Beyond "Ashes and Indians" (Part II)...I almost didn't...

I don't know why we even tried to be on time with the People.  They don't let Time order them around! We quickly decided to just "go with the flow" and let them arrange the agenda.

So we spent the couple of hours before the event talking with the pastor (Primitivo),  He updated us and we talked and had a great time!
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This picture is from the end of my part in the program. (Don't worry, I'll come back to the beginning!)  I asked Primitivo to read a Bible passage in their language.  I had chosen it because of what it meant to me as we prepared for this new adventure.

Just before we left Quito on Saturday, these verses jumped out at me and gave me hope.

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!  Amen.  (Ephesians 3:20,21)

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I tried to see who I could recognize, and one quite elderly lady caught my eye.  Who was she?  I figured I could ask later.

When our part of the evening came, I started out explaining pretty much what I wrote in the first post of this series.  (Please scroll down to it, if you haven't read it.)  They are loved and remembered.  I told a couple of stories...then started one which I hadn't been sure I should include.  I almost didn't.  I thought they might remember this particular Tsachi, but maybe sort of remotely.  (Not that I can remember all their family-ramifications!)  His name was Kostó (kosh-TO; the "o's" both rhyme with the one in "old").

My husband and I lived in Australia when I had the dream. There was a huge upright cross on a lawn, and a magazine's staff wanted to take a picture of it with representatives of a variety of ethnicities.  Kostó placed himself right beside the cross.  The staff moved him to another position.  He returned to the side of the cross.  They moved him again, but he kept insisting that he belonged next to the Cross!

I wrote my parents about the dream, and...guess what!  Right at that time, they had been wondering whether or not Kostó was truly a believer. My dream confirmed for my parents that Kostó had, indeed, decided to follow Christ.
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As we were getting ready to leave that evening, my sister gave me surprising - but encouraging -  news:  Primitivo told her that the elderly lady I had been wondering about was actually Kostó's widow! Not only that, but  Primitivo's wife was Kostó's daughter! So several people there were directly related to him...and I had wondered if the story would be of interest! I pray that it will have a special meaning for them, and add a smile to their hearts.
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In the next post I'll tell you more about the rest of the program, and the time we had with these dear people...moving and special for us...and for them.

                           I'd like you to see how the verse in Ephesians proved true :
                              He did much more than we could ask or imagine!


                      

Beyond "Ashes and Indians" (Part 1)... that wasn't the end!

When we left last summer, they said, "Don't forget us!  Come back and visit us!"

I chronicled* our journey to the indigenous people with whom we grew up, and with whom our parents worked for so long...to bury Mom's and Dad's ashes in their tribal cemetery.  (Here, we posed with the pastor and his wife.)
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Remembering their words, my husband and I, along with my sister who is here visiting, are going to do just that.  On Sunday we will be with them at the church for a couple of hours in the afternoon, and then join them for their church service.

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So...what will we do?  The older people remember. They lived our parents' presence, dedication and love. The younger ones know them only from their tribal "history", only what they have heard. We can help them know Bruce and Joyce a little more, sharing pictures, stories, memories... Stories of how the God Who loved them sent someone to their tribe to give them His Word...and live for them His Love...should never disappear from their lore.  I want them to remember how important they were...and still are.

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You see...the gifting was not one-way only.  They also gave to us.  Mom and Dad valued the friendships made with these kind, generous people...together they loved, worked, cried, laughed, prayed...

Years later, Mom told me that there had been times in the tribe when she had little to feed us four kids.  But every time this happened, one of the Tsáchila would stop by with a gift of freshly-caught fish, a haunch of wild game, smoked meat, etc...

In my series last summer, I told of the time when, as a child, I saw what I thought was a turtle near the river and started reaching out to touch it.  Just in time, several little indigenous boys appeared and yelled at me that it was a snake!  Once again, God had used them to help us.

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Psalm 78 speaks beautifully of what I would love to believe will always be true of this special group of people, especially our fellow-believers.

"...we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord...statutes...the law...so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn will tell their children..."

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                             We have not forgotten the Tsáchila...but better yet,
                                      neither has God...and He never will!
                                     Father, may they always remember this.
                                         May they always remember You!
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*to read last summer's posts: Ashes and Indians, Part I

I like MY superman a lot better!

First off, let me make it clear that my ultimate defender and Protector is God.  There's no doubt about it.  He tells me this in one of my favorite passages:

"'Because he loves Me', says the Lord, 'I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my Name.  He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.'"  (Psalm 91:14,15)

However, God often works through others to love us, rescue us, protect us and be with us in trouble.

As most of you know, my health is not very good, and I am limited in many areas.

One of the ways that God defends and protects me is through the care my husband gives me.  Germán knows my limitations, and I think he lives these verses:

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."  (Galatians 6:2)

"Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives..."  (I Peter 3:7)

"And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased."  (Hebrews 13:16)

I'm sure that there are times when what Germán does for me IS a sacrifice!  But he keeps right on helping me around the house; driving me to go shopping; bringing me tea and toast when I feel too bad in the morning to get up right away; staying home sometimes when he thinks I might need him,even if he'd planned on going out; defending me; taking me for our weekly walk in the woods even when he doesn't feel very well...etc., etc.  It can't be easy for him to consistently look after my well-being.  But he doesn't complain.
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The psalmist said:

"Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in You."  (5:11)

"May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you."  (20:1)

I want to publicly thank God, my Defender and Protector, for the husband He put into my life, through whom He can spread his protection over me, and through whom He can tend to me in my distress.

                                              And thank you, Germán!  I love you.
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A Silly Poem...laughing as a couple

I can't remember what got into me when I wrote this poem, it was so long ago! I do recall that about that time, one bone of contention cited in couples was that one of them squeezed the toothpaste tube in the middle...which drove the one who squeezed it at the bottom end  crazy! ("Everybody" knows the tube should be squeezed from the bottom end, right?)
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                                          I was asked why so seldom
                                          my husband and I are
                                          seen to fight.
                                          Does it seem such a riddle?
                                          "Our toothpaste's the reason,
                                          I'm sure", I replied.
                                          "See, we both squeeze the tube
                                          in the middle!"                                 
                                                   **************                      -Becky Rhon

I never gave it a title. (Never thought it would need one!) You know, I think I wrote this before I was married, so maybe the poem should be "attributed" to Becky Moore.  (Unless the poem would prefer not to be!)
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My husband and I use separate toothpaste tubes and we both squeeze them at the end. We have had differences relating to many other issues, some laughed-off, some taking their toll, but one thing I learned early on.  Marriage is greatly helped along by laughter!  (Note: laughing with each other, not at each other.) Besides just having fun together, humor can diffuse tense situations.

Germán and I find something to laugh at every day.  Actually, it might be  just as appropriate to say that laughter finds us!  And when it does...we welcome it.  When I think of something funny when my husband isn't around, I'll tuck it away in my mind to bring out when he needs a laugh to lift his spirits.  (Not that I can always find it easily...but eventually it'll show up!)
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"A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength."  (Proverbs 17:22)  Since both my husband and I battle health problems, we can testify to the truth of this!

We have  lived through tough times, rewarding times, great occasions, hilarious moments, dramatic "adventures", desert-dry periods...but after 42 1/2 years of marriage,  I think of Psalm 126:2-3:

"Then our mouths were filled with laughter and our tongues with joyful songs.  Then the nations said, "The LORD has done spectacular things for us.  We are overjoyed."
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Friend, if you are struggling, and laughter is lacking from your life, I pray Job 8:21 for you:

"He {God} will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy."

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                                      Father, You invented laughter.  Thank You!