Eating Trash

I have lost track of how many animals I have rescued over the years--it's more than 20 for sure.  Most of the time it has been dogs, although there was the occasional kitten and one time there was this duck...but that's a whole other story.  We currently have five dogs; three live in the house with us, and two are out on the property.  Of those five, four are rescues.  I'm not sure I have a favorite, per se, but there are a couple who are just extra special.  One is Sophie.  Linda and I rescued her back in early March at the market in Zaculeu.  She was skin draped on bones, covered in multiple kinds of vermin, and stunk to high heaven.  We couldn't just leave her there, so I scooped her up and Linda drove us home.  By the next day, Sophie wasn't moving much and we knew she was in trouble.  Turns out she had more than one type of intestinal parasite, a skin infection, a fungal infection, and parvo, which is usually a death sentence for a puppy.  The vet gave her all kinds of meds and sent her home with a little IV to keep her hydrated.  When she wasn't sleeping right on me, she was in her comfy new bed right next to mine.  I barely slept for days; I was so sure she would die in the night.  I got up every few minutes to make sure she was still breathing and that her scrawny little body was covered and warm.  After a couple of weeks and many near-death experiences, Sophie finally recovered.  She is now a happy, healthy 65 pound love sponge.  I think she remembers all the times she slept on my chest because she still tries to on occasion and has to be reminded that she is no longer a lap dog. We all love this oversized, awkward goofball; she is horribly spoiled. 

Imagine my dismay when I walked into the kitchen tonight to find my Sophie eating some nasty thing out of the trash. I gasped and she dropped it, knowing she was in trouble. Then I said, (yes, I talk to my dogs) "You're eating trash?!? You act like you don't have a mother who loves you and feeds you every single day! I even make half your food from scratch, and here you go fishing through the garbage like no one is going to take care of you."  The words had barely left my mouth when I felt a twinge of conviction from the Holy Spirit.  How many times have I been guilty of this same type of behavior?  How many nights have I tossed and turned, filled with anxiety as if I don't have an all-powerful Father who loves me and delights to takes care of me?  How many times have I lacked the qualities of Christ-likeness and turned back to old habits and thought patterns, forgetting that I was cleansed from all that stink?  (a Murphy paraphrase of 2 Peter 1)  How many times have I gone back to living like an orphan even though I was rescued and adopted by a King?   The prodigal son had one moment where he "came to himself" (Luke 15:17) and remembered he had a good father; I have had many such moments. I seem to forget a lot.  Tonight God used Sophie to remind me to quit acting like I have to fend for myself.  

I'm just going to leave this here as visual proof that I am not the only animal lover in our household and that 

Linda and Jessie are not miserable and suffering here in our zoo.

 

Rivers in the Desert

"Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, don't you see it? 

 I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."  Isaiah 43:19

Two years ago this November 24, I bought the upper half of the LI property.  Almost immediately after, my 2 neighbors on the right built a fence to block my driveway; I have spent every day since trying to figure out how to regain access to it.  The most recent fiasco is that my lawyer deserted me.  She refuses to answer my calls, texts, or emails, and has moved her office so I can't even confront her face to face. Rogelio thinks that the neighbors have threatened her and forced her to back off; that's just how things normally work here--through bribes and threats. Since I will do neither, we are at an impasse. There is nothing left for us to do but pray and keep preparing the land in faith, trusting the Lord to fix it in His own time.  AND HE HAS!

Checha is willing to tear down the wall up at the top and build up the area on

the right with block and cement to make this wide enough to drive on.  

My 2 neighbors are still as determined as ever to keep me off my property, BUT the neighbor on the other side, Checha, has decided to help us. A few months ago, he gave my workers and me permission to cut through a little alley he has between some of his buildings in order to get to our property.  It is not wide enough to drive though, and he would not allow the widows or their children to walk through there, but it has allowed the men and I to continue to get work done on the land, albeit slowly.  I asked him once a while ago if I could buy that strip, but he wasn't interested in selling.  But then this past weekend, totally out of the blue , he approached  

Checha is also willing to tear down the wall on the

left.  We will also have to move our fence posts out

 to accommodate my truck. It'll be a tight squeeze!

Rogelio and told him that he has decided to allow ALL of us in...and I don't have to buy it!  Not only that, but he is willing to build a little road (see pics) if I will help him with materials, AND he is willing to change his title to reflect these changes so that when his sons get their inheritance we will still have the right to use that entrance!  Praise the LORD!  This coming Monday, Rogelio and I will meet with Checha to hash out the details.  We are so excited!  I already had money on hand to buy the tools we needed to make the windows and the doors for the new house, but Rogelio and I decided to strike while the iron was hot and use that money to fix up this entrance instead.  It needs a lot of work to make it drivable, but it will be so worth it.  We are in awe of the fact that Checha is willing to do all this for us and has only asked us for help with labor and materials.  He knows the bind we are in and could easily take advantage of that to charge us a mountain of money, but he isn't.  God has given us favor and made a way where there was no way.   I told Him months ago that if He provided another way in that I would  drop the legal proceedings over the driveway.  I am not going to take down my doors on that side because I believe that God can still fix that situation and give me the driveway back, but I am no longer going to fight over it.  And if I never get it back, then being at peace is better than being right. It's God's anyway, and  I want whatever will bring Him the most glory in this situation.  Thank you all for your prayers on our behalf over the past 2 years.  Praise Him with us that this is nearing an end!