He burst through the kitchen door carrying a big stick and holding his finger on his lips, “There’s an anaconda in the back yard and I dug it out of his hole. Don’t say anything because it’ll crawl back in the hole and end up in the Amazon!” The back yard of our house in Cala Cala was about 8 by 6 meters. The little first grade boy was from Ireland.

The water in our house was heated by large solar panels set by a water tank on our roof – a perfect place for what seemed to be a dozen pigeons to roost. They carried sticks and all kinds of garbage to the gutters and under the solar panels to build their nests. During the rains, the water couldn’t go down the gutters so backed up and soon water would be dripping into our bedrooms. Large pieces of the ceiling would fall and every year the ceilings would need to be repaired. I had a b-b gun and my son (a big game hunter) would stalk around the house for hours looking for the pigeons to shoot. His sister wanted to shoot him!

On a fishing trip to the Beni, we needed to shoot birds that we would use for fish bait. Our boys bravely stood at the front of the canoe and went through hundreds of 22 bullets trying to shoot birds. Once a bird was finally shot and brought into the canoe, the boys eagerly watched the guide cut up meat for the fish hooks. Eagerly grabbing the chunks of meat, they baited their hooks and threw out their lines to catch piranha and other fish.

Little boys would excitedly run into my office at Carachipampa Christian School – dirty hands clutching treasure. On my desk they’d dump handfuls of caterpillars. “What can we put these in so we can take them home?”  I smiled as I thought of mothers waiting for hugs from their little boys after school. One day the little boy from Ireland excitedly came into my office and dropped what looked like a little green snake on my desk. We took it to the Science teacher who showed us short little legs at its side. “It’s really a lizard he told us as he set up an aquarium for my little friend’s treasure.

Boys make life interesting. What’s coming around the corner next? God made our little boys to be adventuresome, creative and independent. Let’s encourage them!

None of us are perfect as individuals – nor are our marriages perfect.  As we work together to maintain our love and a strong marriage, our homes will be a good environment for growing and happy children.