Life’s full of irony.
Considering the impact that the weather is having around the PacAsia has given me reason to pause and ponder on how much I choose to ignore when I am not involved or impacted in some way.
Here in the rural north of New Zealand, we have thoroughly enjoyed the spring sunshine of recent weeks. Today’s rain is an answer to prayer as it is filling up our rainwater tank and postponing the almost inevitable need to pay a water carrier to top us up as supplies run low into the summer.
Meanwhile, our Pacific neighbours to the north on Tuvalu, Tokelau, Kiribati and Samoa are experiencing the worst drought for many years, brought about by La Nina. In recent days, ship-borne water deliveries have been sent from New Zealand and a joint Anzac operation is flying desalination units to the worst hit areas.
This evening, as we said grace before dinner, our prayers are with the people of Thailand, as flooding brings widespread havoc and loss of life to the country and its neighbours.That said, I can’t help wondering how much attention we would have paid to this news were our daughter Robyn not in Thailand on mission with KingsWay School.
Having received texts from the team this evening, we know they are safe even if a couple of them are sick and we will continue to pray that things improve – but wouldn’t it be great if we cared as much without our loved ones being involved?