My life is not that hard, really...

I have stumbled upon one unexpected way to keep self-pity at bay in this rather difficult time of transition. (Transition with Kaitlyn, as she changes every week, and transition back to Manila life, and transition into stay-at-home motherhood. It's all a little much some days!) The other day, I picked up Beyond Jungle Walls by Sandy Thomas to read while eating lunch. It’s been on our shelves for several years, but I’ve never read it. It’s a missionary autobiography, and it sure puts my problems in perspective! This couple arrived in Congo in 1955 and spent the next 30 years in a jungle village. I haven’t gotten very far into the story yet, but… When they landed on the Congolese shore, they were very ill with malaria. (Already? Ouch!) In the hospital where they spent the next several weeks, they found out that the wife was 3 months pregnant. (NOT the timing they had probably planned on...) Their mud house, where they lived during their first 4 years in the village, had gaps between the walls and ceiling. I’m sure it made the ventilation nice in that tropical climate, but it also let in all kinds of creatures, especially at night. I’m picturing raising an infant, a toddler, in circumstances like this… Yeah, definitely God has called me into a far easier life situation than that one! It’s not a terribly well-written book, but I think I’ll keep reading it anyway. It’s a story of God’s work that’s worth hearing, regardless, and I suspect that this timing, for me to read it just now, is not coincidental.