LEFTOVERS!

Last week, some friends from school invited us to travel by bus to the base of the active volcano, Tungurahua.  Hoping to get some "friendship-building time" and some photos of an active volcano, we quickly accepted.
After an 80 cent, two-hour bus ride, we arrived at Peulo, literally at the end of the line in the High Sierra Andes.  Isolated and silent, this was no tourist spot.  A motley crew, two English-only speakers, four Spanish-only speakers (Leda, the grandmother, her two grandchildren, and her daughter-in-law) and one fairly-fluent English speaker, Margarita, we soon discovered we were visiting Leda's sprawling acreage at the very base of Tungurahua.  Leda doesn't live here any longer because in 2010 Tungurahua erupted, destroying most of the village of Peulo and depositing an ash that would stunt fruits and crops.  But, she comes back frequently, not to stay, but to check on her vacant house and fields.
We followed her across dead corn fields and through groves of trees that suspended blackened nutshells and stunted apples.  Margarita explained that few people remain in the area because they are afraid of an imminent eruption.  Leda loved being here.  She loved telling us about the property and her life 'before" and seemed to proudly embrace the "leftovers;" her leftover land, lifestyle, and livlihood.

The volcano had left her something, and we sensed that she loved the present.  She loved being there, crossing her fields, climbing over fences; grandchildren trailing along, all of us trailing along!  Leftovers, which remind us of who we are now because of what we were once upon a time, are important.  They store information about our past, or, at least, indicate what had been.
She showed off a few raspberries, cabbages, and cracked open dried peas in a pod.  She loved being here with her leftovers. This was a fine day.  She had "leftovers" and was grateful.  Tungurahua stayed hidden for hours, but as we started down an isolated road toward the Town Center, she showed her icy self, just a tiny bit.  "Ah," they said, "she likes the Americanos!"
Five hours and one mean thunderstorm later, the bus arrived 45 minutes late to carry us back to Riobamba.
We got home that evening, grateful for a trip with spectacular views and with a new appreciation of the value of "leftovers," presented to us through friendship.

"They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over."  Somebody important thought leftovers were valuable!

Thank You, Saint Louis Track Club!

We never know how useful our past opportunities will play into our present situations.  By that, we specifically refer to the 15 years we were members of the Saint Louis Track Club.  We were beginning runners when we joined, but experienced runners ran hundreds of miles with us through the years teaching us how to eat, how to dress, how to hydrate, and how to train for full and half marathons. They ran with us in the rain, sleet, snow, humidity and sun. They ran with us across our first finish line and many more to follow.

Now, we find ourselves in a city in the Andes, and we haven't seen one runner! No one runs!  But our 15 years of training is paying dividends here even though we aren't lacing up for runs. We could never have known how useful  our past opportunities (training runs and official races) would play into our present situation.  

Here, we depend upon our muscles and joints to get us everywhere we need to go: laundromat, supermarkets, bakeries, church, and work.  If we ran for hours at a time then, we can easily walk a few miles to accomplish daily chores now.  
Here, in the church services, the congregation stands for up to an hour  or more for prayer and praise  time.  If we ran for hours at a time then, we can easily stand for one hour or longer to praise our Lord now.     

The Nazareno escuela band and students have been training for weeks to participate in the April 21 Riobamba Founder's Day Parade.  On the days that they would go out for their two-hour training marches in the neighborhood, Jim and I would join them.  We considered it our exercise because if we could run for hours at a time then, we could walk with the school band for two hours now. 

On Saturday, April 21, the Nazareno Unidad Educativa Cristiana dressed in uniform on the day for which they had prepared.  Our students lined up in perfect rows, crisp and confident.
We had been invited to walk with the administrators and teachers.  The weather was an answer to prayer: partly cloudy-no bright sun and no rain!  As a result, thousands of spectators lined the streets to watch universities, public and private schools and military divisions march on this day of celebration.  We walked for more than two hours; teachers and staff lined up behind rows of students who stepped in perfect formation.  Their training had paid off.  The day of the march, they passed with flying colors!  Our training had paid off, too. If we could run for hours at a time then, we could walk now for several hours in support of a school that we deeply appreciate and respect. 

Our past opportunities are intentionally playing into our present situation! 
Funny, "...they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."  (Isaiah 40:31)
has a pertinent meaning for us in Riobamba.  Training always pays off!