’m very glad I don’t have to.
Psalm 8:3-4 “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”