returning to La Gonave

We drove out of the city, leaving the masses behind and the beauty of the landscape began to clean my senses. Tents still dotted the hillsides and there were definitely more of them then six weeks ago when we had drove through that area. I couldn’t help wondering where they got water and food and did they get any medical care, so I prayed... The hills roll on the right side and the beaches fold out on the left like a blue and white ribbon giving the allusion that everything is peaceful and healthy. Then one blink and there are great mountains behind the hills which seem to get more beautiful with every mile. The very tops are hidden behind misty white clouds and once again God takes my breath away. I never get over the awe and grandeur of these great green giants.
Today the bay is almost glasslike and our things are loaded onto the boat quickly. Deep breaths of salty air and I am convinced that heaven will be a lot like this. My heart is filled with Gods vastness and loveliness. As we move across the water, I watch for them. They just make me happy, the silly little flying fish. I first thought that they were birds diving but they never came back up. They defy the laws of fish nature, fish swim. Nobody told these guys and they make me happy. Skimming across the top of the water…escaping reality. The reality of something wanting to eat them for lunch, of doing what normal fish do, swim. They get to see the sun and experience more than the surroundings they were born into.
I come full circle now, I think of the people in Port, in tent cities, and wonder how they escape a predator named reality. I might be stretching too hard here by making a connection between a fish and a desperate people. The fish do what they were created to do, take a big breath of underwater air and jump and glide through the air for a few minutes in the sun away from what could harm them. It’s a little more complicated for people because we don’t naturally do what we were created to do but I know my God is good. So once again, I pray. That they will have enough: enough bravery to trust God when it doesn’t make sense, enough knowledge of God to know he is always good even when life doesn’t feel good, enough wisdom to call on God because he always answers. I pray that they will jump into our Father and feel the hope the Son can bring and as they face their overwhelming reality and that they would know how to truly believe God understands. I know…I know… I have never had the reality of being homeless and of not knowing how I was going to feed my family or of seeing masses of my friends and family buried alive. I also know that none of these prayers are too big for my Father.