shoes too big

Yesterday I went get a yellow fever vaccine for my family's expedition to the rainforest in Colombia come June. I always enjoy 'going into town' in Trujillo, as i can sit quietly and observe life going on around me. I also enjoy for whatever odd reason the city-taxi smell, that can be only found in a taxi in a south american city. Its an oddly comforting smell. We stepped out in front of the public hospital for those without insurance, and I was not surprised to find many people sitting, standing and wandering around. A few young medical students cut through the people, a sharp contrast in their pristine white lab coats. As Kandie says: "I wouldnt take my sick dog to this hospital".

After a surprisingly pain free payment for my vaccine we walked down the block and around the corner to a clinic which specializes in vaccines and particularly baby vaccines, I'd imagine since there was a sign announcing that only monday wednesday and friday were open to such shots. Being a monday, the mothers and babies filled up the benches. We made our way up to the door emitting baby wails. Passing a poster of emeciated babies with the inscription: "is you child sick? -baby diseases", we handed over the reciept for the shot I'd paid for. With that many new borns around the place i didnt think we'd be out of there anytime soon, so we took our place on the wooden benches. I could spend all day describing my observations of the different mothers, the few fathers, and the stories I made up about their home situations. However my eye was drawn again and again to a young mother, who sat silently across from us. Kandie suggested that she was probably all of 15, and suggestion of her being the older sister was invalidated when she began to nurse the child. ...how sad, i thought...taking in all of her, from her tired eyes, her oversized jacket, and her unkempt hair, but her oversized shoes stuck out to me. They were in typical peruvian fashion, that is to say: several inches high, but more than that they were at least 3 sizes too big for her small feet. They must have been her sister's? her mother's? perhaps a gift for this new mother on mother's day? i dont know how she must have walked in them, and its a wander she didnt trip and drop her baby, a tiny pink brand new little thing. Mercifully it slept the whole time, since the mother seemed in no desire to hold it, cuddle it, or otherwise as other mothers around the place did.

My thoughts continued along this venue until i heard one of the ladies turn to her and ask: "How old are you?" My ears perked up, and I listened curiously as I can imagine every other woman in the room did who heard. The mother answered faintly with her eyes downcast, and I didnt even hear what she said. Kandie imediately turned to me and said two words:

"She's twelve."

three thoughts

i had three thoughts in the course of this morning. one in the nature of things spiritual, one has to do with the bible but isnt necessarily spirtual, and one completely random. of course i had more thoughts than three but these are the ones that stick with me. in reverse order, so as to leave those thought in your memory here they are.

1) white guys just cant pull of wearing purple like darker skinned guys. not revolutionary i know, but i have obseved how white boys dont normally...hardly ever look good in purple unless its a really pale shade, but peruvian guys on the other hand look completely normal and even nice in purple. im sure this is a thought women have been having since the first purple dye was discovered. so im a little slow on the uptake...


2) we talked about Daniel 6 in Daniel class, and decided that there had to be AT LEAST 366 lions in the lion's den that Daniel was thrown into!! its kinda funny cuz just yesterday i got that same mental image of hungry lions- to meat when i decided that i didnt want to eat my last peice of anticucho becuase there was a suspiciously valve-like membrane on that piece.... so i asked if any of the 4 boys i was with at the time wanted it? granted four hungry teen boys isnt *quite* the same as ravenous lions to man, but still it was the mental image that jumped into my head. haha. but back to the number. not only were all the satraps thrown into the den but also their wives and children. with 122 men, lets pretend they each had only one kid (doubtful). you do the math, thats 366 people. and verse 24 says that they "did not even reach the bottom of the den"! before the lions devoured them! that means about one lion per person, so at least 366! And it was all of those lions (strong ones and constantly hungry) that a single angel shut the mouths of. What a good God we have!

3) so yesterday during a pre-tourmanent devotional we sang the wonderful him: "becuase he lives" and i think for the first time i was really singing the words to that song. "becuase he lives i can face tomorrow! because he lives all fear is gone, becuase i know he holds the future. and life is worth the living!!!!!.....just because...he lives." granted we were singing in spanish but the english words kept popping up in my mind. and i couldnt stop grinning! :D . and so this morning when i woke up and the first thoughts in my mind were leaning towards worry, i reminded myself of that wonderful song, and as i ate breakfast i pondered....: this is what its like to be in love with God(and not saying im always or even often like this.....): to hear about him and not stop grinning. to want to learn every little detail about him, to be anxious to spend time with him, and such comfort to be able to pour out every little fear and frustration, and to praise Him for his awesomeness! and it occured to me how like a utopic marriage salvation should be. (though i think i got it wrong; that actually marriage should be modeled after a faithful christian). you may wonder why i seem to be constantly in thought of marriage.....i asked myself that. im not sure whether from reading the "beautiful in God's eyes" which focuses on a Godly wife and mother's roles, or from thinking about friends who want to get married soon, or from people consistently asking me here if im married, if i want to get married, and how there are many single pastors in want of a wife.......but rabbit trail aside, im now in a "till death do us *NOT* part" relationship with the most wonderful, amazing person ever! (please note that im not, nor sure if i ever will be ready for a human relationship of such nature... one seems plenty for a lifetime, but i trust God to decide my future!) and though at times i dont always *feel* like loving Him, or i dont create as much time in my day to spend with Him as i ought, I should spend everyday growing in my love toward him, like Kandie said to David on sunday when we celebrated the married couples at church: that she loves him more and more everyday. That should and can and WILL be me!!! (with His help!). And im not scared about the future. I look forward to it! i cant wait to grow old with Him, knowing that He holds the future and life is worth the living!!!! im so excited :D.