Peace despite circumstances

Today when I had finished caring for Blades wounds, I was chatting with him as I often do, I asked him about the small bible he always has lying on his bed. He says it makes him feel better to know it is close by but he cannot read it "because I cannot hold it with my hands". Despite being in a bit of a hurry on a Saturday (my "day off") wanting to get to the sea where Hannah and the kids were swimming, I asked him if he would like me to read to him. He eagerly accepted the offer with gratitude. I asked him what he would like to hear and he chose Psalm 23:

¹ The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

² He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

³ he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

⁴ Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

⁶ Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

As I read it, he quoted verse 1-2 "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters". As I read these powerful words my heart was convicted and touched at the same time. Here is a 48 year old man, who will never walk again, who is suffering from sores caused by the lack of people in is life who take the time to care about him. No means of earning a living, poor, totally dependent on others for everything, little dignity, who lays in bed 24 hours per day in a small dingy room. Yet, he does not complain, though he has reason to, and above that he is able to say "I shall not want". Oh that I would have the same heart, to depend on God despite the circumstances of life. To find comfort only in God, and to not search for peace in anything else. To not fear, in the face of danger, and to dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Please continue to pray for Blades and for us as we daily speak and show hope and love in this dismal situation.

Caye Caulker: Nice once we got there

We had a great time in Caye Caulker, that is once we got there!

5:45am
We walked to the end of the road to catch what we thought was the express bus (AC, nicer seats) to Belize City, but come to find out that bus was not running on that day so we took the next available "school bus" like bus. Well I forgot to mention that it had been raining a good bit overnight and well, the rain was apparently too much for the make-shift bridge crossing over one of the many rivers.

8:00am
We arrive at the bridge which is overrun with water. We along with half of Belize wait while they attempt to fix it and let the waters recede enough to cross.

9:00am
Still waiting...

10:00am
Still waiting...

11:00am
The waters have begun to recede and they have dumped a bunch of rocks onto the make-shift bridge. However, all of the sudden our bus decides it is heading back to Punta Gorda! So we had to make a quick choice, go back to PG or hop off and figure some alternate route of transportation... well we hopped off.

11:30am
We noticed a small boat down by the river bank with some military personnel on it so we trekked in ankle deep mud (in flip-flops mind you) to this boat. They were kind enough to take us across the river to yet another muddy bank where we trekked back up to the road. By this time a few 4-wheel drive vehicles had made it across the river so we hitched a ride with a dutch couple (I rode in the back and Hannah and the kids were able to ride inside).

12:00pm
We got out at a junction where they were going to be heading in the opposite direction of our destination. We thanked them and started walking to a near by gas station.

1:00pm
We were at least able to hose off our feet and go to the bathroom (it had been ~6 hours by now) and get some gas station food for lunch. We figured there would be a bus heading where we wanted to go, so we waited.

1:30pm
And waited... (oh by the way, it is pouring down rain by now)

2:00pm or so
And waited

2:30pm
I had noticed a very nice 4 door Ford F350 truck in the gas station parking lot (it kinda stuck out like a sore thumb among the many not so nice trucks). Anyways we were standing on the roadside across from the gas station and I see this gentleman get out of the truck and begin walking our way. I make eye contact with him and we meet near the road. He explains that his is heading to the western part of the country but he could take us to Belmopan (the capital) that is about an hour away where I figured we could surely catch a bus. We gratefully accepted and we were off. Yet another bridge had flooded out along the way but we were able to take detour around it. Come to find out he was returning home where he lives in Spanish Lookout from PG where he has a farm. He was a very nice Christian Mennonite and we had a great and interesting discussion about God during the drive. It sure was nice to ride in a comfortable a/c vehicle!

3:30pm
We arrive at the Belmopan bus terminal to only find out that the next bus to Belize City would not get us to the water taxi terminal in time to catch the last boat to Caye Caulker! So what do you do? You do what you have to do because by this time we were committed to getting to the island, so we charted a vehicle ($$) to take us directly to Belize City.

4:00pm
We get to the water taxi station in time to catch the next 45minute boat ride to Caye Caulker!!!

5:00pm
Finally there! A really long day but worth it once we got to the island!

After that all was absolutely wonderful! The weather was mostly overcast but nice all the same. We relaxed, ate some awesome food, relaxed some more, saw some beautiful sea life, swam, relaxed even more! We stayed in a house near the water. The kids enjoyed being able to watch some cartoons and Hannah and I loved the air-conditioning! It was great. Today was tough, trying to get back into the swing of things. I think I am still in "island mode."

Here are some pics of the trip:


Waiting, waiting....

This is the bridge we were supposed to cross


I had another pic with Hannah
in it but she did not look too happy.
This was certainly the low point
of the trip.


Trying to find a ride


At the water taxi station


Finally in Caye Caulker!


The kids enjoying some Saturday
morning cartoons while we enjoyed
some Saturday morning sleep!


Loving the sea life


Father's day breakfast- YUMMY!


A very special Father's day supper


We had a great time!

I posted a lot more pics of the trip in the sideshow at the top of the page.

Back from the Cayes

HI all! We just got back safely from a GREAT trip to Caye Caulker. Getting there was quite the adventure...I'll blog more about it tomorrow!

Caye Caulker

We have been so busy for the past 9 months that we have not been able to see much of God's beauty displayed here in Belize. Well, this weekend we are going to take some time off and do just that. We are heading out in the morning to the small island of Caye (Key) Caulker. As you can see in the picture, there is a visible "split" that a hurricane created many years ago that separated the island into 2 parts. We will be staying very close to this split. We will travel by bus ~5 hours and then by boat for ~1hour to get there. We'll take plenty of pics! Have a great weekend!

Grace tells another story

I have been recently reminded again just how awesome our Grace giving God is. Here's the story...

The other night Hannah and I were sitting on our bed (listening to some tunes) at the end of a long hot day, exhausted and really feeling bummed about the lives some people choose to live. There are so many hurting people out there in really desperate situations in the middle of terrible, even unthinkable circumstances, that on the surface appear that they will never change and never get to a better place. Anyways, like I was saying, we were sitting there, probably wallowing a bit, when this song randomly played from iTunes. I know I must have heard this song before but in this very moment I "heard" it for the first time.

Grace tells another story by MercyMe

They say don’t waste your time
You simply cannot find
An ounce of good within the heart of man
They say we’ve got to lay
In the bed we’ve made
And live this life without a second chance
But I’m inclined to say
There must be something more

We’ve been told that the heart is just too far gone to save
But grace tells us another story
Where glory sends hopelessness away
Oh grace tells us another story

They say we cannot change
There is no other way
Get used it cause this is all there is
They say don’t raise your voice
Cause we don’t have a choice
We’re dealt this hand so learn to live with it
Well I have to believe
There must something more

WOW! "We've been told that the heart is just too far gone to save, but Grace, tells us another story!" That was the line that just exploded in my spirit. Sometimes I know we give up on people and situations that seem hopeless too quickly. For us, this was a gentle yet POWERFUL reminder to not give up! To Keep praying, to keep loving, to keep being there. One thing I often ask myself is "where would I be if it were not for grace?" In Romans 5:20 it says "But where sin increased, grace increased all the more."

So if circumstances or the situation or even someone tells you that things will not change, remember that Grace tells us another story! Thank you God for your loving Grace that you freely give to anyone who asks! I encourage you to listen to this song and I pray it brings you encouragement and lifts your spirit! Here's a link to the song in video format http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6VKwGuhS2k

Blades update

Thank you all for the prayer and thoughts for Blades. His wound is slowing showing signs of improvement. A few days ago I sat him up in bed for first time in nearly 5 months and he liked it very much!! We now sit him up and exercise his arms and legs daily. He can't wait until he can get into a wheelchair, but unfortunately he'll have to wait a bit longer until his wound heals more. I told him about my blog and that i had many of my friends praying for him and he wanted me to tell each and everyone of you "thank you" and that he "appreciated it very much."

Prayer for Blades

I would please ask all for you to pray for a man known as "Blades." He was paralyzed from the neck down after falling down some stairs in January. As a result of his immobility, he has developed a very large and complicated, life threatening, wound on his backside.

Hannah and I have been diligently caring for him daily for the past 2 weeks since he was released from the hospital. He ran fever everyday for the first 12 days or so, but "Thank God" as Blades put it yesterday, he has not had any fever in 3 days since I changed him to a very strong (donated) antibiotic that is not available here in Belize!! His wound is still infected but we may be seeing signs of slow healing. He asked me yesterday, "Doc (what he calls me), this can heal right?" I was honest and told him once again that yes it can but it is going to take a lot of "TLC" (time, love and care) and prayer. He believes God will see him through this and I would ask that you believe the same thing with us and remember Blades in your prayers. Thanks!