An Ordinary Day Part 1

An Ordinary Day Part 1
James 4:14

The African sun was obliterated by dark storm clouds...beginning of an ordinary day...radio broadcast, breakfast, school, a normal routine day.  A truck drives up, a few words are spoken and suddenly in one breath the day becomes one of tragedy.

Two little girls, daughters of one of the African Bible school teachers, had been found in the mission station's swimming pool. The pool had been built for the kids who attended the boarding school on our mission compound.  As it was no longer a boarding school, the pool was not in use.  Rain water would collect in the pool and African families would come to fill their containers. The little girls had slipped silently into the deeper water,  unable to climb out because of the slippery green mold that lined the concrete bottom.

Immediately, we called together our family, including our 2 houseboys, and prayed for the Lord's intervention in the lives of these girls. As we prayed in English, or houseboys prayed in Sango yet there was that evident bond of fellowship that surpassed the barrier of color, culture and language.

The little girls were taken to the station dispensary.  Our missionary dentist and missionary nurse began mouth to mouth resuscitation with the help of African nurses.  The gloom deepened as the people began to gather outside to await the outcome.  Inside, the tension, expectancy and heartbreak were palatable.  My heart was gripped y an iron band of sorrow as I watched the valiant efforts to revive the girls. Rain began to pour down, striking the tin roof as if made of nails instead of water...as if each drop of rain was a tear drop from those incased in this small room desperately praying for life.

It is difficult to understand on this side of heaven, why God allows hurtful things to transpire and harm little children.  It grips our hearts to see any child suffer, leaving us feeling so helpless.  Yet, we know that each one of us was created for a specific purpose, a specific plan...all with God's timeline.  Do we consider at any time how our daily lives might change if we knew the timeline??

"For what is your life?  It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time..."