I heard a sermon that included this verse one time, and what I heard made sense to me. We are to carry each other's burdens in the sense that we are to support one another in our Christian (and blood) family. No man is an island or a rock by himself. We were made relational, just as God the Trinity is relational. We need each other. We are fulfilled in our relationship with God, but he still made us to need one another!

On the other hand, we will all "carry (our) own load". We will all stand before God one day and answer for every action, for every careless word that has left our mouths, for every explosion of temper, for every cruel word of gossip. No one else (other than Christ) will bear this for us. Even as a husband has been appointed as the head of the household, and will stand before God to answer for himself as well as his family, the wife will stand before God to answer for herself. Acts 5:1-11 presents us with the story of Ananias and Sapphira, and the wife is not excused for her actions just because of the husband. She will still answer to God for her own actions.

There are two main thoughts I had about this Scripture today. One is that we can rejoice in the fact that Christ will represent us and we have been declared innocent. This affects me deeply as I still wrestle with this big and selfish mouth of mine (which is actually only a representative of my big and selfish natural heart!). The other is that other people are helping me to carry my burden right now in a way that is also affecting me deeply.

The house still sits empty. (And God is still good).

But let me tell what has unfolded in the last several weeks. Chris Long wrote to offer the services of people from the church in some kind of house or yard clean up. I had just received an estimate from the property manager of $2300.00 to have the interior of the house painted and some wallpaper changed. The long and short of it is that Chris agreed (in his usually cheery manner!) to get a group together to paint the house, my sister has agreed to replace the wallpaper (not to mention that she and her family went over and cleaned gutters, repaired gutter, bought new mini blinds, etc). My parents are helping me with phone calls and appointments and planning. So now, as I sit in the southern hemisphere unable to physically do these things, my blood family and my Christian family are coming together to help me carry this burden.

How overwhelming is that? I can only give thanks to all of you, and thanks to God. It almost seems ironic to me that during a time like this, when there is a hardship, and God seems silent on some fronts, that he is using this very situation to bring me blessing heaped upon blessing through other people.

Now, I told you that story to say THANK YOU, but also to tell you this story. We are in a phase of transition here in Cusco with our churches and missionaries. The Becks are headed home at the end of April and may not be back as career missionaries for 6 months to a year. The Riedels are on furlough for the next 6 months. Our main church "Jesus El Buen Pastor" has opened another work (church plant) in a place called Yanama, about an hour's drive from Cusco, which is going to take one of our two Peruvian leaders away from our church "Emmanuel" here in Santa Monica at the same time the main missionary family of the church is leaving.

Our desire is to spread the gospel, by raising up Peruvian leaders in the church, as well as to help with mercy ministries and daily life skills. With so many people leaving, my impulse is to jump in and "save the world!" BUT ... that goes against what we desire to do. We want to raise up Peruvian leaders in the church, not have missionary led and run churches. The goal is to guide and teach and then send THEM out to do this. So how on earth does this relate to my earlier story about the house? In this way.

There is a hardship. You pray. You do. You wait. God doesn't change the hardship. But he blesses you in unimaginable ways during this time.

We are facing a hard time in our churches. There is so much work, and so few workers. Please pray that during this time of "hardship" in our churches here in Cusco, that God will bless us all in unimaginable ways of his choosing, and that he will raise up Peruvians to help carry the burden, just like he has done for me.

1. You can easily fit 5 cars abreast in a 3 lane road (one or two of these can be large trucks)
2. When sitting in a long line of unmoving traffic, there is a purpose for sitting on your horn (I haven't figured out yet what the purpose is)
3. The 12-seater combi van for public transportation actually does seat 26
4. License?
5. Stop signs, traffic lights, and all other traffic signals are mere suggestions
6. It is acceptable to make a left turn from the far right lane, or a right turn from the far left lane.
7. One way streets often have two way traffic

Also, one of my favorite translations from a med student to a Peruvian during a clinic:

She meant to say - "Queremos orar para ti" (we want to pray for you), but accidently said - "Queremos orinar para ti" (we want to urinate for you).

The fun never ends. :)