Golden Leaves Cling--While Hurricanes Whirl

 Yesterday as I worked down my to-do list and traveled to a lymphatic therapy appointment, I kept praying for the people of Jamaica where Cat 5 Hurricane Melissa was to hit today. Here on our little South Dakota property, golden leaves were still clinging to the twigs and branches of our elm that managed to survive the Dutch elm disease that killed other trees on our property. 

I seemed to need to just go out and look at the golden light of the sunshine glowing off the beautiful leaves, reminding myself that God didn't mean for me to carry the weight of the world, though of course, I ought to care and I ought to pray, and if possible, find a charitable organization to send a donation to in the future to help the needs there. 

But I, the weak human, have to cast the weight of it on the Almighty One.

Crystal and Danny had just read about the terrible poverty in Cuba already, about a pastor who uses up his meager pastoral stipend within the first 8 to 10 days of the month, and then they go without food most of the rest of the month, except for when a parishioner is able to share a few potatoes or something else. The pastor is often ministering on a stomach that has been empty for two or three days.

He and his wife pretend to have already eaten so that their children have a little food. 

Christian Aid Ministry, one of the highest ranked charitable organizations for financial integrity, was the organization telling that pastor's story. We get CAM's newsletter monthly and read it a lot.

https://christianaidministries.org/

 Last week everyone in the family contributed something so that Crystal could make out a check to CAM for world hunger relief. We don't often do that, because we attend two churches, one with morning service and one with evening service, and the churches need our tithe. And there are often needs right around us that need our help.

But last week, our hearts broke for Cuban pastors.

And now Cuba is hit with a hurricane and whole cities are under water--unlike our garden here which is dry as a withered corn husk. I stand wishing I could share our garden produce this year or breads from our shelves with Cuban pastors and the poor.
But then we hear that people who are SNAP recipients will not be getting their benefits in November, and that includes most of the natives on the rez. 

Eight showed up at church Sunday, likely for the meal afterward.

We expect more this coming Sunday.

Crystal is picking up marked down 29-cent/lb bananas at Wigwam today to make banana breads for Sunday. And I cooked a huge crockpot of beans from scratch to make chili or bean soup. 

It's easy to feel sorry for people in Cuba, while ignoring back yard needs. At the same time, the situation is entirely different. It's possible for people on the rez to work and earn their own money if they will do two simple things--1) show up sober, and 2) do the work. 

Groceries are available both at the natives' commodities and at the grocery store. 

But one thing we know, we are likely to have lots of extra people at church these next Sundays, and they will be hungry. 

So we want to have food to feed them. 

We will need wisdom to navigate November.