I pondered upon the Scripture about the ten lepers in Luke 17:11-19 during the week. What I found so profound once again, was verse 14.
“So when He saw them, He said to them, ‘Go show yourselves to the priests.’ And so it was as they went, they were cleansed.”
The lepers had to obey Jesus to go to the priests to show themselves healed when in fact they were not. When they set out to go and in that act showed their obedience, the healing happened. We know that one amongst them, a Samaritan, immediately showed his gratitude and cried out to God. There are obviously many lessons to be taken from this Scripture, but this example of obedience without ‘guarantee’ resonated with me. God commands, we obey without knowing the outcome, God delivers and we thank Him no matter the outcome. The Christian life should be one of obedience and gratitude. The challenges of life make me forget that sometimes, but that is why God uses the Word to remind me.
I stepped off the plane last week and the tropical heat and humidity left me almost breathless and dizzy. Welcome home! It also seems as if our rainy season started precisely on the 1st of December. We are thankful though, because wells were running dry.
The new classroom at school is nearing completion. Dries wants to get it all done before the Christmas break. He is busy installing gutters in anticipation of all the water that will flow down the hill at school. He fell off the ladder on Wednesday or rather the ladder fell away from under him. And yes dear readers I know that you are rolling your eyes, shaking your heads and tutting with disapproval. So here it is in Dries’s own words: “I was leaning over to put a screw in and the weight on the ladder shifted and the next thing I knew, I was separated from the ladder. The Ranger’s Fly Song, ‘Up, up and away we go…’, entered my mind, but unfortunately gravity ended that idea of becoming ‘Birdie Num Num’ right away. I experienced something of a crash landing. Three meters down from the roof, hitting the embankment and another four meters down straight into a muddy ditch. On impact with the ground, I immediately turned my head from side to side and thanked the Lord that no bones seemed to be broken. It was break time at school and Euphrasie was there first to help me to stand up. I remember the children gathering round with big eyes. I confess that I needed a moment before I could get up. I don’t know how I managed to get into the Land Rover and how I got home…”
Needless to say, Dries can be thankful not to have broken any bones and he has been hobbling along in the house in a subdued way. I never received the answer to my question why nobody was holding the ladder. So, he is on ‘light duty’ until further notice.
No caption needed…
We had a good Ranger meeting on Saturday afternoon. Dino, one of our students who studies in Diego, is still here on holiday and visits Rangers regularly. He took one of the groups and he really turned out to be a good leader. We are making some Christmas decorations with the young people and wanted to do something relaxing as most of them are still writing exams.
We want to take Gabriel out tof the water before the end of January. With Dries being injured after his fall and time running out before the cyclone season, we are re-considering taking the boat out at the boatyard on the northern side of the island. All the equipment is available there and he would not need to build a trailor to do so. We will meet with the boatyard owner tomorrow morning. Please pray that God will show us which way to go.
I am happy to be back home. I did have a blessed time in South Africa. Thank you to everyone who made my stay comfortable and enjoyable, leaving me refreshed for what lies ahead.
May you have a week filled with gratitude.
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