famous last words

last week i read a book called "the note" by angela hunt. the premise of the book is a note that survived a plane crash that were last words from a father. the note was short and sweet "t, all is forgiven. i love you. dad" the book was very good. thru her search for the recipient of the note the heroine of the book must battle her own demons and find some reconciliation of her own.

it made me wonder what my last words would be and who would i want them to go to. if i were to die today, are there any i should reconcile with? are there any in my life who don't know of or doubt my love for them? or should i instead send my thanks to someone? who and why? or is there some other word that should be said? again why and who?

this is not meant to be a melancholy note. it was to recommend a book and share with you some of the thoughts of my mind...it is after all "my mind out loud" hehe ;-)

ps. for those of you who recently have posted comments and found them gone, if they contained your email address, i removed them for your protection. thanks for the comments. they were read and appreciated. and your email is now in my email in a safe place.

opposites

During our prayer time a couple of days ago we were praying for the Holy Spirit to come and move and intercede and some words of His ways of working came to mind. the ways seem weirdly opposite but both are necessary works of the Holy Spirit

--reveal our sins and cover us over in His blood/peace

--break our hearts and bind up the broken

--wound and heal

--admonish and encourage

--pour us out and fill us up

--speak for us and hear us

Any you can think of?

benin

ok, i've been trying to figure out how to write this without sounded like a fractured wikipedia note about benin. i guess i'll start with a few facts and end with first impressions. unfortunately i have no photos to go with first impressions.

we arrived into port in cotonou, benin on tuesday 10 february. our original arrival was supposed to happen on monday afternoon but due to some engine trouble, we rode at anchor most of monday and then quietly slipped into our berth on tuesday. is is definitely west africa. hot. humid. a few half sunken ships in the harbor. there is a bit of leftover haze from the saharan dust cloud called the harmattan which was in the air in january.

benin itself used to be a french colony before gaining their independence. it is bordered to the east by nigeria, to the west by togo and to the north by both burkina faso and niger. the primary language is french with many tribal dialects. the primary religion according to the census is Chrisitan. almost equally as influential is islam and voodoo. in fact, benin is the voodoo capital of the world. and many combine some of their ancestral/tribal worship styles (knowingly or not) with their Christian and muslim faith practices. although there is still significan poverty, there has also been large development of the nation recently. (end of facts...check out wikipedia for more :) !)

it is almost hard to believe i am in west africa. the city on the surface seems much more developed. there are many buildings that are multi-level. they are intact, not war-damaged. the streets are paved. there are sidewalks. restaurants. the atmosphere feels safer. perhaps it is the lack of u.n. tanks. but, there are still armed guards into certain buildings and it is weird how i feel that someone standing at a gate with an assault rifle is normal. i admit to some apprehension at the level of spiritual darkness here.

but, i am glad to be here. i am glad to get the work started again. i'll share more about the work in my next couple of posts. we have our screening days on thursday and friday to evaluate the benin people as surgical candidates. if they are approved, we will "book" them for their surgery date then and we begin surgeries on tuesday 24 february. please be in prayer for both those who will be coming to the ship for surgeries and also for those who are not candidates.

sorry it's a bit boring but hopefully the next will be better =)

hands

Some thoughts about God’s character revealed by descriptions of His hands.


I started a study of God’s hands to see what it revealed about His character after our Scripture memory group memorized a verse about His hands. And after reading all 1409 verses in the Bible that speak of hand (not necessarily God’s) this is what His hands say about Him…

In His hands: life, deliverance, greatness, power, abundance, good, fulfillment, eternal pleasures, salvation, discipline, awesome deeds, all things come, we are held within, healing, the world, longevity, and satisfaction.

His hands are: mighty, strong, favorable, good, majestic, omnipotent, filled with righteousness, and exalted. His hands: cover me, uphold, fight for, shadow us, help, created, sustain, and guide.

And although I read, I did not mark all the verses that spoke of His discipline…it too is His character…He disciplines those He loves but how dreadful His hand upon or against those opposed to Him.

blog about benin mid-week. sorry i haven't done it yet.

last days of tenerife

so i was reminded last night that i needed to blog...which i already knew but it has been hard figuring out what to blog about. although tenerife wasn't fully a vacation, it was a bit and it is hard to write about that to people at home who are praying for and financially supporting my work when i'm not really doing it for a month. but the work the deck and engineering departments did during that "vacation" time was necessary so it all works together somehow. the rest and refreshment of the time was needed as we are about to enter a season of busy-ness. we arrive to benin on monday (and more about that monday i hope) to begin the medical work again.

for now, i'll wrap up tenerife for you.

highlights...we got to go for some beautiful drives. (apart from the motion sickness of riding up mountain roads that looked as if a child developed the road plan). the island is beautiful. i'm only half joking when i say i could retire here. there is the beauty of the spanish villages tucked into the mountainside. the mountains and the ocean, my two favorite terrains tucked up next to each other. often, the higher we got into the mountains, the more a blanket of mist settled around us making far sight difficult. but then, you would come through the mist and this lush green mountain would be backdropped by the ocean waves crashing into the beach. we also were able to eat at some seriously yummy restaurants. one weekend we drove through the misting rain up towards "el teide" the slumbering volcano from which the island was birthed. it was one of those days when the mist just lifted and wow...a snow covered peak rising above fields of a ragged rocky bed where the volcano had once upon a time spewed forth rock and lava. some of the more adventurous in our group climbed about half way up but i was content to scramble over the rock bed figuring out my way up this boulder and behind that one. my last weekend in tenerife was spent camping and hiking. it was cold and wet and a blast! it misted part of our hike up to the camping area and then it began to outright rain so we arrived wet and cold. after setting up tents and getting dry-ish, the guys got a fire going and we pretty much spent the rest of the day around it eating some fantastic food (thanks to cathy) and staying warm and chatting and having a worship session and playing silly campfire games and taking a walk in the dark. the next morning, it had dried up a bit and we had a wonderful breakfast of pancakes (thanks to daniel) and fried potatoes with eggs and toast (thanks to cathy and marylou for that) and coffee and tea. shortly after we finished breakfast and another worship session, park rangers showed up and told us we couldn't camp there, burn a fire there, or park the vehicle where it was. by God's grace we had a spanish speaker with us who was able to help us clear up the mess and the rangers were very nice to let us off with a warning b/c we had an old map that designated that as a camping spot. half the group went home at this point but the rest of us opted for a hike. it was beautiful and wet and muddy. at the top of the mountain daniel shared a bit from God's Word and then hiking down and a lunch of pb&j sandwhiches before heading down to the bus and back to the ship. and getting to meet amy's dad, miriam's mom and dad, and sarah's parents and sister.

lowlights...the aforementioned park rangers. my cabin-mate and dear friend having to be hospitalized.

below are some pics from el teide and camping.