Snakebite

She was reaching to harvest more of the yucca plant when the snake bit her on the hand, its venomous poison entering her bloodstream. She was a wife, a sister and a mother. Her children ranged in age from young to some already looking for husbands of their own. But right now she was just a woman in trouble.

Hurrying back to the village, she headed down to the river's edge to bathe. She took the time to dress herself in clean clothes before heading to the missionaries' house for help. She figured she'd probably be flown out to town for medical help and wanted to look her best. She didn't figure on the fact that all her activity was pumping the venomous poison throughout her body, closer and closer to her heart, closer and closer to death.

The missionaries did all they could, but the venom had already taken hold. Her time was too short. Town was too far away. She hadn't been preparing herself for a trip to town. She had been preparing herself for her death.

She hadn't awoken that morning expecting to face death, but death came nonetheless. A husband stood stoic but looking forlorn without his wife. A sister wailed the death of her best friend. Children mourned the loss of their mother.

We don't awaken each morning expecting to face death, but one day, maybe when least expected, we will face death. How are we preparing ourselves?

If You're Tempted To Complain....

We had bad news. Jamie was in an accident -- again. He says he's fine. He thinks the car is fixable but we have yet to know all the details on both counts. Matt called me with this news as I unlocked my office door this morning. What a beginning to a Monday morning! Oh, he was driving Matt's new car ... with Matt's permission. Matt's headed out to pick Jamie up now.

I sat down at my desk feeling overwhelmed and not ready for all this would entail. And yes, feeling rather ready to complain. Hadn't we just paid out for another accident? Hadn't we just cleared up all the paperwork? Did this really have to happen now? I just didn't feel like I had the energy for it.

I reached to tear off the weekend's verse and words from my daily calendar to reveal what verse and words of encouragement the Lord would give me this morning -- praying as I did so.

Here's what the Lord gave me this morning:

May 11 -

"I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed." Psalms 77:3

Today I resolve not to complain even once.

Hmm... . I had to chuckle. No words of "I'll uphold you." No words of "I'm your solid rock." Just straight to the point. "You don't want to be overwhelmed? Then don't complain."

"Yes, I'll strengthen you---but resolve not to complain."

"Yes, I'm the same today as I was yesterday--but resolve not to complain."

Okay, I thought, maybe I should see what He was going to tell me tomorrow. I lifted the small square page and read...

May 12 -

"I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed." Psalms 77:3

What? The same verse? Did I not flip the page right??!!! (I checked it and I had!) So what words went with the verse for tomorrow?

Again today, I RESOLVE not to complain even once.

By now I'm laughing. Do I dare check what May 13th holds for me? Of course!

May 13 -

"The earth trembled and shook." Psalms 77:18

Whew! Not the same verse. I was beginning to wonder what challenges the Lord was going to use to grow me this week! And then I read...

This is what I'll record the day I actually cease complaining. (But I'm getting closer!)

I leaned back in my chair and laughed and didn't bother checking May 14th. This week, I'm definitely resolving not to complain!

Of course, all prayers to that end are appreciated! :-)

Back to Sourpuss Carlos

Remember the post on the salvation of Sourpuss Carlos? The story didn't end there. Carlos became a regular at our house. He became my husband's translator checker for the chronological Bible lessons Matt was writing in the Maquiritare tribal language, and as such, Carlos received his own personal discipleship class from the Word of God.

The Bible speaks of those who read God's Word but go away unchanged. That was not the case in the life of Carlos. He was a dry sponge soaking up the truths from God's Word. He was a dry sponge turned sopping wet to overflowing with the truths of God's Word.

Carlos did not pick and choose from the many truths. He didn't say, "Well, I don't like what that truth would mean in my life so I'll ignore it." No, he took each truth, he applied each truth, and we had the privilege of watching our strangely odd looking SourPuss Carlos turn into a joyful caring man of God whose testimony shone as a bright beacon to the unsaved in the village.

His life should be a testimony to us all. We have so much truth before us. Are we picking and choosing which truths to obey or are we applying each truth as it is revealed to us and allowing it to change us from the inward out?

Doesn't Everyone Speak Spanish?

On my husband's recent trip to Guatemala he was welcomed with open arms into the homes of men he knew. There were humorous moments as well. The partner and manager of the farm closest to where we live had traveled down with Matt.

Doug was dependent on Matt since he does not speak Spanish. One of the young girls found this non-Spanish speaking white man to be quite fascinating.

She just had to ask my husband, “He really doesn’t speak any Spanish?”

"No, he doesn’t,” Matt responded.

“And he doesn’t understand it at all? Like, if I talk to him he really doesn’t know what I’m saying?” She just had to confirm that this could really be true.

“That’s right,” Matt told the girl.

She thought it was unbelievable. It didn't fit any norm in her young mind. Everyone understands Spanish. Everyone speaks Spanish---at least in her world view!

She wasn't the only one in awe of these foreign visitors. All the children were pleased to have such strangely different white men in their homes. They were quite disappointed when they found out Matt and Doug were leaving Monday morning. They had been hoping to take them to school for “show and tell”! These white men were quite the novelty!

Did We Choose Our Place of Birth?

Did we choose our place of birth? What would our lives be like if we'd been born to different parents in a different culture in a different country?

We could have just as easily been born into a poor Maquiritare tribal family as we could have been born into a comfortable American family.

We could be eking out of living in the jungle. We could be walking ten minutes to the river to scrub our clothes on a rock at the river’s edge. We could be carrying all our water in a bucket on our head from the river to our palm roofed hut and sweeping our dusty dirt floors.

We could be working long hours in the hot sun to grow all our food. We could be dependent on whether our husband is a good hunter or not for meat.

We could be living in fear that our child will die from malaria or hepatitis or a simple cut that became infected just because medicine is unavailable.

We could be consumed with simply living our lives to exist. with none of the conveniences we take for granted. No ice for our soda. No refrigeration at all. No telephones, no internet, no blogging, no facebook.

We did not choose our place of birth and yet we so often take our relative luxurious life for granted. Sometimes we’re even downright ungrateful and discontented.

If we could have chosen where we were to be born, would we have chosen to be born into poverty? Probably not.

What if we knew that by living an impoverished life we could impact others lives? Would we have chosen to have been born to live an impoverished life? Probably not.

Yet that is exactly what Jesus did. Jesus could have stayed in heaven and lived in heavenly glory. Instead He chose to leave heaven.

He chose to come even though he knew that after spending three years teaching His disciples and others, that in the end one of His disciples would sell Him out—and the world at large would reject Him.

He chose to live this life even knowing they would mock Him, beat Him and ultimately hang Him on a cross to suffer an unimaginably painful death.

He chose to be born into this impoverished life in order that He might give up HIS life to make a way possible for us to be reconciled with His Heavenly Father, to make His Heavenly Father our Heavenly Father.

Jesus was man, but He was God. As God He was omniscient. He knew all this was going to happen. He knew, but He still came.

He knew, but He still submitted to the will of His Heavenly Father.

Jesus was God, but He was man. He agonized in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane before being arrested, praying that "if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not My will but Thine be done!"

"If it be possible, please don't make me suffer this way! If it be possible, please don't make me have to be rejected and crucified! If it is possible... ."

"Nevertheless, not MY WILL but THINE be done!"

Total acceptance and total submission to the will of His Father even knowing what it would cost Him.

As we’ve just celebrated Easter and have been dwelling on all Christ did for us, are we ready to say as Jesus said, “Not my will, but Thine be done!”

Are we ready to submit OUR will to GOD’S will? Are we ready to die to self that Christ may live in and through us? Are we ready for total acceptance of whatever God's will for our lives is? Are we ready for total acceptance and total submission?

We may not have been able to choose where we are born, but we can choose whom we will serve.

It's All Because He Lives

It's all BECAUSE HE LIVES!

The difference between Christianity and other religions is that you can't find Jesus in the grave
BECAUSE HE LIVES.

We are not saved just because He died for our sins, but because He rose again triumphant over the grave...
BECAUSE HE LIVES.

We were saved by grace and we live by grace
BECAUSE HE LIVES.

We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us
BECAUSE HE LIVES.

We do not mourn but instead we rejoice
BECAUSE HE LIVES.

We are motivated to serve Him
BECAUSE HE LIVES.

We need to be telling others the good news
BECAUSE HE LIVES.

The list could go on and on. Add some in your own mind and take time today to remember that....

...it's all BECAUSE HE LIVES!

GAP Insurance

Have you ever heard of GAP insurance? It's an insurance that pays the difference between what the regular insurance company will pay for the totaled car based on their arbitrary numbers---and what you still owe on your car loan. It's a lifesaver that generally, or so I'm told, is an easy process.

Of course, life isn't always easy. There are so often complications....

In this case, the biggest complication was that neither the bank nor the car dealership where we signed the GAP insurance contract (and received a receipt for paying for it!) accepted responsibility for the GAP insurance. Both kept sending me back to the other saying it was their responsibility. Neither could tell give me contact information for the illusive GAP insurance company on the contract.

"But you sold it to me," was part of my argument. Did it not seem reasonable to presume they could locate the company?

Obviously not. After making multiple phone calls for over an hour in the parking lot of the car dealership, I was finally able to track down the illusive GAP insurance, determine what the process really was, and find a person that agreed that I really did have GAP insurance with them!

In retrospect, I think the complications arose due to the fact that when we bought the car our loan was drawn up with one bank, who later sold out to another bank. The new bank didn't have the connections to the GAP insurance we had purchased. Understandable, but not impressive from a business point of view.

As I write this I can only presume it all went well. Once all were in the loop and we settled with the insurance company, the GAP insurance told us they would settle with the bank and we needed to do nothing further. Sounds good. It's been a lifesaver, even if in our case it wasn't the easiest of processes!

We bought a replacement car, an '07 Ford Fusion that was owned by an 81 year old woman and had low mileage. And yes, we bought GAP insurance. Hassle or no hassle, I'm a believer in GAP insurance!