Home Sweet Home

Fernandino invited us to visit his home in Andahuaylas. This was not his parent's home, but his own home! He had worked hard driving taxis around town and saved up his money. His father used the money to buy materials and built a two room adobe house. One room is the kitchen and the other, the bedroom.

After a 15 minute mototaxi ride, we walked up the side of the mountain. As we got higher and higher the view grew only more incredible. We told Dino that people would pay a pretty penny for property like this!



The entire time we were walking, he continued to say, "I never would have dreamed you would come to my house." I even pinched his arm a few times so he knew he was not dreaming! His humble home was very inviting. There is no running water, no electricity. He cooks by firewood, uses the neighbor's water to wash dishes and I forgot to ask about the bathroom! While we visited he shared that he hopes when people see what he has and where he lives that they will understand the God does indeed bless people. All he has is from God and his passionate desire is to share the love of Jesus with people in Andahuaylas.

Touring Andahuaylas

While visiting Andahuaylas, our friends wanted to be tour guides and show us some of their local sites. We found a bus willing to drop us of at an Incan archaeological site called Sondor. Sondor was said to be a place of religious activities and for this reason was pyramid shaped with 500 stairs leading to the top.

We were amazed at the mountains behind these Inca ruins. The clouds were covering the peaks. But, thankfully (?) our taxi driver did NOT come back for us so we had plenty of time to wait and watch. The peaks never appeared, but the mountains were majestic! Because of the location, taxis don't just pass by so we proceeded to walk down the side of the mountain following the shepherds route down to the lake.

From Sondor, Lake Pacucha can also be seen. The funny thing is that as they began to explain the "history" behind the lake, it resembled stories we had heard before. In various locations throughout Peru the lakes are said to have once been towns, riddled with sin. In some way or another, the town flooded and virtually disappeared. In Lake Pacucha it is said that explorers have not reached more than 10 meters of depth due to tangly seaweed.

Refreshment

This past weekend, I was praying for my friend and the conference that Refresh Life had on Saturday when the Lord reminded me of how important the word "refresh " has been in my life.

Several years ago, I was in the initial grieving period following a death in the family. I had never really faced the reality of someone dying and the tragic circumstances in this particular situation made things almost unbearable. I remember spending quite a bit of time trying to journal but really only remember writing to God "I know that you don't give me any more than I can handle, but I just want to let you know I don't think I can handle any more than this." I felt as though I was at the end of my ability to comprehend, understand and make sense of what I was facing.

Much of the time, I poured through the Psalms as it seems to be full of human emotions in difficult times as well as the acknowledgment of the greatness of God in the midst of trying moments. One evening as I sat in a large group Bible study, I had my Bible open to Psalm 84.

How blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee;
In whose heart are the highways to Zion!
Passing through the valley of Baca, they make it a spring,
The early rain also covers it with blessings.
Psalm 84:5-6

In my Bible, the definition listed for Baca is "weeping." So I read "passing through the valley of weeping..." and my heart leaped for joy. I was in the valley of weeping. I had already understood that although we seem to crave mountiantop experiences with our Savior, we will never know Him like we know Him in the valley. There, He draws close and tends to us individually.

Suddenly the promises jumped off the page and right into my heart. First, it did not say that I was going to remain in the valley forever. I was going to pass through the valley. What a relief! The valley is dark, it is painful and incredibly lonely. I was hoping to find the exit soon! I now had my hope on the fact that in His timing, I would pass through this very valley and make it to the other side. Second, I discovered a purpose for my journey in the valley. As I passed through the valley, I would turn it into a place of springs. To my heart, this meant that I would bring refreshment to others due to my journey through the valley of weeping.

To refresh means: to restore strength, to freshen up, to maintain by renewing one's supply, to update or renew, or to run water over. As a result of my time in the valley, I would be equipped with the ability to restore strength to others, to renew their supply and to "pour water over" them. I could not comprehend how I would do these very things, but then and there I noted in my Bible,

With God's strength, I can pass through valleys of weeping and turn them into springs. The valley will be covered with blessing.

This was of great encouragement to me and became my verses of hope during the darkness. Be someone who refreshes others.