An Enoch Experience

As usual, vespers was interesting and motivational at the Wildwood Health Retreat.  Akia shared some thoughts, then he gave us the long-awaited showing of a movie he had made.  It's poetic rhyming matched the scintillating pictures as he endeavored to show noble character qualities of a godly woman.

After he was finished, we shared with the group the blessings that we had received during the week.  I spoke of how I was glad that I was able to learn more about cooking this week than I probably would have in the next 10 months if I hadn't been in the kitchen with Akia.  Others shared their blessings, from the ordinary down to a lady who had just quit her job to be able to serve Christ better and live a more fulfilled life.  I was impressed.

As I walked out of the crowded parlor, I stepped outside to take a short walk.  I continued to walk however, an found myself walking through the chest high golden grass in the field.  I inhaled the almost living air, and looked up at the almost supernaturally bright moon.  I didn't even need a light with these kind of conditions.  I walked all the way to the river and tried to absorb the rippling, rushing sounds.  It reminded me of how Darlene had shared at Vespers that she had walked to a nearby bridge, shouted, "Here, Beaver, Beaver, Beaver!," and two huge beavers had swum out towards her!

I was suddenly overwhelmed at how good God had been to me.  To be in such a wonderful place...that I now call home.  I sang, "There is a Quite Place," and knelt down on the moist grass to pour out my thanks to God.  My heart burned within me and I felt as if this must maybe come close to what Enoch felt.

A Lesson in Carefulness in the Land of the Ladybugs

Something you might not know about Wildwood Health Retreat:  it's crawling with ladybugs.  About every week you can dust them out of your room by the dozen...but it's been worse...there have been times when they covered the ceilings.  Or, far worse, they could be cockroaches, termites, or rats like we had in Africa :)

So Akia and I were on the hunt.  Not that it was called as such, but we were definitely on the lookout for the little beasts as we cleaned the Lifestyle Center.  I spotted some in some light fixtures, and the Trouble began.  As I pried the glass fixture out of the never-patented holding pieces, "snap!", the holding pieces broke the glass!  Although a minor chip, I was amazed.  "Man, I should be more careful," I thought.

After struggling for several minutes to put a dresser drawer back into place, Akia called for my help.  "What do you want me to do?." I asked skeptically.  Before I could really do anything, the drawer kind of collapsed in his hands, as the joints just fell apart.  "Oops," Akia said, "I guess I'd better take it to Mike to have him glue it back together."  After resuming his work on the dresser, it was déjà vu all over again.  After examining the crooked frame of what was once a large drawer, I said, "Don't you just want to take the whole dresser to Mike?"  Akia, laughed and resumed another project.

Unfortunately, our cycle of mishaps seemed to destined for the Omega.  Cleaning one of the nicest rooms that we hoped would soon house a wealthy guest, I spotted some lady-beasts.  "I sure wish we could just open the window and clean those bugs out of that unreachable crack," I asked Akia.  Smooth as could be, Akia reached over the window mounted air conditioner and pulled a couple little tabs.  Presto, the vinyl window opened inward.  I was about to reach out and swipe the lady-beast-bugs into oblivion, when "whoosh, slash, bang!"  Akia, whose face makes the funniest and most exaggerated contortions at the smallest of thoughts, stared blankly at where once was the window mounted air conditioner.  The air conditioner had just fallen out of the two story window, snapped apart it's cord, and lay in a dented heap on the ground far below.  I struggled to hold in my laughter, but Akia was already laughing the kind of sorry-funny laugh when something so quickly goes wrong and you had no power to stop it until it was too late.

I think God was trying to teach us to be careful.  In self-supporting work there isn't time or money enough to be careless.  While we can laugh at our mistakes, we must take seriously how we handle life and the talents intrusted to us.  I hope that this will make you, the reader, more careful as you fight your "ladybugs" of life.