As the deer panteth for the water so my soul longeth after thee.
You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship thee.
Dry season has been over for about a month as I post this…..electricity, internet, and no time to spell check…
Dust…
Dust hangs in the air we breathe. Dust billows around our feet when we step out the door. Dust must be wiped off the laundry lines each morning before I hang the clean clothes. On my way back from market I notice that I am wading through dust. I wipe the table after dinner, but must wipe it again before breakfast the next morning and the cloth comes up red, the color of the dust that settled there overnight. Dust makes me cough and I wonder if my lungs will survive dry season in Cameroon. I blow my nose after a walk and my Kleenex is red (OK, I know it’s gross). Do my lungs look the same way?
Rain…
At the same time the seminary has run out of resources (i.e. money) for the year and has decided the water pump costs too much to run at $20 USD a day. So we can expect no more running water until the end of the year. This means that at $2 a drum, we must conserve and not waste a drop until the long-awaited rains arrive. We did receive rain two days in a row about two weeks ago, which settled the dust for a few days, but the dryness is so great that much more is needed. And of course, the water that filled our drum that day was mostly mud since all the dust that had settled on our roof was washed along with it into our drum. Once the rains come we can collect the rain water from our gutters in buckets, and our drum will fill for free. I have never longed for rain so much.
Oh, for water! I’m practically panting. I would sing along with Bilbo his favorite bath-song,
“Sing hey! For the bath at close of day that washes the weary mud away!
A loon is he that will not sing: O! Water Hot is a noble thing!
O! Sweet is the sound of falling rain, and the brook that leaps from hill to plain;
But better than rain or rippling streams is Water Hot that smokes and steams.
O! Water cold we may pour at need down a thirsty throat and be glad indeed;
But better is Beer, if drink we lack, and Water Hot poured down the back.
O! Water is fair that leaps on high in a fountain white beneath the sky;
But never did fountain sound so sweet as splashing Hot Water with my feet!”
Thanks to J.R.R. Tolkien for his comments on the current water problems at C.B.T.S. and to my lovely neighbor, Linda, for bringing it to my attention.
Bibles…
The dust and the rain bring me to Bibles. Do I long for God’s word as much as I long for rain this year? Am I thirsty to read Scripture as my body is thirsty for a hot shower? Several students at our seminary have no copy of the Bible, or perhaps just a new testament, or even just a gospel of John. I wonder how it is that they have funds to pay for a seminary education, the stated goal being to study God’s Word, and yet not have bothered to raise funds for a copy of God’s Word (yes! It’s available here) first. Once I have water, will I appreciate it? Since I have a Bible, do I appreciate it, read it, grow from it, get to know my Savior better? Am I happy with a “bucket bath” in God’s Word each day, or do I immerse myself getting to know the Living Water of my soul? Do I “Sing hey, for the living water that washes my soul at start of day! … O! Water Living is a noble thing!”
As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after Thee…
You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship thee.
Dry season has been over for about a month as I post this…..electricity, internet, and no time to spell check…
Dust…
Dust hangs in the air we breathe. Dust billows around our feet when we step out the door. Dust must be wiped off the laundry lines each morning before I hang the clean clothes. On my way back from market I notice that I am wading through dust. I wipe the table after dinner, but must wipe it again before breakfast the next morning and the cloth comes up red, the color of the dust that settled there overnight. Dust makes me cough and I wonder if my lungs will survive dry season in Cameroon. I blow my nose after a walk and my Kleenex is red (OK, I know it’s gross). Do my lungs look the same way?
Rain…
At the same time the seminary has run out of resources (i.e. money) for the year and has decided the water pump costs too much to run at $20 USD a day. So we can expect no more running water until the end of the year. This means that at $2 a drum, we must conserve and not waste a drop until the long-awaited rains arrive. We did receive rain two days in a row about two weeks ago, which settled the dust for a few days, but the dryness is so great that much more is needed. And of course, the water that filled our drum that day was mostly mud since all the dust that had settled on our roof was washed along with it into our drum. Once the rains come we can collect the rain water from our gutters in buckets, and our drum will fill for free. I have never longed for rain so much.
Oh, for water! I’m practically panting. I would sing along with Bilbo his favorite bath-song,
“Sing hey! For the bath at close of day that washes the weary mud away!
A loon is he that will not sing: O! Water Hot is a noble thing!
O! Sweet is the sound of falling rain, and the brook that leaps from hill to plain;
But better than rain or rippling streams is Water Hot that smokes and steams.
O! Water cold we may pour at need down a thirsty throat and be glad indeed;
But better is Beer, if drink we lack, and Water Hot poured down the back.
O! Water is fair that leaps on high in a fountain white beneath the sky;
But never did fountain sound so sweet as splashing Hot Water with my feet!”
Thanks to J.R.R. Tolkien for his comments on the current water problems at C.B.T.S. and to my lovely neighbor, Linda, for bringing it to my attention.
Bibles…
The dust and the rain bring me to Bibles. Do I long for God’s word as much as I long for rain this year? Am I thirsty to read Scripture as my body is thirsty for a hot shower? Several students at our seminary have no copy of the Bible, or perhaps just a new testament, or even just a gospel of John. I wonder how it is that they have funds to pay for a seminary education, the stated goal being to study God’s Word, and yet not have bothered to raise funds for a copy of God’s Word (yes! It’s available here) first. Once I have water, will I appreciate it? Since I have a Bible, do I appreciate it, read it, grow from it, get to know my Savior better? Am I happy with a “bucket bath” in God’s Word each day, or do I immerse myself getting to know the Living Water of my soul? Do I “Sing hey, for the living water that washes my soul at start of day! … O! Water Living is a noble thing!”
As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after Thee…
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