Ridiculously Blessed

The Baradero team two weeks ago, working hard in beautiful late summer surroundings.

I am ridiculously blessed.

In three days I leave for the United States, and although I will be there for nearly six weeks I’ll be in four states. I am ridiculously blessed with friends and family that love me and care about me and are traveling to come see me if I can’t get to them. I will not be on vacation while there, since I will be attending medical conferences and following up by e-mail with people in Argentina and sharing with individuals, small groups, and churches what is going on in Argentina. However, I choose to look at the overwhelming amount of opportunities as a blessing. (Remind me of that if you see me stressed!)

I brought out the camera during our Baradero meeting to take a picture of this hummingbird. Can you find it? It’s green, so it's tricky to spot.

Tonight I sat out on my balcony to decompress after a busy day. I looked at the nearly full moon while Rich Mullins started singing, “Everywhere I go I see you.” I thought, how true, when we open our eyes we see God everywhere. I had been stressed all day and never really stopped to let God move in me, to give God my burdens and take up the easy and light yoke that is offered. Before stepping out on my balcony I did so, and I think that’s why I was able to see God in the moon. The moon in and of itself was stunning, but then a light cover of clouds came over it and the aura created was huge and colorful. I heard a breeze blow through a neighbor’s tree and was delighted with being able to worship God in nature despite being in a city. (Then a truck zoomed by down my cobblestone street and I heard a train in the distance.)

The Baradero team relaxing well after a hard day’s work, enjoying a long after-dinner conversation. I was thinking that night that I am incredibly blessed to be here, where one of the lovely cultural traits is enjoying one another's company for an extended period after a delicious meal.

The next song that came on was Step by Step. The first time I remember hearing this song I was in a rattling van with a bunch of teenagers heading northward in the middle of one of the harshest Minnesota winters. I thought how crazy it was that I had just started to serve God with the youth, and knew that I was over my head and that was where I was supposed to be. “And step by step you lead me, and I will follow you all of my days.” I thought about all of the decisions that I had made in life, both to serve in different ministries as well as times that I had chosen forgiveness and healing over bitterness and anger and how those decisions had opened up huge new vistas in my life each time.

On Saturday in La Plata we had the first of seven modules in the Neighborhood Transformation series for urban areas. In an expansion of the “give a man a fish, teach a man to fish” theme, after learning how to cross a rushing river and teaching others to do so (multiplication) the ones who learn how to cross get the town together to build a formal crossing at the site. This would be like forming a fishing cooperative.

Carlos of the Salvation Army explains to the class his group’s ideas on how to meet the challenge of unemployment/underemployment in the context of relief, individual development, community development and structural change.