Does God Still Do It?

Here's a picture of MJ and our newest family member... Jesse.
We rescued her  the other day from the streets. I know, don't even say it: )
And no, this has nothing to do with today's blog

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog about how I gave up trying to keep up with all the younger guys and whatever athletic activities they were doing. Actually, to make a long story short, I gave up the need to try and stay-up with all the teenagers and twenty-somethings years ago when it comes to sports and physical stuff. I haven’t really competed at any type of organized sports in quite a while. But one thing that I haven’t been able to escape (and that I’ve had to get back into the groove of) is physical labor. I was a landscaper for several years before I went into full-time ministry and even owned my own company for several years. We did a lot of rock work, waterfalls, ponds, large installs with literally tons of plant material. It was hard work but I loved it. Over the last several years I haven’t had to do a lot of physical labor ‘personally.’ I’ve supervised a lot of physical labor but not actually had to do the work. That’s one of the benefits of being the boss, right?

Well, since moving to Brazil, I’ve had to get back into the groove of doing the “physical stuff” personally again. Not that I mind it that much but when you’re older, you’re out of shape and you’re used to being the one behind the desk- it takes a little getting use to. I still have to do a lot of computer type work too which throws me off my game (i.e., having to go from administrator to laborer all in the same day- 2 hats at once). Studying for sermons, trying to correspond with supporters, writing, accounting, promoting the camp here in Brazil, etc. And trying to manage a ministry in a foreign country and the people you’re dealing with only speak portuguese, well, that just adds more time administratively. So to have to change hats constantly... labor, admin- labor, admin- it takes some getting use to. Cue the violin music here... no? Oh well, I tried: )

We live on 110 acres and there’s a lot of maintenance and upkeep that needs to happen. There’s always something to repair (because of the adverse weather conditions), there’s acres and acres of grass to cut (with a weedeater- they don’t have lawnmowers here, yessss!), there’s buildings to keep clean, safety checks and maintenance on the camp attractions... and I could go on and on. There’s sooooo much stuff that has to be done just to maintain a property this big. And since we don’t have a bunch of employees to help, we (Me, MJ and the Kids) have to pretty much do it all ourselves. We do have a caretaker (an older brazilian man) that lives on the property that is a huge help (especially with weedeating) and my father-in-law is a huge help with some of the maintenance stuff (actually he’s the brains behind it all), but the rest of the physical stuff falls on Me, MJ and the kids. And when it comes to projects it’s even more difficult. My kids have done an amazing job at helping and doing physical labor that would make a lot of adults run and hide. Thanks kids!

So that brings me to today’s blog. Pretty much everything we build is either out of cement, bricks or timber (a.k.a. heavy). And when we build something it’s by hand because there’s no machines (or rental companies to rent a machine) for us here at the camp. And everything is uphill, for real, it is. Well, we were finishing a couple of large pieces to our obstacle course over the last few weeks that required harvesting (and putting into place) very large and heavy pieces of timber that we hauled out of the jungle. And most of the heaviest pieces that we put into place were overhead. Well, in the middle of all the work I realized that I had a sharp pain in my... well, let’s just call it “my lower abdominal area.” When I felt it I knew immediately what it was, a hernia. The reason I knew what it was is because I’ve had 2 hernia operations in the past. One when I was a teenager and one when I was in my early twenties. So I’ve been there, done that and bought the hospital gown. Great: (

So when I was in the shower after working that day, I checked things out and sure enough, it was a hernia. What now? I’m a missionary in a foreign country and the stories I’ve heard and the things that I’ve seen personally at the local hospital are pretty scary. When Marlon was in that motorcycle accident last year (and was hospitalized overnight) I just remember thinking, as I walked through the halls, that it seemed like I was walking through the corridors of Hell. It wasn’t anything like the hospitals that I was use to seeing, smelling, or hearing (there was a lot of moaning and crying). Two of my neighbors have been in the hospital there recently too. One of them had to go back in because they accidentally left a piece of gauze in his chest during surgery and there was an infection in his chest (open heart surgery) and the other one died after complications after surgery (this was only a month or so ago)! So, to say the least, I wasn’t that excited about the possibility of having to have a hernia operation here. 

As I pondered all all my options (surgery here, flying back to the US for surgery or just hoping it would go away on it’s own... a.k.a. denial) it occurred to me... wait a minute, I serve a God who heals! That’s right, part of His name is Jehovah Rapha- The God that Heals! I’ll just ask Him to heal me. So, as I stood there in the shower, I did just that. I asked Him to heal me. Nothing fancy, not a lot of words spoken, just a simple prayer of faith asking my God to heal me. Then I finished my shower and got ready for bed and didn’t really put a lot more thought into it. 

The next day we were doing something and it hit me... I didn’t have that pain anymore. So I went into my bedroom and checked things out and BAM! It was healed! The lump was gone, the pain was gone... God had answered my simple prayer and fulfilled His promise to me... He is the God that heals me (Ex. 15:26, Heb. 7:25).

I was so excited. I went and told MJ (which I hadn’t told her about the hernia yet, ooops... I didn’t want to stress her out) and she was happy (after I heard the whole, ‘“why didn’t you tell me- how would you like it” speech. haha). God is so good to us. And yes, He does still heal today. I know that some of you probably think that I’m crazy or that it was just just a coincidence but all I can say is, “guess who’s got 2 thumbs and who’s not going to the hospital? This Guy!” (sorry, couldn’t resist the “office” reference, haha!)

Love Ya!

Jim