Nature's Shower

And the rain rain rain came down down down......

DAY THIRTY-FOUR

(MONDAY) 

Today was one of those bad days turned good. The rain has been pouring down relentlessly for the last few days, turning roads into rivers and fields into lakes. For Kings class this morning we all sat huddled in a wet little circle while our teacher had to shout to be heard above the rain. The conditions are far from ideal right now, but we are pressing onward. 

In fact, today's motto soon became: "When life gives you rain, play in it!" We decided that instead of lamenting over the fact that all our possessions were getting damp and it would be impossible to stay dry ourselves, we would go out and enjoy the water and mud. It was one of the most fun things I've done in a long time! 

DAY THIRTY-FIVE

Meals and classes are canceled for today. Families from the church have been giving us refuge from the storm, and it's been such a blessed time of fellowship and just being able to stay dry! I've been staying with the Chastain family - they are so much fun and have just shown me so much kindness and hospitality. 

DAY THIRTY-SIX

Weather is still looking a bit sketchy, but classes are resuming and God is faithful. 

DAY THIRTY-NINE

It was raining a lot yesterday so I was able to return to the Chastain house and enjoy some more fellowship and dryness! If anything, the bad weather has actually been a blessing because it's allowed me to not only get more homework done, but also be able to build some great relationships with the people who are sheltering me from the elements. I feel so incredibly blessed, and I have awesome news: The Chastain family has decided to officially hanai me! This means I'll be their adopted daughter for the semester! I am so stoked! Jesus is so awesome. 

Mara, my Hanai Sister!

The rain made a beautiful waterfall for us all to enjoy!

DAY FOURTY

Tonight I got to go to the KEO homeless shelter in Lihue with some of the other students in our Christian service class, and I don't even know where to begin! Basically tonight changed my life. It's so cool how God works out things so perfectly. Here I was, just expecting to take a meal to some less-fortunate people and visit with them, and then WHAM - God hits me with a blessing and lets me meet Karen. 

Karen is a 60-year old black woman from Kansas City Missouri. Tonight she shared with me the story of how Jesus changed her life. Her words were filled with such passion and confidence...I felt like I was falling in love with Jesus for the first time all over again! I never want to forget how she relayed, in detail, the people that God placed in her life before she became a Christian who showed her what it looked like to be changed by God, and how God has been so faithful to see her through life's hardships after she placed her faith and trust in Him as her savior. All that she shared was a direct answer to prayer for me. It's funny, I left expecting to minister and ended up being ministered to! 

I am so thankful for Karen. I thank the Lord for her story of God's power and God's hope that truly changes lives. I know it changed mine. 

DAY FOURTY-ONE

The sun is out today! Still a few light showers, but praise the Lord that we can see the sun! 

Scatter Much?

The other day as I was walking up the the back path to get to the study tent, I saw a mother hen with her baby chicks up ahead of me. Now this is a VERY common sight in Kauai, but for some reason I was just touched by it. As I started to get closer (I had to pass them to get where I was going), they realized I was coming and the baby chicks freaked out. They all split in like four different directions towards the edges of the buffalo grass, and the mother hen began squawking frantically and darting back and forth, not sure which chicks to follow since they all had separated. At first I thought it was kind of funny, but then I started to feel bad so I hurriedly made my way through the little chaotic scene in front of me, and then stopped to look back and see what would happen next. I could hear the baby chicks still crying out, and the mother hen was walking down the middle of the path, poking her head towards the buffalo grass and calling out to her chicks. Whenever she got close to where a baby chick was hiding, the chick rushed out from its hiding place and went back to its mothers side. Finally they were all back together again in a tight huddle, and all was well again. 

As I was pondering this little scene I had just witnessed, the scripture came to mind from Matthew 23:37 (I had to look up the reference later - I'm not yet that brilliant to know these random cool passages off the top of my head) where Jesus laments, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" 

After seeing this little moment with the mother hen, it really just connected with me why Jesus compares himself to a mother hen who would gather her young, because this is such a great picture of love, tender care, and a willingness to lay down a life to protect. When the mother hen was separated from her chicks, she was heartbroken and unable to rest. Immediately she ran around searching for them, and at first I thought she was going to come after me too (but with different intentions)! But anyway, it just makes me think of how heartbroken and unable to rest Jesus was (and still is) over all those who rejected him. He came to love, provide tender care, and he laid down His very life, paying the ultimate price...and still there are those who willingly turn aside and refuse to be gathered. 

This also put in my mind how much the enemy delights in seeing people scattered and scared out of their minds. Those baby chicks just ran in whatever which way they could, and each one ended up alone and unable to defend itself. I could have easily snatched one up if I had had the mind to, and this just shows that when we are alone, running from the One who will care for us and protect us, it puts us in a very vulnerable spot. I know that in my own life, when something threatening or challenging happens, it's so easy to just freak out and react and run...but this is just what the enemy wants me to do. He wants nothing more than for me to be confused, scattered, and alone. But I know that I have a Protector, and I know that He is a safe-haven for all who take refuge in Him. I would much rather gather than scatter! 

PSALM 91 

¹ He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High 

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 

² I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; 

My God, in Him I will trust.” 

³ Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler 

And from the perilous pestilence. 

⁴ He shall cover you with His feathers, 

And under His wings you shall take refuge; 

His truth shall be your shield and buckler. 

⁵ You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, 

Nor of the arrow that flies by day, 

⁶ Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, 

Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. 

⁷ A thousand may fall at your side, 

And ten thousand at your right hand; 

But it shall not come near you. 

⁸ Only with your eyes shall you look, 

And see the reward of the wicked. 

⁹ Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, 

Even the Most High, your dwelling place, 

¹⁰ No evil shall befall you, 

Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; 

¹¹ For He shall give His angels charge over you, 

To keep you in all your ways. 

¹² In their hands they shall bear you up, 

Lest you dash your foot against a stone. 

¹³ You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, 

The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. 

¹⁴ “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; 

I will set him on high, because he has known My name. 

¹⁵ He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; 

I will be with him in trouble; 

I will deliver him and honor him. 

¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him, 

And show him My salvation.”