Dirt. Dust. Dry. Gray. Grime. Smoke. Along the road to Chambrun. In the trash along every road. Between the stalls in the market. Where the children play. In my nostrils when I wake up. Covering my skin after a long day. When I get tired here, sometimes I realize it's not just fatigue - it's thirst - for color, for clean air, for beauty. Over the past week, I've had the pleasure of going two places full of color and life and beauty.
We took a vegetable-scouting trip to a ministry called Double-Harvest. 30 minutes away from here, is a place where the soil is richer and the fields are full of green. I hadn't realized how starved I was for color until I was surrounded by trees and flowering bushes and fresh vegetables. We brought back tomatoes and chard and a plan to order fresh vegetables every week. I don't think I've ever been more excited about fresh vegetables! I was so inspired I began ransacking some of the seed packets here and got motivated to take over Pierre's little garden on campus.
On Saturday, after many nail-biting moments, the Big Blue Bus faithfully took us to the beach. The dusty, bumpy hour-long drive was well worth the beauty. The bright blue ocean sparkled with sunshine. Wahoo Resort's orange beach chairs stood out on the sand and were framed by palm trees and shrubs. But as I lay quietly, listening to the waves, all I could picture were the people who live everyday in the dirt...dust...dry...gray...grime...smoke and who never get a chance to see beauty.
I can not comprehend how people persevere without beauty. I know that God is good and that His grace is sufficient for those who believe. I can only pray for those people who are also living without Christ... because I can not fathom the darkness they live in and the lack of beauty and hope in their lives.
We took a vegetable-scouting trip to a ministry called Double-Harvest. 30 minutes away from here, is a place where the soil is richer and the fields are full of green. I hadn't realized how starved I was for color until I was surrounded by trees and flowering bushes and fresh vegetables. We brought back tomatoes and chard and a plan to order fresh vegetables every week. I don't think I've ever been more excited about fresh vegetables! I was so inspired I began ransacking some of the seed packets here and got motivated to take over Pierre's little garden on campus.
On Saturday, after many nail-biting moments, the Big Blue Bus faithfully took us to the beach. The dusty, bumpy hour-long drive was well worth the beauty. The bright blue ocean sparkled with sunshine. Wahoo Resort's orange beach chairs stood out on the sand and were framed by palm trees and shrubs. But as I lay quietly, listening to the waves, all I could picture were the people who live everyday in the dirt...dust...dry...gray...grime...smoke and who never get a chance to see beauty.
I can not comprehend how people persevere without beauty. I know that God is good and that His grace is sufficient for those who believe. I can only pray for those people who are also living without Christ... because I can not fathom the darkness they live in and the lack of beauty and hope in their lives.