“But, we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the power may be of God, and not of us… We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair… For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” [excerpts from 2 Corinthians 4]
The above verses have become more meaningful to me in the last couple weeks. It’s so easy to focus on circumstances around us and forget the big picture. Sometimes I feel very much like just a jar of clay but, it’s amazing to know that even though I am just an earthen vessel, I can be filled with the power of God and then it’s His work and not my own. If I step back and look beyond the temporal and gaze into the eternal, it doesn’t really matter if things aren’t easy or if life seems difficult. The tough things are so small and fleeting in light of an eternal glory.
Here’s a picture of the patient we call ‘Monkey’… You may remember him from one of my previous posts. He’s been one of my faithful bandage ever since I came. His sores had been improving and getting smaller but I was not happy to see that they were looking worse again this week.
I enjoy taking care of my bandage patients and recently there have been a lot of them!! It can be difficult to know how to treat them. Sometimes what works well for one person doesn’t work for the next. I was very happy this week when I could tell several of my patients that they were looking good enough that they didn’t need to come back. It is such a joy to watch them improve!
Saturday, a week ago, Alyssa and I had a lady in labor at the clinic. Progress was slow… But, when she finally did have her baby we didn’t get back down to clinic in time. Baby was laying on the floor patiently waiting for the nurses to arrive. She was an adorable girl with a head full of black hair.
Thursday this week is when the dentist is supposed to be arriving. He comes from Germany and is planning to do dental work here for a week and a half or so. It will make us busier but I know the mountain people will be very glad to see him and have their teeth worked on.
Here’s a picture of the guys out making things ready for a big rain. I’m sure many of you have heard of hurricane Matthew. By the looks of it, we’ll probably be getting a lot of rain and wind here soon. Please pray for our dear mountain people as this could potentially cause a lot of damage to their houses and make major washouts and landslides.
Thank you to each of you who pray for the work here! We appreciate your prayers very much as we continue to serve our Saviour in the mountains of Haiti!
Just a jar of clay,
Rachel