“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,” (Romans 5:3-4)
That was today's "verse for the day" and it made me chuckle a bit. In the grand scheme of things, our sufferings are pretty small.
Nevertheless we are finding it fairly stressful to be in the midst of the hottest and most humid time of year in Dakar, with only sporadically working electricity! It's discouraging when the things in our refrigerator don't stay cold... and it's difficult to sleep without the benefit of air conditioner or strong fans. (and in answer to Kristen's question from the mosque picture-- we do wake up when we hear the call to prayer-- perhaps the only benefit of not having electricity is that the mosque IS a bit quieter!)
It feels like suffering sometimes to be far away from family-- from my Mom, and Dave's Dad, from our university-aged sons Danny and Joey, from our sisters and brothers and nieces and nephews. We are sad when we can't be on hand to celebrate the arrival of new babies, and birthdays, or to offer assistance with some of life's difficulties. We miss them.
May the Lord use these small sufferings to produce endurance, character and hope in us today! May He give us the grace we need to REJOICE in these sufferings.
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3 comments:
Um, sniff, yeah, it feels like suffering to us sometimes too. :-( But it's a small price for us, and you know we are willing senders. [Hug!]
I hope you got our e-card...sorry it was late!
Hi Mary,
It IS hard to be separated. Thanks so much for your sweet comment on my post about my parents leaving. We miss them, but are proud they have made the same choices you guys have made. I love the photo at the top in the title section. I usually read this via Google Reader, so I'm not sure if it's new, or I just forgot it's always there because I don't usually see the actual blog page! :)
I like the way today's verse follows up on yesterday's:
“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” (Hebrews 10:35-36)
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