Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Mais Importante

This evening I (Denielle) began to re-read the book, "Port of Two Brothers" by Paul Schlener, a former missionary to the Amazon region of Brasil. Jon and I read this book while we were on deputation, but tonight I began seeing it through a whole new set of eyes! Now I too have experienced the first blasts of sweltering heat, the worries about food poisoning, and the freakiness of riding in a car through the pot-holed, chicken & donkey & dog & pig & people filled roads.
However, I have NOT experienced what it's like to travel with a 4 month old daughter and a 2 year old son across to another continent. I've not experienced what it's like to live in a wood home with a tin roof. I do not know what it is like to life in a wood home with a tin roof with NO bathroom facilities (except for 2 buckets), no stove, no fridge, no microwave, no sink, no washing machine. . . .

But listen to this testimony, written by Paul Schlener about a veteran missionary couple that was an encouragement to him and his family in those early days:

"[They] simply accepted the fact that they couldn't change the weather,
and were determined to enjoy life in spite of the discomfort.
They had a higher calling than going to Brazil for a life of ease.
In time, we reached that same conclusion."

Bom atitude, ne'?

1 comment:

Dani said...

Indeed! It's amazing how, when the focus is NOT on the things I don't like about life, I realize how much I DO like about it (and how abundantly I am blessed!).

I thought of you three tonight as I was browsing Orbitz for flights to great, exotic locales... Fortaleza was one of the places I typed in... ;-)