Old or New? It's our choice...

I think the old heat diffuser, on the left, only stayed in one piece because all the little specks of burnt-out metal were desperately holding hands!  I wondered when they would give up, let go, and disintegrate!

But I kept using it because I didn't have another one to replace it.

Sound familiar?  Have you ever felt like that inside?  I have.  We may be in a flawed situation, but we stay there because we don't see anything with which to replace it.

I had looked for a new diffuser, but not seen one.  Then I remembered:  Amazon!!  Of course!  I found it there, and my sister brought me down a new one.  What a difference!  Now I could throw away the old one...because I had a new one to take its place.
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When our heart is ever in this kind of situation, remember...God!!  Of course!  If we meet someone else who feels like this, let's tell him/her about the Person who is willing and able to offer the New, to take the place of the Old...if we are willing...and if we allow Him.  It's our choice.

"You were taught... to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."  (Ephesians 4:22-24)

"...since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator."  (Colossians 3:9-10)
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It's not always easy to "put off the old", but God is always ready to act on our acceptance of the fact that our "old" needs replacing with His "new".

"...and to provide for those who grieve in Zion - to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."  (Isaiah 61:3)
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                          Our God of Love is an inexhaustible source of "newness".

                       "his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning."
                                                      (Lamentations 3:23)
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A New Poem...about a Friend, closer than...a husband...or a sister!

I don't have that many friends, but I have the blessing of living with my best (earthly) friend - my husband Germán.  He's on my left. On my right is another friend...my sister Carol, visiting us from the U.S.  We had a lot of fun!
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But I'd like to direct your thoughts to "a Friend who sticks closer than a brother". (Proverbs 18:24)

Having Him as my very Best Friend...what would it be like?  Let your heart's imagination soar with mine!

                                      It Could Be All That?

                 Friends I have few, so it's often "just me",
                 but...what if You knocked at my door, Lord?  "Here's how it could be...

                 "weaving our words, in-and-out, back and forth,
                 or sitting in silence when mere words fall short;

                 "smiling, remembering the things that we've done,
                 laughing with you at a joke or a pun;

                 "or holding you close when you need an embrace,
                 when fear makes you seek Me as your hiding place;

                 "sharing the shadows that try to creep in,
                 soothing your sadness, forgiving your sin;

                 "letting you cry when you don't understand,
                 then drying your tears with the warmth of my hand;

                 "singing with you...an impromptu duet!
                 teaching you love songs you'll never forget;
  
                                "then breaking the boundaries of time and of space
                                 to blaze you a glorious trail of pure Grace;

                                "and walking with you so you're never alone,
                                 we'd follow that trail till we're all the way Home!"

          Wow!  All that with our friendship?  All that could come true?
          Oh, Lord...how to ensure I'm best-friended by You?

                            "You have only to ask!  and then open the door,
                            for I can do, and will do, all that...and much more!"
     
                           *****************************************************Becky Rhon

It seems incredible that He is willing to put so much effort into building an eternal relationship with us! We don't even begin to deserve so much attention from such a perfect, awesome Person...yet He longs for our companionship!

                                     Let's "open the door" - and keep it open -
                               and we will see for ourselves what it means 
                                        to have Him as our Best Friend!
                               
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Beyond "Ashes and Indians" (Part Five {Part Last})...wrapping it up

Although you can't see it in the picture, there is a crack that runs down one wall, across the floor, and up the opposite wall of the church, from the big earthquake in April.  But that was only the physical church, and didn't dampen anyone's spirit.
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You've read about our precious time with the Tsáchila in Cóngoma in the last four posts.  After my talk, my brother Paul's letter and my sister Carol's slide show, my husband Germán closed the program with a prayer.  Although he himself didn't grow up around the People, he's been married to me for almost 43 years, so something has rubbed off on him!  As usual, he provided moral support for me...a great help!

After we finished, once the banana bread had been devoured (see prior post, if necessary) and everything was being gathered up, we went around the room saying goodbye to people individually.  My friend Carán took my face between her two hands, looked straight into my eyes, and told me I HAD to return. I would, I told her.  I will.  (If you don't remember who she is,  see Ashes and Indians, part 3.)
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Returning. Yes, I'll return to this unique part of the core of my childhood.  For almost 60 years, I've carried a little piece of Cóngoma (and all it meant and means) inside me.  Lately I've pulled some of that out of its cozy nesting place, to again see and hear people and things that connect us to each other.

One day we, along with Tsachi believers,  will be "returning"...to the Beginning.  We started out in innocence, not having had a chance to sin yet.  When we finally reach Heaven, we will once again be guilt-free and have no desire to sin. We'll be happier than we can ever imagine now! Like this:

"The ransomed of the Lord will return.  They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away."  (Isaiah 51:11)
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We're assured that the Tsachi Christians will, indeed, be part of the great assembly mentioned in Revelation 7:9:

"After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb."


                        Until then...I'll still carry a little piece of Cóngoma in my heart.
                                           

Beyond "Ashes and Indians", (Part IV)...never forgotten

Many years ago, Dad used to tell the Tsáchila Bible stories using a little battery-run projector, with reels of pictures that he turned one-by-one.

Now it was all electronic. In the picture, Carol is over on the left, standing beside the equipment, awaiting her turn.  (It seems none of us took a picture during the actual show, so this is the best I can do!  By the way, the church wasn't empty; the people there are just as adept at avoiding the front rows as anyone else!)

The lights were turned off, and as the pictures were projected onto the front wall, the people were "all eyes"...and quite a bit of voice! How young everyone seemed!...Look - there's So-and-So!...

Carol had compiled the photos (found among Dad's papers) chosing the ones she thought would be of most interest to them.  She had also written simple (but creative) background captions, giving the picture series a chronology, flowing along a timeline, as it were.  At the end, she told the Tsáchila that she was leaving them the flash drive with the presentation, and also the photographs themselves.
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Remembering the past...emotions re-evoked...joy of memories, but also a twinge of sadness that those times are no more...(or relief that other things are no more!).  Those feelings are pretty much universal, right? With their memories, they permeate every aspect of our lives and loves.  God made us that way, and that way fits right into its place in our spirit.  Memories can affect us in many ways...at times depressing us...enslaving us...or causing us to reflect...or lifting our spirits...or bringing us closer to the One who gives us Life and Love.

"Remember the wonders He has done, his miracles, and the judgments He pronounced."  (I Chronicles 16:12)

And isn't this AWESOME?   "He remembers his covenant forever, the word He commanded, for a thousand generations."  (I Chronicles 16:15)

And He said, "Even if mothers were to forget, I could never forget you!"  (Isaiah 49:15)
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If He never forgets or abandons us, let us never forget Him...let us never shove Him to one side...let us strive to never let anything or anyone else be more important to us.

 Let us all, along with our Tsáchi brothers and sisters, say:

                   "Yes, Lord, walking in the ways of your laws, we wait for You; 
                     your name and renown are the desire of our hearts." (Isaiah 26:8)
                                                 
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(The final Part will be posted soon!)

Beyond "Ashes and Indians" (Part III) ..."Pig-food" Bread and other changes

When our family first moved to Cóngoma almost 60 years ago, the Tsáchila gave us free run of their large banana patches.  Plantains were their chief food staple.  They thought it odd that we liked the eating-bananas.  After all, they only used them to feed the pigs!

It didn't take too long for them to accept a change...thanks to Mom's Banana Bread!  When preparing for this trip, I baked a bunch of this specialty to share with them, for "old times' sake"..  I thought I had made more than enough, but even the crumbs disappeared.  This was at the end of the service (see picture).

There I go, starting at the end again!  Sorry...back to where I left off last time.
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During the service,  I read them a letter from my brother Paul.  He spoke of changes that had been happening over the years.  For example, many of them have cell phones now,  ride in cars, and make their houses out of cement blocks instead of wood from the jungle.  He told of a Tsachi to whom Mom had served tuna, who told her that he didn't know how to eat that food....but now they all use canned tuna.

They had weathered changes, made adaptations, and come out on top, often by uniting and supporting each other.  Paul urged them to continue with this same attitude in facing future changes, and wished them God's deepest blessings as they go on.
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I thought of another change.  Almost 60 years ago, the witch-doctor who led the area where we lived was adamant that no Tsáchila were to learn to read, because then they would become like the "white man" (not a positive thing, to them).  Over time, he understood that reading could only help them.  They could avoid being misled by the white man, who would take advantage of the fact that they couldn't read title deeds or contracts, etc., and end up cheating them.  (Later, reading God's Word would be essential.)

I mentioned to them that Mom and Dad always hoped the Tsáchila would keep their native dress, and, even more importantly, their native language.  They mustn't lose this integral part of their unique identity.  It would be tragic to find over time that no one spoke Tsáfiqui (the true language) anymore.
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Changes are inevitable.  For us...for them.  Some people want nothing to change.  Like the Sanhedrin who bribed false witnesses to accuse Stephen:  "For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy the Temple and change the customs Moses handed down to us."  (Acts 6:14)  For some, the thought of change brings fear and uncertainty.  We can't always control what we aren't familiar with.  Or maybe it would make us take too close a look at things in us we'd rather not address.

The one Great Change that no human being can afford to disregard is that of the inner man...the soul...the spirit:  from lost sinner to saved sinner.  A change only made possible by the Grace of God.  He can help us meet all other changes, and know which ones are profitable, and which ones are not.

God is the only reliable standard by which changes (and anything else) can be measured.  And it is reliable because He never changes!

                              Malachi 3:6:  "For I am the Lord, I change not."    Awesome!
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(Check in soon for the next part.)