Trees

This is how they cut down trees in Rwanda...no axes, no chainsaws....only Mother nature!



Speaking of trees...on Friday, my kids wrote in their journals about trees. The topic was: "If you could be any kind of tree, and grow anywhere, what tree would you be, where would you grow, and what would your purpose be?"

They came up with some very beautiful, creative, and insightful responses. Some said they wanted to be the palm branches so they could praise Jesus and sing Hosanna this Sunday. One said she wanted to be an apple tree to provide luscious fruit to all God's children. One said he wanted to be the tallest tree ever so when people looked up at Him, they would be looking towards Heaven. One said he wanted to be chopped down and made into a boat that takes people out in the ocean so they can scuba dive and see the great and giant ocean that God created! One girl said she would be the cross that Jesus died on. Another said she would be a "fun" tree, where friends and lovers could have picnics underneath. They had fun with it, and I was blessed after reading all of them!

This journal made me stop and think about trees for a moment...and do a little research. Did you know that the Bible contains 525 references to trees or wood? More than any other type of living organism, except humans? There are 22 trees recognized in the Bible. (I won't name them all.) But it makes you think about what a wonderful symbol of life a tree is. I can sit and admire a tree's size, age, the beauty of it's branches, or the mystery of it's bareness. Trees have always impressed me, nature in general impresses me! I've seen some ancient, just remarkable old trees in Africa. Often times, the tree is the center of life for a village. The tree marks the spot where the Maasi trades his cattle, or takes a new wife. Where the women sit and weave here in Rwanda, and the baby lies patiently in the grass. Where the kids play with their "tire" car, and their mom sells bananas nearby. Baobab trees are my favorite. They are so exotic, and mystery, with their bizarre looking arms stretching out in all kinds of directions, and a huge trunk that you can live in! A tree can't get any cooler than that! Trees represent life...they give food, beauty, protection, and they are also used in many holy books to describe how we are to live.

"He is like a tree planted by a stream of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
Psalms 1:3

"The righteous will flourish like a palm tree; they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon."
Psalms 92:12

I thought this verse in the Koran was interesting as well...

"Do you not see how God compares a good word to a good tree? Its root is firm and its branches are in the sky; it yields its fruit in every season by God’s leave. God speaks in parables to mankind so that they may take heed. But an evil word is like an evil tree torn out of the earth and shorn of all its roots."
Sura 14:24-25

I think about the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden, the Ark, Noah's ark, the tree that allowed Zaccheus to see Jesus, the tree of life in paradise in Revelation. Trees were important in the Bible, and they still are now! As my kids were writing, I was trying to answer the question as well. What kind of tree would you be? What would your purpose be? Would you be a tree that just stood there, doing nothing, but allowed a old tax collector the chance to see the face of Jesus? Whatever tree we would be, let us be one that bears many fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

I bummed this blog...

I bummed this quote from a friend's blog, and it has really spoken to me this weekend about friendships I've developed here and in the past, about relationships I've been in, about children I've lived with and worked with...

"If forming friendships with exploited people is important to us, we will be drawn into some complicated situations. We will probably get splashed with some of the ambiguity and uncertainty. Can we really be friends of war criminals and girls who abuse their unborn children? What does it mean—for us, for them, for mission?Ambiguities often cause us to pull away. The circumstances are too tainted, too unclear. We worry about becoming complicit in the evil, about facilitating the wrong or being personally corrupted. It’s not just these very dramatic circumstances that challenge us—anyone who has a family member or close friend who struggles with an addiction knows about some of these questions.We want to fix things and people. As Christians, we long to bring healing to broken circumstances and to be instruments of God’s reconciling and healing work. Americans tend to take that a step further and expect to be able to solve problems quickly, on our terms and with our tools. But that assumes a level of power and control that is sometimes unavailable and often inappropriate."—

“Friendship at the Margins: Discovering Mutuality in Service and Mission,” by Chris Heuertz and Christine Pohl (IVP, 2010): page 96

I've always desired to love those who are living on the "margins," the ones who are among the "least" of us. The ones others may say are unlovable. The broken. Or the people who I feel like I can "fix." These type of relationships have the ability to be very tricky, to say the least. Not to mention, we all are broken in so many ways. But I do feel a strong leading to live on the margins. To be available to all people. To be translucent and open, and not fearful of people and cirsumstances that are somehow different than how I was raised, or how I believe. But this is not always so simple...it's hard sometimes to trust, and hard not to place my desires for these people above what God desires for them. To surrender my efforts to fix something or change something, and instead realize that it's not by me, but only from the Holy Spirit that change can occur. Or love can flow. It's through the Holy Spirit, by God's grace. Not anything Emily can accomplish by befriending someone. But even though these relationships sometimes scare me, and sometimes I worry about what others may think, I know that I'm in the right place, and I pray to God that he continues to show me things and reveal things to me through these relationships and friendships. I need patience and strength and a deeper love than my own!

Akagera pics

Buffalo

I was just reading in the guidebook about buffalo and how more people are killed by buffalo in Africa than by any other wild animal. The book says when you encounter a wild one, you're supposed to either throw a rock at them (not my first choice), or try the much safer retreat-steadily-without-taking-your-eyes-off-them-until-they're-gone approach. I wish I had read this before my camping overnight in Akagera Park on Saturday. Let me just tell you some things I learned from my camping trip.



#1. It's not a good idea to "go jogging" or even go for a nice stroll in a gamepark.



#2 When you see a buffalo 2 feet away from you, rise up in the grass and come towards you, it's not a good idea to curse and then run full speed in the other direction. They can run too.



#3 When you trip and fall after running from the buffalo, and all you have is a scraped up knee, elbow, and hands, you thank the good Lord, through your tears.



#4 When you're camping high up on a ridge in the wind, a fire is not an easy thing to start. (even if you're camping with an Eagle Scout.) So don't bring a good book with you, one that you would mind if the pages got torn out.



#5 When camping on the ridge, be prepared to eat only a tomato and a passion fruit for dinner, cause you will never get the fire started, even after pouring hand sanitizer on the wet wood.



#6 Don't waste your good hand sanitizer from the U.S. It's not worth it. Just eat the tomato.



#7Don't be alarmed when you wake up during the night because you hear the buffalo mating. It's natural.



#8 Don't be scared of the zebra that are at your tent in the morning. They are beautiful and harmless creatures. God definitely had a sense of humor when he created zebras!



#9 Giraffes don't like it when you try to run up and pet them. and....



#10 Don't miss the sunset, sunrise, or the stars. There's nothing like it in the open African sky.



I'll post a few pictures in a minute!

Simply Hibi

I found a new love in Rwanda...hibiscus juice! Its amazing! And it's grown by local farmers here and in Uganda. 100% hibiscus juice. Tastes similar to cranberry juice, but richer. I never thought flowers would be so tasty. But I gotta bring some of this home!

Don't worry

Just heard some wisdom from Bob Marley echoing from the local market on my run......

"Don't worry 'bout a thing...cause every little thing is gonna be allright!"

Coupled with what Jesus tells us in Matthew, I think we'll be ok!

"Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself."

Open my eyes and let me see

"What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see." "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. ~Mark 10:51-52

Thank you Lord for opening our eyes to things we need to see every day. We come in faith, asking you to continue to open our eyes, and remove all the scales. We want to see you in everyone, every place, in all circumstances. We are calling out to you like Bartimaeus. Hear us Lord.

My kids are performing a play on this story Wednesday for chapel. It's really resonated with me this week. Bartimaeus was a beggar, he was needy. But he came believing! He came believing and his sight was restored. Verse 50 says that he literally jumped up to his feet and came over to Jesus. Lord, may we continue to jump to our feet when you call us, with as faithful and joyful a jump as Bartimaeus's.

I love this song by Brandon Heath...here's the chorus...

Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see