Into the Shining Sun – Honduras Agape

Where were you when I was burned and broken?
While the days slipped by from my window watching?
Where were you when I was hurt and I was helpless?
Because the things you say and the things you do surround me
While you were hanging yourself on someone else’s words
Dying to believe in what you heard
I was staring straight into the shining sun…

Memories are made and in to the past they fade, but relationships are eternal… I’m not sure I am what you call a nocturnal person, but as I write it is 4:45 am in the morning. I look across at my roommates, one curled into the fetal position, and the other looks like a corpse in a body bag with sheets pulled up to the edge of his nose. I would go to the ends of the earth with those guys, and I literally have several times. At times we may disagree and need to take a trek to the railroad tracks, but in the end we are always brothers in Christ seeking to resolve our issues and maintain our relationship.

I cling to the hope of the relationships that have been built over the past few years in Honduras. Daniela, Maynor, Gloria and Sandra all locals who have dedicated their lives to the service of others including Los Hombres like us. They arise even before I and begin to plan and prepare the daily duties that make our lives so much easier… it is the little hidden things in life that we can and often do miss that creates bliss in the middle of the storm of life. I offer up my deepest gratitude to those people who willingly sacrifice time, talent and treasure to serve with a glad spirit.

Young, old, male or female, together we strive to serve a loving Creator and share in a hope eternal… Not that we may receive an earthly reward, but to respond to the call of service in His name, so that others can see His love expressed through our words, actions and deeds.

“Where were you?…” Matthew 25:40 beckons that question. Daniela and I had a disagreement over the window size in Rosa’s new bedroom. He thinks it is too low to the ground and therefore to large. I have a vision of Rosa standing at the window in question, sipping on a cup of coffee and enjoying a moment of silence from the rowdy children tugging at the hem of her skirt, “Staring straight in to the shinning sun”. My hope it that through all of the blood, sweat and tears she realizes that her prayers have been answered.

Lost in thought and lost in time
While the seeds of life and the seeds of change were planted
Outside the rain fell dark and slow
While I pondered on this dangerous but irresistible pastime

I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the moment had arrived
For killing the past and coming back to life

I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the waiting had begun
And headed straight…into the shining sun

(Gilmour)

The Division Bell will ring on Friday morning as we pack up our clothes, secure our keepsakes and whatnot possessions for the journey home, and there we will find our anxious families awaiting these weary travelers to return in their presence after a brief, but long absence. Hugs and kisses will be exchanged and possibly a few tears will be shed, but joy will certainly overflow in the airport lobby. The return to normalcy may come easy for some, but a large piece of my heart will forever be planted in the valley of Quimistan and the people of this humble village. My hope and prayer is that we never allow these memories that have been etched into our hearts to be discarded and or traded up for the next best thing in life…

As a wise man once wrote; “When I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” Lives are fragile and limited, but hope found in a relationship in the risen Lord… is eternal.

Mark

I would like to dedicate this section of this blog to the loving memory and spirit of Cindy Shaw. Your spirit will always dwell in mine, and I pray for Steve and the kids as they struggle through this tragedy… There is a hole in our hearts tonight that only God can mend, Godspeed, We LOVE YOU!

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