This rainy season has been more rainy than any before
This rainy season has been really rainy! The season started late in the year, but it came in full force. It is probably the most rain we have seen since the year we arrived to the field. This means we have been driving through many crazy puddles or rivers…not sure which name is best to call them.
Multiple times even in Dakar we have be driving through roads covered in water
On our last trip, after a 9 hour drive down south, it was time to drive through the unpaved part of the road to get out to the village where our coworkers live. We had been driving through many puddles through out the drive and even had a small creek to pass. Since we had been driving through many different collections of water we stopped being concerned when there was water ahead. Just as we were arriving to the village we drove through one more big puddle and in the middle of it our rear tires suddenly sunk in and we were stuck. We tried putting it in four wheel drive but it was too late without the momentum of driving we couldn’t press forward any more. In hindsight there are many ways we could have avoided getting stuck including having had our four wheel drive on from the beginning, or driving through a different part that was less muddy. But puddles are tricky as you never know what is underneath and therefore it is easy to think you will cross them without a problem. Two men from the village kindly came out to give us a push, but we were quite stuck. Thankfully we were close enough to our coworkers that we were able to call for help.
Here we were stuck in the mud
With a crowd around us who cheered when we were free
This was the car who came to our rescue
This was the us getting pulled out of the mud
One of the things that God has been teaching me in life is in the importance of stay vigilant and dependent on him. We face many struggles in our lives and ministry and so sometimes I start coasting through them on my own strength. Often it goes okay for a while but then suddenly I will crash and no longer have the strength to press on. I am realizing that it is not enough to turn to God to get me out once I am dug in. Sometimes what I am dug in the process of getting out is more painful. However if I would rely on him more I would avoid many of these ruts. We are realizing that an important key to staying in ministry remembering who we are serving and remaining dependent on him at all time. This is our prayer right now for ourselves, that we would not be attempting things in our own strength or trying to please the people around us, but that our hearts would be directed towards God and looking towards him for the strength and wisdom necessary for the task he has placed before us. That means that when the task looks too big we don’t need to worry because he will give us the strength we need to make it through and when the task looks manageable we still need to keep looking to him for strength because you never know what is under the surface to pull you under. So if you prayer for us, make this your prayer…that our hearts would be turned to the Lord and reliant on him at all times.
Because you just never know where the deep mud might be
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