Sickness in a third world country can be scary. Last September I watched my husband battle a 103 degree fever and a pain level of 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 (meaning the worst pain he had ever experienced). He was sick for about two weeks, and I was scared. I remember just standing there in the room, staring at him, with no thoughts whatsoever. I hated watching his temperature rise and his pain increase to unbearable levels, regardless of the medicine I had given him. I felt so helpless.
Demon & Divine
by Jonathan
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We moved to Cambodia about two years ago, and it’s been good. But it’s also been very hard. I’ve had my days of doubt, fear, and deep discouragement. I’ve looked around at the poverty, abuse, corruption, and I’ve despaired. I’ve heard that raspy, wicked voice taunt, “What can you do? Why are you even here? What about your kids, think of what you’re doing to them? You are completely ill-equipped for this. Did God really call you here?”
These are the (Mon)days of Our Lives
This is the sight that greeted my husband at the end of this Monday. He did not appreciate his daughter’s blossoming practical joke skills.
My daughter is a slow hand-washer. She does not want help and likes to do it all by her lonesome three-year old self. She, like Peter, not only washes her hands, but her face, and legs, and back, and tummy, and feet, and hair, as well. Her thoroughness consumes about 20 minutes a pop. She leaves the bathroom dripping wet, and has a tendency to slip or cause others to slip with her excess water. We are trying to teach her not to do this.
I’m a Proverbs 31 Failure
“A wife of noble character, who can find?”
Recently, as my husband read aloud from Proverbs 31 over the breakfast table, I wondered if maybe that was a rhetorical question. As in, “can anyone find this woman?” She has an extensive list of accomplishments and abilities. She seems to be able to “do it all,” with skill (check out all the details here). Am I really supposed to be like her?
A Father’s Prayer
by Jonathan
I love hanging out with teenagers. In fact, I think I enjoy being with teenagers more now than I did when I was one. But anyway, I’m beginning to notice how many teen girls view themselves so negatively. They don’t see themselves as God sees them: cherished, loved, special, and beautiful. When others say they’re inadequate and lacking, they listen and believe. I’m the older brother of seven sisters, the father of two daughters, and the husband of one wife, so this is personal. (In fact, my wife has written on her struggles in this area here.)
