A lesson well learned!

Yesterday I got the chance to climb the volcano Pacaya. Whenever they say "climb" they mean ride a horse for an hour and then climb like half a mile straight up to the lava flow of the volcano. It was beautiful, it is impossible to put into words how magnificent the creativity of our God is! Brandon, Pam, and I were so thankful to be given the chance to climb Pacaya. I never actually made it to the lava flow...Safety Sally just couldn't do it! The last part of the climb was straight up, you have to practically crawl. I could imagine how difficult it would be to come down. Since I have already tripped twice this summer going UP stairs, I didn't think it was a good idea! The horse back ride back down the mountain was quite interesting, the little guy leading my horse down was 8 years old and could tell that I was a little nervous about riding a horse back down the mountain, especially on the steep parts. He kept telling me “No problem…lean back!” About half way down I gave it up and walked with him. I found out his name was Melvin, he had 3 brothers and 3 sisters, and that their family only had the one horse, Munyeca.

I was reading some of my journal entries that I had written last summer and I came across something that I had completely forgotten about. In the Balkans, hot water heaters are only used when necessary. For example, in the Summer Girls’ apartment there was a light switch outside of the bathroom. We were told to flip the light switch on about 20 minutes before we got showers so the water could heat. Well, for two weeks we kept taking cold showers. After much frustration, we finally figured out that the switch outside of our bathroom wasn’t connected to anything!! Nothing, it wasn’t connected to the water heater in any way, shape, or form! There was even a little red light that came on every time we flipped the switch! But, there was no hot water. Then it dawned on me, I never want to be like that in my walk with God. How easy it is to flip the switch and the light comes on appearing that we are connected to our Savior. But, if we don’t show any fruit, what’s the point? Nobody likes a cold shower! So, I challenge you, along with myself, to make sure that you are connected to the Lord. Don’t just have the appearance that all is good, produce the hot water, or fruit!

Please continue to pray for us! We only have 3 and a half weeks left until we come home.