In many parts of the world, people think of seasons as governed by temperature. Summer is the hot part of the year, and winter is the cold part of the year. Here in Honduras, the seasons are defined by precipitation rather than temperature. It can be a little confusing coming from the States because the dry season, which people here call “summer”, occurs in the coldest part of the year, while the wet season, known as “winter”, lasts from the warmest part of the year into the cooler months.
Our house water supply comes from captured rainwater which we’ve stored in tanks, and we were running uncomfortably low towards the end of the dry season. Thank God, the wet season has started and we’ve begun capturing rainwater again.
Before the rain came, we had to do a few things to prepare.
Additionally, we had to climb inside one of our empty water storage tanks and clean it out in order to avoid dirtying up the newly collected rainwater. Literally thirty minutes after doing so, we got our first downpour of the season. After months without any precipitation to speak of, we got about an inch of rain in two hours.
In spite of our gutter-cleaning preparations, we’re collecting a large quantity of bugs in our gutters each time it rains. The bugs in question are just like June bugs back in the US, and there’s a reason they’re called June bugs. If memory serves, they should start going away in late June or July, so scooping them out of the gutters after each rain will be one less chore to do. In the meantime, we’ve found a good use for the bugs we collect:
As the saying goes, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”.
Conversely, one man’s accomplishments in life may be another man’s rubbish:
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
Philippians 3:7–9 (ESV)
People sometimes ask me if I regret walking away from a life of comfort and privilege in the States to be a missionary in rural Honduras. My answer in a word is “no”. The spiritual and emotional struggles we’ve endured here are of consequence, but being able to respond to the calling to serve God is of surpassing value. In fact, the struggles just allow us to depend all the more on the Lord, who is unwaveringly faithful.
Leave a Reply