Dear Friends,
When I was a kid we used to stay up late and watch the ball drop. I always wanted to go to Times Square for New Years. It just seemed like the perfect place to bring in the new year. Now that I live in a different continent, my dreams have been re-shaped by my location. I’ve come to realize that spectacular is often closer than you realize. The city of El Alto actually puts on an impressive fireworks display for being a “slum city” in the majority world. Bringing in the new year is always cause for celebration.
This year was different. Many said it was too cloudy to see the fireworks. I wouldn’t know; I was in bed two hours before they began. We were still trying to catch up on sleep after our “vacation.” New Years day was gloomy both inside and out. We had just received some difficult news that totally caught us off guard. I remember sensing the need to get alone and so I stumbled up to our prayer room.
I remember staring at our crosses and candles as if they possessed some sort of magical power. If they would only tell me how to wrap up all the loose ends and how to begin 2012. Here it was the first day of the year and I didn’t have anything. I was physically tired, emotionally drained and fearful of what lay ahead. Even my list of resolutions was somewhere lost in the back of my head. What was going on?
When in doubt, you can always count on a consolation/desolation exercise. I started listing all the ways I saw the Lord’s hand in our lives in 2011. The list was long and even brought a few warm fuzzies. The desolation list was actually shorter but carried vivid memories of some difficult and painful times. I actually didn’t realize it at the time but what I was doing was culturally very Andean. My anthropologist wife tells me that in the Andean worldview you look back to see the future.
Looking back I realized that God has been incredibly faithful to our family. The truth of Psalm 91, given to us at key times, has been incredibly apparent. His goodness and protection is more than we can fathom. I’m not certain what 2012 holds. It’s still a little foggy like that New Years day but I am reminded of one truth. Late last year our oldest son Elias brought home a list of the names of God. One of those names continues to stand out – Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide.
Peace to you from Bolivia,
Andy, Andrea, Elias, Luke, Owen & Asher