When I Stop to Think About It …

First, let’s pretend that today is Thursday. I had this all written up and ready to upload and then got called away, so I wasn’t able to finish it until Friday morning. It was a good distraction, but still kept me from getting this done. So we’ll just make believe I got it done and then I don’t have to go through and make a whole bunch of edits.

Today was sure a pleasant day. For a day off from work, it got off to an early start, but it was still a really nice day. It started early because Mildred and I needed to get some routine blood work done. Since it was a fasting test and the clinic where we were going opens early, we left the house at about 6:45 this morning. We took Emily Mitten along since she also needed to have something checked. We got back home in time for Emily to start the homeschooling routine with her daughters and then Mildred fixed us some yummy French toast.

And that brings me to something I was musing about today. The cruise ship pier near our house has some nice new shops and a Mexican restaurant we’d heard was pretty good. So we ate Mexican food for lunch. As I’d been told, it wasn’t bad, but then again it wasn’t anything to write home about either, even though that’s kind of what I’m doing right now. But I got to thinking about something as we munched on a platter of burritos, quesadillas, and tostados while enjoying the view of our lovely island home. We were enjoying food and service of a quality one would expect in the U.S. When we first came here in 2001, there was almost nothing like that on the island. While quality goods and services are still rare, they are not as rare as they were just two or three years ago. It was an indication of the amazing economic change here in the past decade.

But it has come at quite a cost. As our tourist-fed economy grows, and the population explodes, the reef that fuels this economy suffers. The water supply shrinks. The electric company increasingly fails to be able to supply the mounting power demands. And crime soars. It’s what they call progress.

I don’t know the exact numbers, but I suspect that there are more radio stations here than ever before. Even so, for good or bad, Inspirational Radio remains the only full time Christian radio station in the Bay Islands. We are also, as far as I know, the only station that stays on the air during our frequent and sometimes prolonged power outages. As the population grows, our listener response numbers are skyrocketing. So, while the social and environmental impact of all this “progress” distresses me a little bit, it has a good side too. More and more people are coming within earshot of what I think is one of the finest Christian radio stations I’ve ever heard. You cannot listen to HRGS for very long without hearing a clear presentation of the Gospel as well as teaching and preaching from some of the most gifted Bible teachers in the world.

I don’t really know how how to describe the effect on me when I stop to consider that God chose a wretched (but wonderfully redeemed) sinner like me with no previous radio experience to be a part of this incredible ministry. I read a quote recently by Timothy K. Jones in which he retold a story he had heard from the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber. Buber said, “My grandfather was lame. Once they asked him to tell a story about his teacher, and he related how his master used to hop and dance while he prayed. My grandfather rose as he spoke and was so swept away by his story that he himself began to hop and dance to show how the master had done. From that hour he was cured of his lameness.” In serving here on Roatán and telling the story of my amazing Master, I get pretty animated too. I find energy I never knew I had and He enables me to do things that are just not within my mortal abilities. I think that anyone who follows God wherever He leads and does whatever He asks will be as thunderstruck as I am at the results.

Now, here are some pictures from this week’s painting activities at our new transmitter site. The Lord has blessed us with some great weather for painting and we are looking forward to having that all done soon and moving on to more interesting stuff. After all, climbing up and down ladders and reaching through coils of razor wire is not really one of those highlight activities that make for exciting stories – unless you make a mistake that requires stitches. So far, though, so good; only a few nicks. It’s just one of those chores that has to be done to protect the metal parts that keep out the burglars so we can continue sharing the Good News with our ever increasing audience.