Bug Update

We haven’t spoken about bugs in a while (and I didn’t want you to think that we had killed them all or something) so here’s a “Bug Update.” Actually, the reason I haven’t written about them in a while is because I think we’re just getting use to them. Which is weird because I’ve never seen this many insects in my entire life! MJ was walking around on the property the other day and saw a whole herd of beetles going to town on some vegetation by the side of the path (see picture up top). I know that “herd” isn’t the correct terminology but since I’ve never seen beetles more than 1 at a time I figured I’d go ahead and call them a herd. (I was going to say swarm but wasn’t sure if they actually flew) Then one of my nephews came up to me with a stick that had these caterpillars all over it. They were all about 5-6” long and were covered with what looked like little black spikes. He said that if they bit you that it feels like fire on your skin. Really, fire? (Note to self... stay away from those caterpilars.) I’ve come to the conclusion that if you see something here in the jungle, that looks pretty or unusual, it’s probably poisonous, dangerous or it’ll inflict some type of pain on you... just sayin.

Also, the other morning, Matthew went to put his shoe on and there was a huge beetle-looking thing crawling in his shoe (again, see picture up top) which isn’t that big of a deal but definitely an attention getter first thing in the morning as you’re putting your shoes on. It’s like we have to live in a constant state of paranoia. Always banging-out our shoes before we put them on or violently shaking-out our clothes (before we put them on) in case something crawled into them since we last wore them... it’s all second nature. The other morning I was putting my underwear on (no picture up top, lol!) and right when I got them all the way up I felt something prickly in the back- on the left side. The first thing that entered my my was “giant spider!” I stripped them back off in one furious motion so fast, that I couldn’t believe it (I can’t remember ever moving that fast)! Then, when I looked inside them, all I saw was one of those little sand spur things. I felt like such a little girl. But that’s what the jungle has turned me into when it comes to bugs. Even how we go to bed each night has changed. But we have the routine down to a science. We turn the fan on so it will blow the mosquitos away from us (plus, it helps mask all the freaky sounds coming from outside our window), then we put eucalyptus drops on our sheets before we get into the bed (the locals told us this helps keep bugs away), and then we spray our bodies down with bug repellant. I know that can’t be healthy but getting bitten by spiders and no-see-um’s (little black bugs that burrow under your skin and cause you to itch uncontrollably) can’t be healthy either. I guess this is a case where you can actually “pick your poison”... get it? Pick your poison? haha. That was bad, I know. But we’re still seeing a lot of insects in case you were wondering.

A couple of days ago, early in the morning, we could hear Maryssa crying out for us from upstairs and we knew it was serious. The pain we could hear in her voice, as she cried out, wasn’t good. Even though she’s “a princess” we (Me and MJ) knew that whatever it was she was experiencing, was no joke, so we both ran upstairs only to find her literally “paralyzed” laying on her side in bed, in pain, weeping. It was one of those things as a parent that you don’t want to experience. It was that feeling of utter helplessness that you get when something is wrong with one of your kids.

There she was, on her side, crying and she couldn’t move. She couldn’t even roll over onto her back... she was paralyzed, for real. We tried to roll her over but she was in such excruciating pain that it was almost impossible. We could see that she had hundreds of bites all over her body and the only thing we could figure out is that all the poison from the bites caused her body to go into a state of shock, which caused some sort of paralysis. As a father I was heartbroken, scared, mad, worried... all these emotions went flooding through my mind in an instant. We still didn’t have a vehicle, we’re in the middle of the jungle... what the crap! Really God? This is what we have to go through because we’re following you? (I’d like you to think that I’m super-spiritual and I didn’t think all that stuff, but I did)

We couldn’t call an ambulance (there’s no 911, we don’t have a phone and there aren’t ambulances anywhere near here), we couldn’t drive her to the hospital (we don’t have a vehicle), we couldn’t get Brad and Carolyn to drive us to the hospital (their car was in the shop for the millionth time), we were stuck! All these things rushed through my mind in an instant. It’s like I could feel ‘panic” starting to rise-up trying to grip me... but then the Holy Spirit, the comforter, reminded me- “we still had God.” So, we laid hands on her and prayed. And not because it was the only thing we could do or that it was our last resort either. We did it because we trust Him, He is our refuge and the strong tower we run into when we’re freaked-out. Sure, all those crazy thoughts ran through our mind for a brief moment but when the rubber hit the road and when reality hit us square in the face, Jesus was the one we turned to. As MJ held our daughter in her arms, we prayed and asked God to take the pain away, to touch her body, and to help her... pretty simple. And then God, in His mercy, did just that. He touched my little girl’s body as she slept for the next several hours. The next day she was as good as new! He’s so good to us: )

It’s in moments like that (when you’re at the end of everything you can do in your own ability) that running to God is at it’s best. I think that’s what Jesus meant when He told Paul (in II Corinthians 12:9) that “His grace is sufficient for us, for His power is made perfect in our weakness.” When we’ve totally depleted everything in our arsenal to combat whatever it is that we’re facing, and then we turn to Jesus in a totally weak and vulnerable state... He always comes through for us.

So what are you facing in your own life that you need to turn over to Him? What is it that you’ve been trying to handle in your own ability? Why not just surrender it to Jesus? He said that His power is made “perfect” in our weakness. So weakness isn’t all that bad, huh? And you thought just because you couldn’t fix the problem yourself that it was a “bad thing.” When in all actuality the fact that you can’t fix it is the “best thing.” So get out if the way and let God do “His thing” : )

Trying to Be Weak so He Can Be Strong,

Jim

PS- I know that worms aren’t scary but the picture up top is of one we found in our backyard. It was at least 18” long. We actually thought it was a snake when we first saw it (because it was so long) but it was just this freakishly long earthworm. Also, note all the bug bites on his forearm... in the words of Axl Rose “Welcome to the Jungle” : )