Normal is Exceptional … Or Is It the Other Way Around?

Have you ever had one of those weeks where nothing really noteworthy seems to have happened? I used to have them quite often. I guess that’s why we call them ordinary. But since coming here to Roatán, the ordinary week has become the unusual week. So you could call this an ordinary week or an exceptional one. It doesn’t matter because almost every week is extraordinary in one way or another. I heard someone say once that when everyone is special, then no one is special. So, if every week is outstanding, then none of them are. Well, enough stream of consciousness rambling. Let’s just say that life here is different than it was back home and packed with peaks and valleys.

There were no breathtaking peaks or especially profound valleys in the past week. Still, the week was not without some bumps. I mentioned one bump in the post containing the last audio update. Since that time, it looks like that laptop dried out enough to function, but the display looks like there is still some moisture in there. Hopefully, that will dry out too. We are still investigating the problem with the UPS. I hope we don’t have to replace it because one that big is very expensive. As for the leak that caused the puddle in the studio, Travis found a place where a nail had worked its way up and lifted a shingle about two inches from the shingle below it. We will find out next time we get a “norther” if that is the entire solution.

I have commented before that things here break far more frequently than is natural to expect. Services don’t happen. For example, our home phone hasn’t worked for several weeks now, despite our requests that the phone company fix it. Parts, tools, and so on either cannot be found or, when we can get them, they turn out to be too shoddy to be useful. And on and on. Travis is starting to notice this. One day he said that he didn’t like to spiritualize everything, but it was clear to him that in their brief time here he has seen far more stuff go wrong than should be the case. There is tangible resistance to almost everything we do.

The Mittens, in particular, are having a bit of a rough time, but are dealing with it with remarkable grace. For example, there is no place in their typical island home for a washing machine. So their nice new washing machine sits outside not too far from that of their neighbors. There was already an outlet out there, but it was just an ungrounded cheapo plug dangling in the breeze by two wires. Jim installed a safe outlet in its place so they could operate the machine without risking their lives to wash their clothes. Then, when we got that big rain earlier in the week, the machine quit. I spent several hours yesterday helping Travis troubleshoot it. It looks like there is a bad sensor, but without a specialized tester, we don’t know for sure. At about the same time the washer quit, their main circuit breaker, which is outside on a wooden pole, started tripping even though they are hardly using any power. I think I have it temporarily fixed, but need to get back with a long term solution.

Jim has been sick the second half of this week, and Mildred and I have had some serious problems with Paypal. They have treated us like they don’t want us as customers anymore, so we will accomodate their wish as soon as we get our $400 back. We are grateful, on the other hand, for our service-oriented credit union in Tampa who bent over backwards to help us with this problem, even though it was not their mistake. The original mistake, to be painfully transparent was ours. Paypal said, “That’s tough!” Grow Financial Credit Union said, “We’ll do everything we can to get you your money.” And they did it. We just need to complete one more step to get the money that Paypal didn’t care if we got.

But there have been some peaks to go with those valleys. The Mittens got their new water filter in and working. Their oven wasn’t lighting, and Jim found a couple of loose connections, so now Emily is baking up a storm. They are home schooling the girls and that is going well. They are already establishing good relationships with their neighbors and the girls love climbing the big hill behind their house, often going all the way up to our old transmitter site.

Travis preached this morning at the Baptist church in Coxen Hole and did a fine job with the first three verses of Ephesians, chapter four. I don’t see how anyone could hear that message and harbor any sense of pride or superiority. As a bonus, we saw some of our neighbors there who have been struggling in their marriage. They need the Lord not only for salvation, but to help them in their relationship. We’ve been concerned about them for a while and I hope to get to talk to them soon and follow up on what’s going on in their lives now. I’ve included some pictures from this morning at the bottom of this post.

Last Sunday at church, I asked one of the widow ladies how her sister was doing. The sister has been in a mental health facility on the mainland for years and, after many years without change, is suddenly making good progress. Cheryl considers it an answer to prayer and she told me her sister was doing well, but not yet ready to come home. Then she went on to thank me profusely for our ministry with the radio station and tell me what a blessing it is. When we get affirmations like that and hear how God is working through us in person and over the air, the struggles start to look pretty insignificant.

Still, as Paul told the Ephesians, “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” There is no escape this side of the grave from those powers. There are only two options – surrender or victory.

Two weeks ago, after church in West End, I was visiting with a new believer. She is a friend of Sandi Silseth. God delivered her from a life of misery and alcohol. You would never know that if you met her now. She is a vibrant, cheerful follower of Christ. She is involved in her church and studying to show herself approved by God. What a transformation! When I was a supervisor in the can factory, one of my millwrights told me that people don’t change. I said, “You’re right, George, they don’t. At least they don’t change themselves. But God can change them. He changed me and I’ve seen how He has changed lots of other people.” My greatest delight, living here on  Roatán, is the changed people I have come to know and love. Pray that God would change even more people before that great day when Christ returns to settle accounts.