Love Never Fails

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7/4/06

I am slightly jealous of everyone that gets to celebrate Independence Day. The last time that I was able to set off little fireworks and such was two years ago. Last year I was in the middle of Arizona and there were fire bans everywhere. This year I am in a country where the independence of the United Stated means nothing. But I do get to celebrate because it is Ntate’s (unedati’s, I finally figured out how the word it spelled but my spelling is how it is said) birthday. I want to say happy birthday to him and also a very happy birthday to my Aunt Daryl also. I really enjoy Independence Day, it is a great holiday. I think that I enjoy it so much because it is so beautiful outside and everyone is all jolly and we all sit around outside and enjoy the beauty of everything and then there are these amazing colors that flash across the sky after dark. The sounds that the night makes, the fresh summer air smell, children running around everywhere, it is just such a good time. I even enjoy the mosquitoes biting a little bit. So I hope that you all have had a wonderful Independence Day.

Today was a nice day, we went to Bethlehem and got spoiled. This morning we had breakfast there at a little gas station diner type of thing. Then we went to visit the friends at the coal distributor and she had made some wonderful milktart, the taste reminded me of my grandmother’s rice pudding that she used to make, it was great. Please continue to pray for this couple as they are still having a difficult time getting coal and propane and as a result people are freezing because they depend on that to keep warn. This is one of the coldest winter’s this country has ever had and they are exporting their heating resources to China and Japan, it is a pity. Henny said that this morning he got to work at 7:30 and there were people there waiting for him to open so that they could get coal. His man waits at the mine to fill up for days and all the while Henny has to pay him overtime just while he sits and waits. It is a sad state of affairs.

We then went to visit Mary, she is a sweet women of 92 years who lives in a retirement home. She does not like to be there but she is not bitter. She truly is such an encouragement to me because she stills finds things to be chipper about even though her circumstance may not be ideal. On the way out from visiting her we bumped into a woman and got to talking and found out that she used to live in Fouriesburg (where I reside) and now lives in an apartment in the same development as Mary. God’s sense of humor and way of making appointments is so great. Ntate just talked to her about her dog and that is how the whole conversation got started, she invited us for tea but we were just leaving but Ntate got all of here information. Maybe this is another ministry door opened, how great Thou art.

These two women really got me thinking about how fortunate I am to have friends and family. I think of how often I take this for granted. There are millions of children in this country who have been orphaned and have no one that cares for them and then there are the elderly who are just passed off by their families or are the last of their family left. They appreciate the littlest bit of attention that is given to them. I just cannot imagine the loneliness that these people must feel. I sometimes get discouraged here because the fellowship here is different from what I am used to, but I still know that people care. I sometimes get frustrated with different people because of there lifestyles or because we disagree on something but at least I have people with which I have a personal relationship with that I can disagree or have a difference of opinion with. I am really going to try to be more intentional with people that may have no one or have been passed off by their family, I mean how much does it take to encourage someone who has no one and how much of an impact does that take. Isn’t this a part of what Christianity is all about? I can never have enough love.

1 Corinthians 13:13

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

After Mary we had lunch, went shopping, and had some dessert at a restaurant which we go to pretty often and they gave it to us for free because it was Ntate’s birthday so it was a pretty good day overall.

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