All the supplies for Ecuador are now packed in as tight as we can get them - and I do mean tight.  Even when I arrived this morning, there were more supplies to take.  All of the people here have been so generous!  What a great group of people to serve in the Kingdom with.

When traveling like this, you don't want to leave anything undone that really needs to be done.  What I mean is, it doesn't really matter if I forget toothpaste or extra socks.  Those can be acquired (I think!).  But there are things that must be had to make the travel possible, and the things of uncomfortable subject matters if our return is hindered.  It is those things that are the necessities.  All else is comfort and / or peripheral.

While thinking about this, our life here on earth and the eternal thereafter are not so different.  There are certain things we must have in order when our old heart stops beating or Jesus comes to take up home.  Some things are absolute necessities - such as being under His blood, accepting His lordship, being covered with His grace, and having pursued Him in the light of righteousness.  There are other things that are important in life's journey as well, but they are more peripheral than central. 

It's been my experience in the church that most arguing and fighting is over those peripheral issues (usually based in control attempts) and not central matters concerning Christ.  The apostle Paul even directly confronts this in his letter to the church in Corinth in 1 Cor. 15:3ff when he states the matters of first importance. 

Pray for us please.  Make all important things ready.

jas