If you do much, you can rest assured, you will make a mistake. Better said, you will make mistakeS.
I wrote earlier a bit about Dr. Livingstone. He was quite a guy: doctor, missionary, explorer, husband father. Today we visited his old home place just SW of Gaborone. We had the place to ourselves, and our guide was motivated and knowledgeable. He clearly enjoyed repeating for the hundredth time his spiel about many aspects of Dr. Livingstone, his work and his family.
The site we visited contained the remains of the rock foundation of the first School and first Church in Botswana... which happened to be the same building. I asked why that site was chosen, and the guide quickly explained that it was defensible against attackers, it was close to a refuge site, and it was close to water. Makes sense.
We also visited the site of the home/medical clinic of Dr. Livingstone.
He would deliver a difficult birth, then step outside and handle an
abscess. Our guide seemed to have a very high opinion of the good Dr.
and rightfully so. He seemed exceptionally gifted, exceptionally
committed to his call from G^d and exceptionally brave. (That's the rock just outside his clinic/home where he reputedly did minor surgeries).
He did not have a lot of converts, as I mentioned earlier, but apparently he had one very strong convert, the king of a local tribe. That's not a bad record, if you think about it. Dr. Livingstone died in Zambia. He was lionized there, as I mentioned before. I discussed earlier what I thought was a mistake on the Missionary's part.
But, it was our last stop of the tour today that was most sad to me. The Livingstones had 6 children, one of whom was buried there at the Botswana homestead. The 5th child died at the age of 6 weeks. She is buried in Botswana.
The oldest son died at an early age of a battle wound. The second son was a physician who also died at age 20. His youngest daughter felt abandoned by her father and was never close to him. Sad to think that this great missionary and his wife suffered such sadness.
How would Dr L do things differently were he given a second chance? I have no idea. BUT, it does cause me to think, what will I regret when I get to the end of my days?
Our pastor, Fred, has mentioned this Scripture on several occasions, " "For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay;" Acts 13:36.
David's life had its sad moments, just as Livingstone's undoubtedly did. My life has had its sad moments, and Thanks be to G^d these have been relatively few. But it is hard to do better than David.
May we all serve the purpose of God in our own generation! Let's pray that for each other.
I wrote earlier a bit about Dr. Livingstone. He was quite a guy: doctor, missionary, explorer, husband father. Today we visited his old home place just SW of Gaborone. We had the place to ourselves, and our guide was motivated and knowledgeable. He clearly enjoyed repeating for the hundredth time his spiel about many aspects of Dr. Livingstone, his work and his family.
The site we visited contained the remains of the rock foundation of the first School and first Church in Botswana... which happened to be the same building. I asked why that site was chosen, and the guide quickly explained that it was defensible against attackers, it was close to a refuge site, and it was close to water. Makes sense.
He did not have a lot of converts, as I mentioned earlier, but apparently he had one very strong convert, the king of a local tribe. That's not a bad record, if you think about it. Dr. Livingstone died in Zambia. He was lionized there, as I mentioned before. I discussed earlier what I thought was a mistake on the Missionary's part.
But, it was our last stop of the tour today that was most sad to me. The Livingstones had 6 children, one of whom was buried there at the Botswana homestead. The 5th child died at the age of 6 weeks. She is buried in Botswana.
The oldest son died at an early age of a battle wound. The second son was a physician who also died at age 20. His youngest daughter felt abandoned by her father and was never close to him. Sad to think that this great missionary and his wife suffered such sadness.
How would Dr L do things differently were he given a second chance? I have no idea. BUT, it does cause me to think, what will I regret when I get to the end of my days?
Our pastor, Fred, has mentioned this Scripture on several occasions, " "For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay;" Acts 13:36.
David's life had its sad moments, just as Livingstone's undoubtedly did. My life has had its sad moments, and Thanks be to G^d these have been relatively few. But it is hard to do better than David.
May we all serve the purpose of God in our own generation! Let's pray that for each other.
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