wet soggy foundation

Well, we are in the rainy season after all, so it could hardly be a surprise. Rain tends to come in the rainy season here. And it comes in large quantities, we're finding. In fact, the average rainfall per year is 15 meters. Over the past few days we've had a lot of rainy, stormy, wintery weather. But we're still in shorts and tee-shirts cos it's still hot... go figure!
Now we do like a good thunder storm. There's nothing like the rumble to drive you further down into that blanket with a book, but with the heat, I hardly curl up here in the Solomon Islands when there's a thunder storm. The whole sky just seems to crash and boom and it shakes everything to the core. It's frightening as it just keeps going on and on. It's like having surround sound in your room as you hear the thunder rumbling along the heavens like an angry toddler giant who's throwing a tantrum. And when there's thunder, there comes a lot of rain and also a lot of wind.

So anyway, that's the weather for the last few days. Last week it was hot during the day, thundery in the evening and rainy at night. But now it's just rainy all the time. Not that we're complaining. It's nice as it's cooler. Ahh, mid-twenties, reach-for-your-hoodie kind of temperature.

The freakiest thing about the weather over the last few days is that a number of trees have fallen down. Last night at about six pm, a half of a big raintree split right down the centre and fell down on the fence, phone line and road. So the guys and some of the neighbours were busy quickly clearing it up. But then, during the night, the wind blew so hard, the ground was so soft and the middle of the tree was so rotten that the other half of this massive tree just fell down. We didn't hear the crash, but it must have been loud! We are very blessed that it didn't fall a different way as it would have landed right on top of a house. So, even though the tree came down, God kept us all safe last night.

So first thing this morning, I was out with the camera, taking some shots. It's a massive tree. Now that it's on the ground, we can get a better view of it. It's fascinating to see all the vines and branches intermingling. It's incredible to think that big thing can just come crashing down with a bit (or rather, a lot) of wind. I got our neighbour, Amanda, to stand in front so you could get some perspective of the size of the root system.

It was coincidental (or rather providential) that we'd already chosen to share a passage from Colossians with the inmates at the

prison today. It's from Colossians 2:6-7: "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." We shared with them this incident about the tree, that it was rotten in it's core and it's roots don't go down very deep. The wet soil also gave it a shaky foundation. If your life is built like this, on a wet, soggy foundation, with weak roots and sin that rots your soul, then it's no wonder when you fall in life when temptation and trials come. But if you are deeply rooted in Christ and in His word, then when trials come, He will hold you up so you will not fall. The inmates responded warmly to this vivid picture which we were able to explain to them.

I must say, I'm eyeing the trees by our house more suspiciously now. My fears were somewhat allayed when the security guard explained that the raintree by our house is evenly weighted and obviously has a strong core. Thankfully, the tree by our house appears to be more deeply rooted in the ground! But even more than that, we trust in God. He won't let the tree come crashing down if he doesn't want it to. That's our prayer tonight as the wind howls!