What if trap.

OK, I admit I wasted some time in the 'what if trap' this weekend.

Back-LaGonave Moringa Dry shed. The work continues.

After the days of hospital meetings and hearing of the plans to greatly improve and advance the work on LaGonave I came away with mixed feelings and thoughts which led me to the 'what if' line of thinking.

Not negative feelings or thoughts about the plans for LaGonave and the hospital but more why the improvements took so long to start.

Most of the problem areas that need improvement did not develop in the last few years but continue to remain problems decade after decade. Some areas received attention and work but slid backwards when the focus shifted to more urgent and serious problems took priority. Other areas never quit made it to a priority level that resulted in efforts to correct the problem and therefore continue to remain problem areas.

A few issues that came to light developed after the medical missionaries left because we did not anticipate them becoming problems. For example the medical missionaries would orientate visiting medical staff and help answer both cultural questions and questions pertaining to practicing medicine in developing countries. Now some of these questions remain unanswered. [Will be working on putting together orientation information for visiting medical personal with the Haitian staff]

But before I could slump into a major pity party about what could of been...my thoughts swung to a second set of what ifs. What if the missionary personal had not trained the Haitian office staff and medical staff. What if they had neglected to raise financial and prayer support for the hospital for 50 years. There may not of been any hospital to rebuild at this point. What if the hospital had closed years ago? What would the town and island look like now?

What if as a child no hospital existed for me to wander about and see how God's love touched sick and suffering people? What if teams years ago had not made a guest house for teams? What if the earthquake had not brought Haiti back into the news and highlighted the medical needs?

I'm reminded that I do not possess all the facts to make any judgement on what occurred or did not occur. The 'what if trap' only wastes time and energy. The Lord's timing often remains a mystery to man.

Some of us prepare the soil, some plant, some water, some weed, some trim and only a few will harvest. But without each part or role the harvest would suffer or not even happen.

My focus needs to remain on today, the here and now. My attitude today while doing the task in front of me, large or small. How I relate right now to the person at my door or on the phone. Focus on each word, tone, thought that passes through my head. More than enough right there to overwhelm me into a state of doing nothing BUT I am not alone. The Lord can work though me and with weak little old me to do remarkable things. WOW!