Defying the odds


Yesterday I climbed Cerro Negro (that cursed black volcano that challenges me every time I go up it), for the last time this summer.


Once you get to the top, if you continue walking to the right you will get to the crater.  As you get closer I am always surprised by the additional heat I feel rising from the core.  


Standing at the edge of the crater, if you were to dig down in the soil 2” or so, the additional heat would be enough to cook an egg. 


And yet, looking down in the crater there is a singular tree that has managed to defy all odds and grow.  


No doubt the conditions there are not ideal.  The soil is rocky.  And, because the lava is flowing, the roots must be fighting some extremely hot temperatures.  But beyond all of that - while right now we’re in the rainy season (which for the six weeks I’ve been here means we might get a hard hour-long rain once every week or so), most of the time the land is extremely dry.


So as I look at that tree, I think about the Bible quote from Jeremiah 29:4-7 which says, “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ‘Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.’” 


In other words - bloom where you are planted.


The fact of the matter is, God will sometimes have us living and working in conditions that are not ideal.  Heck, I’ve seen that EVERY DAY with the people of San Benito…but just like them, and that little tree in the crater of Cerro Negro, we are supposed to bloom and grow, regardless of the difficulty.  


For the people of San Benito that I have worked alongside for the past 6 weeks, that meant building a beautiful community where everyone shares and looks after one another.  Where smiles are big and hearts are even bigger. And when groups of gringos who don’t speak the language come down to help, it meant opening their lives, their homes and their arms to us…

—-

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