water miracle!

A few weeks back, I wrote about the water emergency up here at the farm... that one of the springs is dry, and the other barely dripping, and it hasn't been raining that much, and the reserve water we had disappeared...
I also wrote about how, a few years back in a terrible drought, our farm was the only one around here that still had water -- and it was miraculous, especially when we learned that one of the biggest reserve tanks had a crack in it.  Yet we never had to buy water; Jehovah Jireh, who caused water to burst forth from a rock in a Middle Eastern desert, also did a water miracle on a Colombian mountain.  God confirming himself as sovereign provider!
When our director left for a trip at the end of May, he measured the reserve and told us we had approximately 120 square meters of water: 3 months' worth.  We've been careful.  We've been praying for rain.  We've been trusting God.
On Saturday (over 5 weeks after he checked the tank) I went up to measure the water.  It appears that we now have MORE water than before he left!!!  The springs are still not flowing like they should, and there haven't been any heavy rains, yet... the water hasn't diminished.  It has, in fact, been multiplied!!!

And THAT, my friends, is a miracle.

refuge

Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge.

I said to the Lord, "You are my Lord: apart from you I have no good thing."

As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.

The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods.

I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips.

Lord you have assigned me my portion and my cup (you are my portion); you have made my lot secure.

The boundary lines have falled for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.


I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.


I have set the Lord always before me.  Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.


Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure,


because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.


You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence (in your presence is fullness of joy), with eternal pleasures at your right hand.



Psalm 16.
Not the one I was looking for today, but definitely something I needed to read.  To let soak in.  To receive.
"Apart from you I have no good thing."  not one. not my friends, not my family, not my fiance, not the kids, not this ministry and vision, not even the sun to warm me... apart from Jesus, nothing is good.  with Jesus, even the struggles lead to something good.  beauty for ashes.  gladness for mourning.  laughter for tears.  life for death.
You are my portion.  and you are enough.  more than enough.  sufficient.  abundant.  overflowing. never-running-out.  
The boundary lines have fallen for in in pleasant places.  Surely I have a delightful inheritance.  and not by chance.  surely you, oh God, have chosen an inheritance that is delightful, and boundary lines that are pleasant for me.  your will and your plans are not only perfect and good, but also pleasing and agreeable.
I will praise the Lord!
I will not be shaken
my heart is glad
my tongue rejoices
my body also will rest secure
...for in you I take refuge
in your presence is fullness of joy.




His presence IS the blessing.  I need to receive what's already mine: fullness of joy, security, stability, peace, every good thing, the assurance that God holds the outcome in his hands, and that even as he allows difficulties, it is to work them into a beautiful redemption in our lives.

Water

Here at the finca (farm), we don't have public water service.  We exclusively use rainwater and springwater for all of our bathing, dishwashing, toilet-flushing, clotheswashing, and animal-watering needs.  For drinking and cooking purposes, we have large water bottles (think: the water cooler at the office) that we refill in the city weekly.
Thanks to La Niña weather phenomenon, we had way more than enough water in our numerous, enormous, underground cisterns and above-ground tanks.  Our director (and neighbor) told us we were free to take long showers, flush the toilet even if it's just "yellow" (instead of "letting it mellow"), not have to save our shower water for flushing, not have to use water from the rain barrels to wash clothes... in fact, we needed more space in the cisterns to hold all that water!
Last week, he went up to check on a cistern that he had left filling from overflow from another tank.  Somehow the water is disappearing, even though he didn't find any leaks.  Now, instead of our overflowing supply, it looks like we only have less than three months' supply of water!

So now, we need to be very conservative with our shower and dish water; not using as much, and reusing it for flushing purposes.  And, as much as we like sun, we need rain.  We also need to find out if there is a leak, and fix it!

Two and a half years ago, when I first came up to live at the farm, there was a drought.  I'm talking severe dry spell.  All the neighbors were periodically buying truckloads of water to fill their tanks.  It wasn't raining, and the springs weren't flowing.  This went on for a few months.  We had to be good stewards of the little water we had, but even as frugal as we were (only washing clothes in the city, for example, and taking bucket-baths), there was no way we could still have water, because on top of the climatic situation, we discovered that the cistern was cracked.
Yet, we never ran out of water.  I learned to trust God as faithful provider of water.  (Jehovah Jireh H20?)

So now, it's time to conserve and be wise.  But it's also time to trust; not to worry!