The Big Dump

Daphne and I just returned from Orlando after visiting my folks for four days.  Wouldn't you know it that the exact days we were away Conifer was hit with the "Big Dump" of snow for this winter.  I think in those four days we got 30 inches of snow - more than we've had the rest of the winter combined.  Our neighbor Carol came and plowed for us a couple of times, and Cortland (who stayed with the girls with his wife Crystal) used the Quad to plow as well.  We have a wall of snow on either side of our driveway now (see picture below) and I'll need to get another friend to push the snow over the edge of the hill before the next snowfall, or there'll be nowhere to push the snow out of the way.

Back Deck at 6 a.m.

Back deck

Our house early this mornin

As we were coming down our road towards our house yesterday (on our way home from the airport) we found our mailman signaling us to slow down.  His truck had slid off the edge of the road just past our house, but the back of the vehicle was still sticking out into the road.  He'd stopped just a foot or two from plunging another 10-15 feet down into the ravine.  Apparently another car did go all the way down this past weekend and had to be pulled out. I dropped Daphne at home then came back and pulled him out of the snow with my truck; you gotta love big engines and 4WD!  At least I've had the chance to meet our mailman now - his name is Rusty.

Orlando was wet, cool and humid.  I slept much more soundly down there, I assume due to the increased level of oxygen.  Makes me wonder if I should see if supplemental oxygen would help me up here... wait a minute - am I really that old now??  Yikes.  Daphne and I really enjoyed the time with my folks, and on Saturday evening we had something of a reunion with many of the friends we'd served with the past 10 years in the NAMESTAN team in France.  I was struck by how radically different our lives are, now that we're in Colorado and part of the church team.  While I admit it was fun to see our friends again, I was struck by the realization that I really have no desire to return to our former life with CCC.  I guess it was a good confirmation that God has moved us to a new place and a different calling in life.  Other than our best friends Scott and Mary, this was the first time we'd seen any of our former teammates.  I was struck by another sobering fact as well: virtually everyone who came to the "mini reunion" had left the mission field as a member of the Walking Wounded.  This fact saddened me considerably.  How is it that so many mature, faithful staff members can return from an international ministry assignment with deep emotional scars, without the organizational leadership responding with a serious evaluation of the causes?  At some point my respect for Christian leaders is contingent on how they respond to the needs of their people - and in this case I have to say that the response has been underwhelming.

Moving on.  I spoke last night on the topic of Persecution.  My main point is that our faith is BY DESIGN a risky venture.  Jesus not only suffered greatly Himself, but He promised that as His children we would suffer as well.  Not exactly the kind of promises we like to claim, are they?  I am convinced that true peace is only possible in the midst of trials and hardships - not in spite of them.  It's a question of contrast, just like the fact that we appreciate the sunshine all the more after the storm.  Somehow in Christendom we've come to equate the Christian Life with health, wealth and prosperity - all the while ignoring the reality that by FAR the vast majority of believers throughout church history have not enjoyed the relative comfort of the western church today.  I've just finished reading an excellent book called "The Barbarian Way" by Erwin Mcmanus.  The author asks a disturbing question: Would God knowingly and willingly lead His children into the face of danger?  The answer, both biblically and experientially, is a resounding YES.  We love to quote the now famous statement: "The safest place to be is in the center of God's will".  However, most people have no idea that this statement was made by Betsie Ten Boom in the middle of the German invasion of Holland, nor that Betsie died of disease in Ravensbruck concentration camp only weeks after making this statement.  Therefore the word "Safe" has a different biblical definition than the way we use the word today.  Biblically speaking, "Safety" is a more a statement of WHO than WHAT.  It has nothing to do with our health, protection from physical harm or the provision of our needs - but everything to do with finding emotional and spiritual shelter in the strong arms of the one who controls every event of our lives.  In this sense then, safety will surely mean hardship, trials and loss.  But it also means a life of freedom from fear, a life of experiencing the supernatural hand of God in our lives on a daily basis, of the wild adventure of hearing the voice of God Himself saying "Follow Me".  This must have been what Paul meant when he penned these words in 2 Corinthians 4:
       "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;  we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;  persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.  For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh."