Shine Like Stars

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by Libby Wild on January 31, 2017

Get your own Wild Brothers beanie.

**This article is dedicated to my coworkers—you know who you are!

  • Muddy flip-flops
  • Termite-damaged houses
  • Kneading bread
  • Heavy net bags
  • Sticky rice on floors
  • Mosquitoes
  • Parasites
  • Sick babies
  • Schedule changes
  • Medical emergencies
  • Piles of dirty dishes
  • Mourning and wailing
  • Hanging out laundry
  • Running out of propane
  • Finding creative ways of cooking sweet potato greens
  • Death
  • Teaching school
  • Runny noses
  • Long plane rides
  • Low electricity on rainy days

Some of these, maybe all of these, are things that my coworkers face in Asia Pacific. For now I am a world away from that. I am sitting on the back porch overlooking the bayou on a starless night. I hear crickets. My view from this side of the earth is so different from my view in the jungle, and I have thought often of my coworkers that I left behind while I am on home assignment.

Community on Airstrip

They have full days. At night they aren’t fighting sleep, but they are falling into bed, tired from work well done. Sometimes they are overwhelmed by their circumstances, but they love their husbands and their children, and they serve dinner. Often they are pulled in a million directions and keep pressing on toward one goal. They are women that my boys have grown up calling “aunt.” They have and are contributing to how my boys think about family relationships.

Libby with Friends

They work together, stick together, and stay together. What a treasure in a world where relationships are disposable. They have died to a life they could have had and are embracing a life as hope givers, gospel deliverers, and followers of the Cross. They each bring gifts to the table, and I have learned from them all. They encourage me today as I think about each one, their daily tasks, and their years of faithfulness. They are all human and not one is perfect, but to me they are all stars.

Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. (Philippians 2:14–15)
Libby with Friends

*The views expressed by the Wild family are their own and not necessarily those of Answers in Genesis.

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