Howard Jonathan and I have been home now for about ten days. As always, we jumped right back into ministry, work and life. Ecuador is powered by hydroelectricity, we arrived home in the middle of their worse drought in forty years. What this means is everyone is put on a rotating schedule for power outages. Quito city dwellers have their power down from 11-2 each day, while ours has been out every other day from 7-10 in the evening.
As I was walking around the property I was struck by the tree you see in the photo above. As you can tell from the berm, the drought has taken its toll, things are really brown and dry. Yet, in the midst of it, this tree has actually "bloomed". How is it, in the midst of rough circumstances there always seems to be something which, in spite of the times thrive? I have observed this in people we talked too as well. We had an intern here last winter that was probably the most positive person I've met. Her story, however is one of trial, abandoned as an orphan, adopted and moved to an entirely new country and culture and lost a parent to cancer. However, that is not her focus. Her focus is completely on the provision by the hand of God. In spite of circumstances she has actually thrived. While she was here she applied too and was accepted to Seminary. Always pursuing ever thriving.
The first and last lines of my devotion this morning were, "Problems are part of life. They are inescapable woven into the very fabric of this fallen world.....Remember that you are en route to heaven, and let your problems fade in the Light of eternity."(Young, Sarah "Jesus Calling") Can I do that? Can I be a person who thrives "in spite of..."
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