Gregory T. Jacobs
 
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When I walked into my office this morning, I was greeted with a musty foul odor that usually says hello to me in the mornings.  No, I didn't leave my dirty socks lying on the floor overnight, or even a leftover reuben sandwich ripening on my desk.  It is the smell that comes up through the basement.  My bank is one of the oldest buildings in the town of Shelbyville.  We know that it used to be City Hall, a Fire Department, and a Funeral Home in years gone by.  We even have pictures of this place with horses tied up to the hitching post outside.  Are you starting to get the picture of how old this building is?  Well about 5 years ago, we remodeled this building into a work of art.  We have nice paint on the walls, marble on the floors, and all new carpeting.  I must say that I have some pretty nice digs for my office.  I love the space that I have, the furniture that takes up residence, and the horse pictures hanging on my wall.  The only thing that I despise is the dank musty odor that comes up through the floor from the basement below.

Now before you try giving me suggestions on how to fix this nice little problem, I have had professionals and novices alike offer suggestions to no avail.   It has been suggested that I use a Glade plug in for my electrical outlet.  All that does is mask the smell.  I had the Heating and Cooling Guy drop by a big glob of mystery goo that is supposed to absorb all smells.  It must have not been charged properly, as it hasn't seemed to work.  I have suggested a de-humidifier in the basement, but that would require installing an electrical outlet to plug it in; not to mention a drain for the water to be disposed properly. 

All of this got me thinking this morning about the state of human lives.  How many of us live in remodeled bodies that look great from the outside, but inside stink to the core.  How many of us have hidden sins and secrets that we don't like others to know about, however they seem to creep through the basement floor anyway.  A man or a woman will always be found out from what they possess on the inside.  You might think that you are hiding an addiction or vice well, but the Truth will come out in your actions (You will know them by their Fruit).  It might be a cross word here, or a lustful glance there, or maybe even a dirty joke around the water cooler.  Or it could simply be that you go to church every Sunday and do everything you can do to "Earn" your way into Heaven.  Salvation can only come through the free gift of Grace, and nothing we can do to earn it.

Although I seem to be stuck with my dillemma in my office, I know that I don't need to be stuck with this in my personal life.  I am a firm believer in throwing open the closet doors of life and allowing the sun to expose any skeletons a person might have in their closet.  Why is there a closet in the first place?  You see when I sit in my office all day, I don't smell the odor.  However, when I leave for lunch and come back later, it hits me square in the face.  Life is like this as well.  Sometimes we wallow in ourselves so much, that we fail to see the odor rising up from our souls.

The sun that exposes our deepest dark musty smell is The SON Jesus Christ.  As always, if you don't know Him, I would love to introduce you to Him.  If you think that you know Him, do a self evaluation of your life to never presume that you are free from the stench underneath.  Lastly, if you really do know Him, please don't keep it to yourself...
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I have been back from Haiti less than a week, and already I am starting to feel the extreme polar opposites here in the States.  When the earthquake ravished the country of Haiti on January 12th, I knew that I was to go down and help.  It was not my first Rodeo per se, as this made my 4th foreign mission trip.  This was different to me then all the others.  I wasn't going to just evangelize the lost, or to bestow any kind of blessing to them as the "Rich American."  No, I simply wanted to be used by God in any capacity that He saw fit.  I had no idea what that would look like.

While in Haiti, all of the things that I had learned while in El Salvador and Jamaica quickly came flooding back.  Things such as not flushing toilet paper, but simply wrapping it up and putting it in the trash can (the septic systems couldn't handle it).  Also to never take more food than you are willing to eat.  Thankfully this has never been an issue for me.  Although I am not a big fan of goat, we ate like kings.  However, at the end of the meal, we would scrape any crumbs that were left over onto one plate.  What usually goes in our garbage disposal at home, went to feed other Haitians.  Any of the food not on the plates, went to the preparers family that night.  It kind of made it difficult to indulge in seconds, knowing that you were depriving somebody else of quite possibly the only meal they had that day.   We were instructed to take "Navy Showers."  For those of  you that do not know what that is, you turn the water on for a few seconds to get wet, turn it off and lather up, then quickly turn it back on to rinse.  It was a blessing if the generator stayed on in order for the water pumps to keep working.

I knew full well that I would experience withdrawals when I came back to the States.  This might sound strange to some, as some probably couldn't wait to get out of that country.  Trust me when Sunday morning came around, I did not want to miss my flight.  However, I am forced to think about certain things.  Don't get me wrong, I have really enjoyed flushing my toilet paper while at home, as well as taking my time in the shower.  There is nothing wrong with these things.  However, I don't want to lose sight of what it taught me.  Am I being wasteful of God's resources when I leave the water running while I brush my teeth?  Am I throwing too much down the disposal that maybe should be leftovers for the next day, or consumed at the dinner table?  Maybe just maybe, I am lazy and lethargic in life because I have not had to fight every day for my daily sustenance. 

The Haitian people think in the here and now.  If you were to give them a 100 pound bag of rice, they would take what they needed for that day, and they would sell the rest.  Is this wise?  Maybe...Maybe not...  We can all justify our stance on whatever it is we support, but when the rubber meets the road, are we being good stewards of our time, resources, and energy?  I never want to forget the filth, devastation, and poverty that I experienced in Haiti.  In just the same fashion, I never want to forget the kind and cordial hearts that the Haitians showed to me.  They don't know that they are living in less than appropriate circumstances, because it is all in the eye of the beholder.

I asked one of the Haitian translators a question one day.  I said, "Andy, does it hurt your feelings when Americans come down to your country and complain about not having air conditioning, the smells, pollution, etc.?"  He didn't know what I was talking about.  He said, "I don't know what you are talking about.  People would complain about Haiti?  My country is such a beautiful country."   You see what looked like a Hell-Hole to some, was their Home.  Though they didn't take pride in it the way we interpret that they should, they have never had anything to compare it with. 

Last Sunday night when I rolled through Shelbyville on my way home, I looked down Main Street through a different set of glasses.  For the first time I saw the street light, the garbage cans, and the sidewalks.  I saw the store fronts without broken glass, and the court house that represents justice.  I saw order and not chaos, cleanliness and not filth.  I am thankful for my city where I live, but pray that I never take it for granted.

So as I come off two nights of attending the premier Shelbyville Horse Show, I am reminded of the glitz and glamour.  I am reminded of the souped up Jaguar and Harley Davidson that I saw roll in last night.  As people wore revealing evening gowns and sipped on alcohol, I wondered how much left-over food was being thrown in those 50 gallon trash cans.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my time there as well, I just don't ever want to forget where I came from...
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