The Jungle

Living in the jungle is an experience that I wish more people could have. We have been on our new place for several weeks now, and are enjoying every moment of it. Already a new little bamboo hut is rising from the jungle, a garden is started, and a lot of clearing has been done.Since we are so far from any big towns, we also get to see birds. (The people eat them, so if there are a lot of people around, you don’t get to see much of any kind of wildlife.) There is a bird that we see when we are traveling the river that looks so tropical! It is a really pretty blue with a white neck and a yellow beak. They are sitting on logs at the river’s edge, and are rather stunning when they fly. We can’t help but notice the fish also. Normally, you can miss seeing fish if you so desire, but our fish are not quite as shy as what you normally think of. These fish jump out of the water and then run along the surface for a ways before getting back to where self-respecting fish belong. I never saw anything like it before, but it makes our boat rides rather interesting.God really knew what he was talking about when he told us to get our children away from the cities. Our little girls are flourishing at our new home. There is a lot of work to be done each day, but everyone enjoys helping the others, which makes for a very happy home. We are planting gardens, clearing the jungle, building our house out of bamboo that is growing all around us, and doing our regular household chores…made more interesting by the lack of conveniences. Since rainy season is about ready to start, there is a sense of urgency to get our work done quickly.One of my little girls had the bad habit of doing her work very slowly. I read in Child Guidance that we should teach our children to do their work quickly and well. So, Jason made up a little game. He sets his timer for 20 minutes, and everyone works at their various projects as fast as they can until the timer goes off. Then, we all rest. It is amazing how much we can accomplish in such a short amount of time. This morning, although there was no timer going, our girl got her work done super fast. It may seem like a little thing, but since we are preparing our little ones for heaven, each victory brings them one step closer and is a cause for rejoicing.This is the hottest time of the year, so each afternoon when it gets devilishly hot; we all march down to the river for play time in the water. Our river has a nice sandy bottom, and is quite shallow this time of year. We bought goggles, and we take turns looking under the water at the pretty pebbles on the bottom. Last week when we were doing this, the girls came up with a baby mango! That was not at all what we were expecting to find in the water, and brought about a conversation as to where this little mango could have come from. Meme then informed us that she has seen little mangoes like this on the ground near our house! We were terribly excited about that since we really do like mangoes, so then the hunt was on for the elusive mango tree. They found not one, but seven huge mango trees!The bible says that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, he will give us the desires of our hearts. My heart’s desire was to see my little girls doing well, and becoming the young ladies that God would have them to be. But God was not satisfied with just this…he gave us the most perfect spot I could imagine, WITH mango trees! What an incredible God we serve.