Chicken and Mushroom

“What is it?”

On the 23rd day of my second month here in S.A., I found this plant-like organism on the ground. Surrounded by the lush and green grasses, this thing was lying beneath a cracked soil. My Australian workmate wiped off the dirt on top and inserted his index and middle fingers under this round, dirty-white object and pulled it. Look what we got, a mushroom!

The good thing about it, it’s edible! Yehey! We then started to roam around and had found some more. Wow! I had also noticed some shepherds across the field doing the same that day. And for exactly 10 days now, we’ve been collecting plenty of mushrooms.

I remember my blog entry last April 23, 2008... I've written about the dryness of this place. I never thought that the previously brown and dusty place will turn into a green and productive field!

ON THE FIFTEENTH DAY of the second month... The Israelites in the time of Moses, who escaped from Egypt, had started complaining about their discomforts in Sinai Desert thousands of years ago. They believed they were going to starve but the good Lord had given them plenty of quails and manna** in the desert (Exodus 16:1-36).

Unknowingly, sometimes I am (or WE are) like them. But God’s miracles and blessings never really end. He may not give me a flock of quails or two quarts of manna daily for forty years, but 'the chickens and the mushrooms' are more than enough to satisfy my hunger in this life’s strenuous journey. His gifts are, indeed, not just in the form of quails and manna, the reason why I have started opening my eyes and looking around so I could realize His countless presents to me daily.

I will stay in this desolate farm... I will stay and wait until He strikes the rock (somewhere in this place) with His stick to pour out plenty of ‘water’ to quench my thirst and the whole world!

----------------------------------------------------

**manna - a bread, something like a thin wafer.

- in Hebrew it means "What is it?"