Called to Die

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

John 12: 24


"I am afraid of only one thing. That I should beome a grain of wheat not willing to die."

~ A young woman leaving for the mission field


Danita Estrella is the director of an orphanage in Haiti.

Where the Heart Is

My heart is in far off places. The place where no one else wants to go is where I want to go. The place of greatest need, hardest living conditions, and most suffering. To be the hands of Jesus serving in His stead.

I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light.

~John Keith Falconer

Ants

As I write this 2, no 3 ...no 4 intrepid ant explorer are fearlessly gadding about on my desk.

I find then on my toothbrush, in my sink, on my clothes, in my cereal, on my bed, crawling on my wall, crawling on my arm... everywhere.

At the beginning of the year I killed every ant I saw. After awhile I tired of the continuous killing.

Now there is an unofficial truce in effect. When I feel the need I remove them, and when I don't feel the need I let them be. My favorite way to "remove" them is through force of air. For example, I'm diligently working on clinical paperwork when I see a congregation of ants near my book of unseemly size. I then exercise my lungs with a mighty blow and watch ants fly. Certain ants are especially hardy, spread all 6 legs out and resist the unexpected head-wind. These usually take a couple blows before going sailing.

There are still times when I catch sight, during those thoughtful moments while brushing my teeth, of a line of ants traversing into my plug-in and wonder mournfully why they must be there. Guess I'm being prepared for the mission field. I'll try to make friends with them.