Of Rain and Reptiles!

It's always a time of rejoicing at the edge of the desert, when the rains come!

And last night they came!

20mm of steady soaking rain…

…along with the accompanying power outage!

But we were happy anyhow for the wonderful rain!

Our happiness suddenly turned to heart-stopping fear when in the dark with dim torchlight, my husband nearly stepped on a large Puff Adder lying across the path along the back of our house, as he went to lock the laundry door before heading to bed!

The Puff Adder, in case you didn't know is a highly venomous snake and is the snake responsible for the most snake bite deaths in Africa.  They are not to be trifled with.  The main problem with them is that they just lie in the path and don't move when you come close.  They don't slither off and their colours camoflage very well with the ground, so they are not easy to see and very easy to step on accidentally….and much less easy to see of course amoung the dark shadows of a moonless, rainy night with a power outage.

All calls to 'snake handler' friends availed nothing, as it seemed they had decided that rain and no power was a good reason for an early night.

So eventually I found a phone number for the BDF (Botswana Defence Force) who have a snake handling unit that can be called upon for such situations…..for a fee of P100 (about USD$10).  We assured them that we would absolutely be able to pay them their P100 when they came.

So we watched (the snake…from a distance), and we waited (for the BDF soldiers to come from their base), in the now cold wet night air.  It's amazing how quickly a hot day can turn to a cool night with a good dose of rain.

There has maybe never been a more welcome vehicle coming up the dirt track to our house at almost 11pm, than that BDF vehicle and its two occupants.

Within moments Soldier number one had his hooked stick around Mr Puff Adder and manouvered it into the large crate, while Soldier number 2 shone the torch.  Mind you Mr Puff Adder put up a bit of resistance with an extra vigorous wiggle, but the soldier won!  It all seemed so simple and was over within a few seconds, but we were very glad to let them do it all.

With Mr Puff Adder safely  secured in his crate on the back of the BDF bakkie (read 'ute' for Aussies and 'pickup truck' for Americans), we paid our P100, were issued an official receipt for 'snake retrieval', and the BDF vehicle, now with its extra occupant, drove off down the hill and away into the night.

This morning we woke up and found the receipt in a pocket and were reminded that it really did all happen….we have the piece of paper to prove it!

But we don't recommend meeting Puff Adders late on dark rainy nights….in fact we don't recommend meeting Puff Adders any time at all!

But we do thank the Lord for his protection….and for actually finding it the way we did, and now knowing its far away and not lurking under a log or some leaves somewhere near our back door.  There are probably a few more out in the bush on the hill where we live, and for that reason (along with scorpions) we make every effort to keep doors closed and have screens on windows!

The Confusion Over the Honour and Equality of Women

Equality of Women.

This is a topic to cause any conversation to get heated…..just like the blog I wrote a few weeks back about honour and headship and leadership.

But here I want to touch on the honour of a woman in the midst of the equality debate.

I have just come across a superb blog article (via a link from Challies.com), about women and their value alongside men….no not just value, but how much a man needs a woman to accomplish and be, all that he was created to be.  The article is profound, not just because it states the truth, but because of the ways it states it, and the referencess it quotes from the literature.

Please take the time to read the full article here, but meanwhile here is the final paragraph (emphasis mine):

Woman is the most powerful living force on the globe. She creates, shapes, and sustains human civilization. The first step in weakening her power is to convince her that she must overcome her femininity. This, ironically, is precisely what the most vocal strains of feminism have advocated. Yes, woman should have equality in the workplace, in politics, and in the public square. But to render her more like man in order to accomplish this, and to judge her womanliness a hindrance to her ascendancy, is to get things exactly backwards. It is to treat her as much less than she truly is.

I think this article hits the nail on the head.

We are confusing the 'are' and the 'do' of life.

As I have mentioned before, the Western world who have promoted feminism, are coming from an 'achieved honour' focus culture.  They see honour as being derived from what a person 'does'.  This is not the time to go into a theological treatise on ascribed and achieved honour in Scripture, but biblically our primary identity is not achieved but ascribed. We did nothing to be born and nothing to be re-born.  Once we are born, we then start 'do'-ing, and when we are re-born, we then 'do'.  But both only occur because we first 'are'. The 'doing' is the logical and natural outworking of the 'being'.

In trying to escape a mis-placed earthly and cultural honour which ascribed women a lower status, the world's answer seemed to be in the 'new' opportunities of the industrialised world, where women could begin to 'do' what men 'do'.  

Femininism was women seeking through achievement, what they believed they were failing to receive through culturally ascribed honour.  It is no different here in Africa.  Feminism and Feminist theology is strong in our corner of Africa.

But both feminism, and the culture it is rebelling against, are seeking mis-placed honour.  It is seeking honour according to the honour codes of fallen creation, of human wisdom and of finite knowledge, instead of finding honour from the Creator and knowing the joy of living according to His plan and purpose.

The world only knew one way to 'overcome' what was thought were the boundaries preventing a woman's honour (spoken about as dignity, equality, respect etc), and that was to overcome the femininity that held her back from 'doing' what men do.

Hoped for honour-gain has become honour-loss

But in seeking such honour by becoming more like a man, we didn't gain honour, we lost it.  

We lost the honour of our femininity.  

We lost the joy and pleasure of being who the Creator intended us to be.  

And as the blog article pointed out, the more society looses feminine women, the more society loses out. We end up with men who can't fully be the men they were meant to be and women who are refusing to be the women they were meant to be.

In fact we as women show how small-minded we are when we say we need to become like men.  

For a lock on a door to be functional according to its purpose there has to be both the lock mechanism and a key.  Neither one without the other is useful, but neither are anything like each other (except maybe they are both made of metal).  For one to say to the other that it must become in shape and activity the same as the other is pure nonsense.  They 'achieve' their purpose because they are different and work together acknowledging how the differences are meant to interact.  Neither is better than the other, and neither's activity is less important than the other.  Each is equal in value, worth, importance, significance and honour.

Identity needs to be rooted in the Creator's truth not the creation's ideas.

We need to develop a strong identity in who we 'are'.  And that identity needs to be rooted in who the Creator says we are.  

It must not be in what the world says we should look like, or what function we do or don't have, or what earthly heritage we come from.  Our identity needs to come from the ascribed honour we have firstly as beings uniquely created in God's image, and then most of all as who we are in Christ.

We must also be careful not to fall for the temptation to try to 're-create' the Creator's design, and re-define issues according to our own wisdom, in order to fit society trends or cultural mores….we can easily run the danger of seeking to be 'approved' by cultural opinion while rejecting God's opinion. On the other hand we should seek God's approval and smile even at the risk of rejection by cultural opinion. 

And as women, we need to learn to be content in who God says we are, and who God created us to be.  

What we 'do' is not the measure of who we are.  

What we 'do' may come from who we 'are', but the honour of identity starts with who we 'are' according to the Creator.  It is then and only then, that what we 'do' according to God's plan for us, will also be honourable.

Women will never be equal to men….in what we do.  

But guess what?….said another way…..

Men will never be equal to women either, in what they do. 

Different doesn't mean despicable

Men and Women are different: our roles are different, our function is different, our strengths are different, our weaknesses are different, our brains are different, our biology is different.  We are wonderfully different!  

When differences are in accordance with the creativity of the Creator, and not our own notions, 'different' is not something to be avoided, but to be embraced. 

We have just had the 2016 Olympics and every race was divided so that men and women do not run in the same race…..this is not because the Olympics treats women as inferior, but because it treats them with consideration and honour. 

We don't force 13 year old swimmers to enter the same world championships as 20 year old swimmers.  

The Paralympics are not held separately because we despise the disabled, but because we honour them.  To force them to run against others without disabilitites is dishonouring them.  For a disabled person to refuse to participate in the Paralympics because they see it as discrimiation is to refuse honour and set themselves up for failure and disgrace. 

We say things in the West like 'dare to be different' or 'embrace your unique gifts and qualities' or 'don't let anyone else tell you what you should be', and yet women are believing the lie that feminity is an unacceptable 'difference' that we should discard. We have believed the evolution lie that whatever is 'current' is of a higher evolved state and thus better than what went before so whatever 'new' idea comes along must be better for us.  

But the lies of the Serpant that started in the Garden are still capturing our minds today. 

When our idea of 'better' doesn't match the Creator's perfect design and we deem that the male and female differences are a hindrance to 'advancement' and 'happiness' and 'success', we are on the road of disappointment, delusion and destruction.

Delight in femininity

It's only when we acknowledge and embrace the differences that form the Creator's design, that they can become the very means to our true 'success' as how we were created to be.

It is only as we recognise our Creator (who made us as equal in His sight), and our Redeemer (who in Him we stand equal in His sight), that we will enjoy the fulness of who we are.

Even as Christians we can be tempted to first gain our identity from what we 'do' as seen by others and approved by others around us.  But if we take that road, we will set ourselves up for false comparisons….both with other women as well as with men.  

False comparisons will steal your contentment and flood you with condemnation.  

They will tempt you to want to 'be' who you are not.  

They will lure you to live outside the Creator's design. In this age of 'gender confusion' there is lots of temptation to live outside the Creator's design.

But that just sets you up for further heartache and disappointment.  

Let's not destroy our true created identity and honour in an effort to run after mis-placed identity and honour. 

Women, let's delight and rejoice in our femininity, and rejoice in our God who gave it to us to bring glory to Him and good to the world in which we live!

Elephants

Elephants are awesome animals!

The intriguing facts about them are too numerous to list here - but like all of creation, the more you learn about them, the more you see evidence of the Creator.

Here are just a few facts I was sent recently:

Elephants can live to be over 70 years old and they are the only mammal that can't jump!

Elephants have the longest pregnancy of all the animals. It takes a female 22 months from conception to give birth.

They also purr like cats do, as a means of communication.

Elephants, much like humans, cry, play, laugh, and have incredible memories.

Elephants can swim - they use their trunks to breathe like a snorkel in deep water.

Their feet are covered in a soft padding that helps uphold their weight, preventing them from slipping, and dulls any sound.

Therefore elephants can walk almost silently!

They are highly sensitive and caring animals. If a baby elephant complains, the entire family will rumble and go over to touch and caress it.

Elephants express grief, compassion, self-awareness, altruism and play.

These incredible creatures pay homage to the bones of their dead, gently touching the skulls and tusks with their trunks and feet. When an elephant walks past a place where a loved one has died, they will stop dead still; a siltent and empty pause that can last several minutes.

Botswana has one of the largest elephant concentrations in Africa, and it is growing due to elephants retreating to Botswana to escape poachers in neighbouring countries.

Botswana also has one of the most vigilent and active 'anti-poaching' units around.  Recently an anouncement was made in the media  that poachers should carry their passports with them as it would help Botswana to be more efficient at sending their bodies back to their own countries….you see Botswana has a 'no questions' policy that they will shoot to kill a poacher.

This might seem a little extreme, but Botswana is very protective of their wildlife.

And a recent incident helps to explain why…..

Despite their vigilence, the anti-poaching helicopter recently came across a particularly savage mass slaughter of 26 elephants in the Chobe National Park (where we were earlier this year) who had not just been killed and tusks removed, but had had their whole faces cut off.

Now it is true that as Christians we know human souls are of greater eternal importance than animals.

But we should reel in horror when God's creation is recklessly and selfishly destoyed.  We humans are pretty good at destruction of creation - whether it be permeating our world with plastic bags  and hormone altering chemicals  or saturating our bodies with often unecesary antibiotics and anti-bacterial soaps or cutting down every tree in sight so as to put in a housing estate….or even the reckless slaughter of elephants.

We can think that as Christians, because we value the soul over the body, that the body and creation in general is of little importance. 

But part of the role of humans on this earth is to manage and take care of the earth that was entrusted to us.  Those who have total disregard for God's creation are showing a total disregard for God, and in the process are also showing a total disregard for their fellow human beings with whom they share this earth.

Elephant populations have declined by 30% since 2007  across Africa!  If it continues at the same rate by the time the next generation are our age, there may not be any elephants!  There will be no opportunity for the grandchildren to ever show their kids an elephant and have such an awesome animal inspire honour and praise of the Creator!

Again what I'm about to say might seem strange, but do we pray for our governments that they will know wisdom and courage to honestly and faithfully do what they can to take care of the awesome creation God has given us? 

We should be ever aware of ways that we can be careful to take care of the aspects of creation that we have responsibility for each in our small corner. 

You may not have elephants in your country's 'back yard' to protect from poachers, but we all have areas where we need to be more aware, knowledgable, courageous and vigilent to avoid destruction of God's creation and promote wise stewardship.