Que culebra mas fea...

Thankfully tonight the Tigers were on the rebound and came out with a win over South Carolina 24-17. I am sure my parents are happy as they kept their road trip on the road and continued on to South Carolina to see the Tigers play for a second time. We had another good week here in the jungle. The rain definitely picked it up a notch and I found it to be a very unproductive week as far as work was concerned, but the Lord is bringing about a lot of other really cool things.

In a way I think the rain is good. I think what ends up happening is more people come together to spend time together talking and what not. We are beginning to see our relationships with those in the community take on a new level of friendship and feel more connected than ever. I think it is something the Lord is simply doing here in our local community and our lives. It has been great.

A couple of weeks ago I got the idea to take some of the boys from our church to a local snake/reptile zoo. After forgetting two weeks in a row, this week the plans came together and off we went. They were really excited about the half day excursion and it was a blessing to be able to do something like this for these kids. We went to the reptile zoo, ate lunch, and went to a waterfall. In the end everyone had a blast, it was great--- I hope we can plan more things like this in the future.

These three boys all have different backgrounds, but I would venture to say that their stories are probably a dime-a-dozen in the community--- from the absentee father, unknown father, and alcoholic father who is more like just another next-door neighbor. I can only pray that the body of Christ can be a useful extension of our Heavenly Father showing young boys like these their Abba Father. As the body of Christ we have the promise of the Word that He will reveal Himself by the Spirit in Truth and in His people, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” He beckons us to the mystery of abiding in the “True Vine” and He will do His work. Any approach we take to aid, help, comfort, and heal this hurting world outside of this abiding will be like placing a band-aid on a deep and infectious wound.