The Apostle Paul explores this reality when he writes. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus And so, even before time began, God put into placeВ a planВ that would forever alter our view of death and decay in this fallen world. He loves usВ and desires to bring us back intoВ union with Himself. However, God did not leave us sitting in the dirt (pun intended). From dust you came and to dust you shall return was the promise givenВ when we first turned our backs toward God. God's curse on this earth, as a result of our sin, is evident in almost every aspect of our lives. My wife and I have been fascinated by the gradualВ collapse of the barn and had to grab a shot of it beforeВ we started ourВ journey back home to the rolling hills of South Central Iowa.Д®very time I see this picture, I am reminded of just how fragile the things of this world are and how quickly they pass away-including us. Soon after the integrity of the barn's foundation was compromised, it went from a useful structure to the dismal heap that lays before you. This barn has been the unfortunate casualty of an expanding sand andВ gravel company in the cold flatlands of Northwest Iowa. Genesis 2:7Д«y the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken for dust you are and to dust you will return.вЂќ - Genesis 3:19

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. And while your connection to the land will exist on opposite corners of the world, you will always know the land and what вЂњ placesвЂќ you came from.All go to the same place all come from dust, and to dust all return. Well today Moana you got your connection to the land reinforced. All the time chilling in the freezer.ДЄs we go through this season of Lent, I couldnвЂ™t help but think of that today and the words often spoken on Ash Wednesday of вЂњFrom dust you came and to dust you shall returnвЂќ. It was given to us in a hazmat bag at the hospital and until today it was in that same hazmat bag. I wonder if in New Zealand they just give it to you. Some humor is that when Moana was born we had to sign all sorts of paperwork to get it. We joke that Moana was made in NZ but born in the USA, however burying her Whenua here in Lucama today was definitely the right thing to do for lots of reasons. We took our sweet time in getting toВ this point today but now seems especially appropriate to do it and do it here as we prepare to depart. Most often the whenua is buried in a place with ancestral connection, and is considered a physical and spiritual link to the place of birth. It is the tradition that after some time you return it to the land (or dust) by burying it back in the ground andвЂ¦ We call it Whenua (Fen-ua) which translated means land. Yes sounds gross and before you go there вЂ¦. In NZ for some we have a tradition of when a baby is born that the parentsВ keep the Placentia or afterbirth. Its flat, its hot, its agricultural land and while economically has seen better days there is are strong ties withinВ this community and the land. Her father was born and raised there and several generations before him, in and around that area. You see Lucama is where RobinвЂ™s, McClenny side of the family are from. Today we did something very meaningful and something that the likes of will never be seen again in the town of Lucama, NC.