Mission Belize 2009

February 2, page 2

Roaring Creek, Belize City, DFW, Fort Smith, and Mena

Life happens. Life also is to be seized and lived – treasured really, with Friends. February 2 gets 2 entries for 2 reasons. Mission and Friendship. Which is more important? You tell me! Can they be separated? Should they be? This is how our mission ended….

The last thing Fred shared in his devotional, thru some tears, was a “Thank you” to our little troop of guys. “Six amigos coming together and being one,” he put it. He said he had experienced a “time to laugh.” It’s been six months since Nikita went to be with the Lord, and it left a hole in him that he, at times, wasn’t sure he could crawl out of. He had shared with me privately before the trip that he was thinking about asking the Lord for “six more months, because it’s so hard.” We all felt that a lot of healing came to Fred on the trip, and lots of distilled life came to us from Fred. But we were all one. He said it this way, “We were a little crazy at times, but I needed that!”

Well the day was incredibly beautiful and rewarding as our hundreds of photos and stories can attest. But it was the peace of mind and joy of helping others, and being with friends that marked that last day as we drove through the country west to east, sight seeing, daydreaming and meditating as we went. A quiet peaceful time really… punctuated with jokes on or about each other from time to time.

As we started to leave Belize, I started to feel some spiritual resistance as we headed back to the USA. I’ll leave it to prophetic people to interpret or speak to that. Our plane was delayed by a mechanical malfunction for thirty minutes. We missed our flight in from DFW to FSM due to this. We’re deciding where to spend the night, our little battle-tested group still undaunted, and in good spirits. We get a call from Carole for Ed that his mother may be dying? That changes everything. We now work together to get Ed there as soon as we can. We rent a van and drive through the night, arriving in Ft. Smith at 330am. Carole meets Ed and they drive on to Mena. The guys get home and in bed about 430-500am. Ed probably stays up almost 48 hours. But he gets to see him mom and be there when she goes to be with the Lord very peacefully, having lived a long healthy life. The guys pray for and support Ed and the family as they can the next few days. We’re grateful to share this special moment with him and to see his heart. Also to learn that his mom “knew the Lord almost her whole life, and she is probably the reason I’m saved or living today.”

Yep. Life is special. And life is brief.

Hope you’ll have More Tomorrow.