Pedregal

Ginger Isenhour

     A shack, a shanty, a lean-to, woven walls and dirt floors- a steamy sun beats down on this desert and very fine layer of dust covers everything.

 It covers the walls that are makeshift from old vinyl or plastic table cloths; it covers the broken chair or two that occupy the room; it covers the church pew that will hold our patients as they wait and it covers them.  

It fills in the folds of the numerous petticoats that make rather small wrinkled women appear plump and much older than they really are. The dust covers the children’s shoes and clothes and hats that sport a brim all the way around.  The children wear sweaters and coats and scarves as if it’s cold- it is winter and a mere 78 degrees.

Babies look like they will suffocate as they are packaged so close to their mother’s backs or breasts that you sometimes miss that they are even there at all.

The dust is pressed into the crows feet of the old women and around the mouths of the codger-like old men who make an effort to come to us. Their lips are white and cracked and dusty-like everything here. 

The dogs roam and kick up dirt with each and every step their paws take in this utter dryness, this baroness that is Pedregal.

There is not one flower, not one green bush, not one fertile tree.  This place is forlorn, lonely, bone- dry and seemingly God-forsaken….

The clinic begins really without any fanfare; just an announcement over a battery-operated loud speaker and a hand-written sign.  People shuffle in among a cloud of dust and wait to be seen.  The need is so great- perhaps, greater than even they realize. 

So what can we offer them? 

For souls that are dry, cracked and crumbly, we offer a drink- a drink of Living Water.  It is a luscious, wet, thirst- quenching drink from the only well manned by God Almighty.  In John 4:14 Jesus says, “… whoever drink of the water I give him will never thirst again….” This water will become in him a bubbling spring of eternal life.  Where there is a bubbling spring there is growth and luscious signs of it even in a dessert. 

For eyes that are expressionless and arid, we offer vision- crisp and clear.  Glasses to make their sight fresh to read God’s Word to know Him, to learn of Him and to have the eyes of their heart opened, refreshed and rejuvenated by the great Healer. 

For bodily ailments, we offer man made medicine and antidotes, but we offer more- we offer a touch from the Great Physician.  Everyone who is touched by Him is changed eternally.

Is there no Balm in Gilead?  Is there no Balm in Pedregal?  For it is a dry and thirsty land….but it certainly is NOT God- forsaken!

God Almighty, the Comforter, the Creator, the Living Water incarnate, the sustainer of all life IS in Pedregal. 

Although its dryness, its sandy soot, its arid sky, its parched ground is prevalent, but the clear, refreshing, rejuvenating, life-altering Living Water can be heard in the laughter of children as they hug a doll, or throw a colorful Frisbee or wear a beaded bracelet.  He can be seen in the sweet, brown, dusty faces of those who now know our God. 

{Thank you, Ginger, for allowing me to complete this blog with your beautifully written article.}