It’s amazing how routines, rhythms, and seasons affect our perception of time and movement in life. We know it’s the end of summer back home which typically signals a variety of adjustments to life. Yet here, there are no seasons, and individual months have essentially no difference at all. The days can go by so slowly, yet the months seem to just melt together and looking back it’s hard to differentiate any of them.
All of that to say, “We hope the transition back into life-after-summer is going well!”
Random fun fact here. The el niño weather cycle is really showing its teeth. We’ve only had one rain in the last couple months. Everything is drying up to the point that the jungle is catching fire and peoples’ primary sources of food in their gardens are either dying from lack of water or being burned up in bush fires. If the smart people of the world are right, this is probably just the early stages of a record breaking drought.
The pictures below are from a few weeks ago before things got a bit more crispy.
Well Laid Plans
If you have a “strong memory box,” as they say here, you might remember a few months ago that we were looking forward to some really good opportunities to work alongside and disciple two faithful men in the church. Hodgdons were heading home for 6 months, and it was a strategic time for these two guys to step into a more active role in the church as well as in the ongoing, intentional conversations in the community an hour away.
As we look into the years ahead, we want to be faithful in our own lives with Jesus, and we want to “pass these things on to faithful men” — 2 Tim. 2:2.
Intentional thoughts and plans always look good on paper. Yet somehow when humans are living life with other humans, stuff typically doesn’t happen the way we hoped or planned. Real life always demands humility, Spirit-led wisdom, and supernatural work.
Reality
The simple summary of reality with these two guys is that one has been doing really well, and the other hasn’t been around much.
The last few months have been a very scattered time for most everyone in the church. For these guys there have been family needs, community demands, extended family responsibilities, etc. One of the guys in particular has been traveling a lot. He has been gone and/or disengaged for almost the entirety of the last few months. Unfortunately, his time away has had some other trickle-down effects within his family and in the church. Nothing dramatic has happened, but some chances have been missed.
While one of the guys has been away, it has been fun to see the other intentionally choosing to step sacrificially into some opportunities to grow personally as well as help others.
In the midst of some hard days, there has been a lot to be thankful for:
Seeing people grow in clarity & faithfulness; seeing some choose sacrificial living; seeing years of love & truth start to affect spouses and others in the community.
Dependence
We are all regularly recognizing little patterns that we have developed in our flesh. Our lives have to become characterized by recognition, turning again to God, and choosing life with Him.
The reality of life has so many ups and downs as the flesh and Spirit offer opposing sources for our focus and affections. Amazing things, often small & hard to see, happen in us as we walk with Jesus and His Spirit works in us. Sad things, always self centered, happen as we walk in all the other stuff that is not sourced in life with God.
When seen in the right frame, reality pushes into a deeper dependence on the One who knows, sees, and has the ability to work in hearts & minds.
Keep Praying
Pray that the faithful men and women in the church would continue to grow in humility, strength, wisdom, and love.
Pray that we would more boldly speak truth in love to each other in the church family.
Pray that individuals in the church would see themselves and each other with God’s eyes … choosing to love, forgive, communicate, and fight FOR each other instead of against.
KONOMALA 