There

I know it is obvious to all you blog diehards that I tend to wax reflective. That is my nature; that is my curse. I cannot help it.

"Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message," God said to Jeremiah (18:1). That quote is interesting to me. I think it is significant that God's intention for that particular day was that Jeremiah would receive His message NOT by staying at home studying scripture, but as he went out and interfaced his cultural context. Why didn't God just say, "Look, Jerry, I've got something really important to tell you today and I want you to study the writings of Isaiah, especially 64:8, where it says, 'We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.' Stay home, Jerry. Work on your kitchen table. Look it up on Wikipedia. Think about that verse, Jerry, then get back to me in a couple of days to tell me what you've learned." Couldn't God have saved Jeremiah a lot of time and expense that day if He had just laid His truth out there in broad daylight for Jeremiah to see?

Seems not. Seems sometimes field trips are necessary. Today was such a day in Jeremiah's life. A day when God said, "Go... there I will give you my message." Today, too, was such a day in my life.

My experiences in Haiti could never be matched by any amount of news reports or documentaries on the subject. Knowing this is a source of frustration as I process my feelings online for others to read. I'm frustrated because I know that no one can know Haiti unless they've been there... in person. To see and feel and smell and taste Haiti. To breath Haiti's heavy air and hear the cries of her mourning.

There. The vast majority of our days are spent there. In context. Engaging culture. And it is while we are there, busy and "in the fray," that truth often comes.

I have never more been "in the fray" than these past weeks. And God has certainly spoken truth to my heart.

I return to Haiti in two weeks....