My wife (MJ) is amazing. And no, I’m not just saying that to try and earn brownie points either. She doesn’t even read this blog most of the time, so there! I’m just saying that because it’s true... she’s amazing. And like most wives/mothers she doesn’t get the credit she deserves. Whenever we go and minister at a church, I’m the one up front speaking and she’s the one in the background. Whenever we have a camp here on the property I’m the one hanging out with the students or talking to the pastors. She’s at the house taking care of our kids and making sure the house is running right. It doesn’t seem fair but it’s been like that pretty much the whole time we’ve been married (23 years!) and in the ministry (15 years). I know that it (life) is a major struggle for her most days and we try and find time for her to be alone (to give her a break) but that’s almost impossible here on the mountain.
We use to be able to go on little dates to “keep the fires burning” but, here, it’s not that easy. Everything is way more complicated. It’s very frustrating not being able to just pick-up and go somewhere whenever we need some alone time. In the States, if we wanted a quick break from all the kids, we’d just jump in the car and do something as small as driving to a Dairy Queen for a Heath Bar Blizzard (or something like that). But not here. Here, it’s a major ordeal just getting down off the mountain and there’s nothing that even resembles a DQ once you make it all the way down.
The mission field has definitely put pressure on our marriage and our friendship. But all-in-all... what it’s done is made us more resolved to accomplish the task that God’s asked us to do. We don’t like “the mission” some days and some days we just grit our teeth and press through it just to survive, but the thing I’ve noticed is that in the tough times, if we go to Jesus, He comes along side of us and gives us the strength and encouragement we need to make it. So bring it, devil!... you’re just making us stronger!
Well. back to my wife being a mighty dragon slayer...
Some of the most poisonous snakes in the world are not only here in Brazil but are also here, on the mountain, where we live. What’s up with that? Isn’t it bad enough that we’re inundated with every insect imaginable (and some we couldn’t) that we also have to co-exist with venomous snakes? For real! Anyway, the other day, MJ was out hanging clothes on the line (that’s right, hanging clothes on a clothesline... we’re kickin’ it old school here) when she looked down and there was a Jararacussu (a snake in the viper family) right on the ground next to her. (FYI... with one bite, the Jararacussu can inject as much as 800 mg of venom which is enough to kill 32 people if anti-venom isn’t received in time.) So what did MJ do? She went inside, grabbed her machete (yes, her machete with the pink handle. haha!), and came back outside and proceeded to slice and dice it! Then, if that wasn’t enough there was another snake, by the car the next day, and she did the same thing (That’s it in the picture up top)! As you can see, she needs to work on her form a little bit. It looks like she just went to town without really aiming at any particular spot and didn't stop until all the life had left the nasty thing, but dang! That’s my baby! Most other women would have pooped themselves and just ran away, but not MJ. She took care of business: )
I love my wife. And I know that she deserves way more credit than she gets. She’s my hero and I’m so glad we’re in this journey together.
Lovin’ Me Some MJ,
Jim
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