God's love is infectious. You don't have to understand it to be affected by it.

My approach

My approach to sharing the gospel: be open to it and let it happen. It takes time to build trust. Without trust, no one will care what you believe. You gain their trust by showing you're not out to press your views on them, but you truly care about them regardless of what beliefs you share. When you truly let God's love live through you, it will capture the hearts of people, and they will seek it out for themselves. You're not the hero, but one who has been rescued. People relate to that because it's real.

Well, I moved into a new spot North of town. It's a really nice change of scenery and pace. There's much less traffic, and no concrete hammering next door at 3 am like the last place. Plus, it's beachfront and ground level, so no more hiking up the maze of stairs ever time I step outside. Buying groceries is a workout considering I have to hold it all in one hand while riding my bike for a couple of miles, but hey, at least it's exercise! Much cheaper too. And great view. I'm in the downstairs part, which is the grounds keeper quarters, 3 bedrooms split between 4 people, although, two of them are almost never home. My room is really small, but it's big enough to put my stuff and a small bed, which is all I need. Hey I just saw a dolphin!

Lawlessness or lovelessness?

If sin is lawlessness, and Jesus focuses the commandments into the greatest two being Love God, and love your neighbor, then the law is to love, thus lawlessness is lovelessness. So, if we act in love, we are acting lawfully, and if we act in sin, we are acting not in love, but in selfishness. We aren't supposed to manage sin, we aren't supposed to focus on do's and don't's, instead, we are to be motivated by love. I don't know anyone who doesn't like to be loved.

psalm

“Lord, make me to know my end, And what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am. Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Surely every man walks about like a shadow; Surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up riches, And does not know who will gather them. “And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You. Psalm 39 4-7 NKJV

A Thought on Life and Money

I feel like having too much money would distract from a life of adventure. The lack of financial resources seems to enhance creativity. Learning how to be resourceful out of necessity is not only a way of freedom from financial obligation, but it makes life interesting. After all, necessity is the mother of invention.

One year in Belize

As of today (Oct. 10), I have officially been living in Belize for one year, and seeing as how I haven't blogged in a very long time, this seems like a good reason to write. It's very strange thinking about my life before Belize, it's so different and seems like so long ago. I have no concept of time while I'm here. When it comes to days and weeks and months, I just exist somewhere in the middle of all of it. This is mainly due to the fact that I don't have daily commitments, I just leave each day open to whatever comes along. I would say I prefer it that way. Anyway, here's what's going on in the life of Perry Wigglesmith these days. I think I become a little more Belizean every day. This week I learned how to make rice and beans and fried plantain. I don't know why I didn't try it sooner! As far as food is concerned, I do what I can to make my money stretch as far as possible. I'll just say I eat a lot of oatmeal. I like to cook and try new things, but that kind of thing takes time, and I'm far from proficient in that field. My roommate says I have the blood of a chef, but not the practice! This is because whenever I try to make something new, I usually butcher it the first few tries. I made some cookies last week..sort of... I'll just say my oven doesn't specify temperature, it just hast the little increasing slope as if to say, " It's somewhere between here and here, Good luck!" It's always fun though. I'm sharing a one bedroom apartment with a guy from Mexico named Jhonattan, but I just call him by his English name, Jonathan, it's much easier. I let him have the bedroom and I just camp on the couch in the main room. We have a trade off where I help him out with English and he helps me with Spanish. Although, he's doing much better at it than I am. He's a very cool guy. He helps clean the house and pays when he's supposed to, what more could you ask for! I have a lot of free time here, but I never get bored for long. I've recently been getting into knitting. Of all things right? I learned how to crochet earlier this year and decided to learn how to knit as well. I have a book called the encyclopedia of knitting... I tell everyone I'm an old lady at heart. I'm currently working on a scarf for winter seeing as how I will be in Texas for Alyssa and Matt's wedding in December. I want to make things that are useful, because in the tropics, knitted clothing isn't always the most practical thing to wear. On the agenda is a blanket to put on the couch, mainly for decoration. Some stuff I crocheted are a wash cloth and house slippers (as seen below), and lots and lots of hats. The dreads are coming along nicely. It's been a little over 5 months since Amber locked my hair. I've heard it takes one year for them to get mature and become almost maintenance free. I'm figuring out the best ways to keep them clean and pretty. They seem to be growing pretty fast too. I think the salt water helps tremendously. I'm still playing drums with Barrington and the Islanders, and still loving it. I think we are playing for a wedding this Saturday at Coco Beach, as well as the usual Sunday and Tuesday nights at Captain Morgan's Retreat. I'm still dumbfounded at how blessed I am to have that gig. And I've made connections with just about every musician on the island. There's a great community of musicians here, and plenty of live music every night of the week. I'm always biking around town, staying healthy whilst transporting! It's a win win mode of transportation. Although, we are indeed in the rainy season, which means there's no way to avoid getting wet. Perhaps my greatest idea yet is rain shorts. I cut some rain pants to where they just fit over my shorts and they keep me perfectly dry. It's amazing because my pants are always wet when I ride my bike and they never cease to get mud flung all over them, but with the rain shorts, problem solved. Plus, I never wear shoes, so it doesn't matter if my feet get wet. That's about it for the one year update, but my New (Belize)Year's resolution is to blog more. Stay tuned to see how that goes!