My head is close to aching with frustration. How can I sit and listen to this much longer? I need wisdom. It starts with everyone here thinking they’re more of a doctor than the doctors. I don’t know how many run-ins I’ve had with my mother-in-law since coming back from the hospital because she thinks I shouldn’t give Audrey the medicine the doctor passed, because I added purified water and didn’t boil it (gave it to Audrey cold– the problem here is not the water, but she thinks that the temperature matters). I was dreaming when I thought the hospital visit would change the way everyone dealt with food for Audrey. The simple fact that she came back seemed enough for people to start slipping her all kinds of food. Last night it was a fried potato, today it was a salgadinho (basically a deep-fried salty snack with hamburger in it). Telling me to give her juice but not thinking about the fact that there’s no water to mix with the pulp (just the water from here). It’s like things have gotten worse! How is this possible? How much more can I stand? It would be one thing if I just met with them once in a while and then went back home. But I have to LIVE here and we still don’t have money of our own in this city!
Then the “Christian” talk began. I understand where it comes from and the motives aren’t bad. But I see superstition everywhere– things that aren’t biblical being stated as if they were. Let me just quote a verse to anyone who thinks that a curse has power over you– “No weapon formed against you shall prosper.” Are curses dangerous? Yes! Can they hurt you? I believe they could, especially if you don’t look them in the eye and destroy them. But a curse only has the power you’ve given to it and we, as Christians, have freedom from and power over and beyond these superstitions. The spiritual world is a real world, and it can at times be confusing. But the Bible is our authority, and if something doesn’t match up with what the Bible says or if it goes flat-out against biblical teachings, I will reject it. How are you interpreting this? What are your thoughts?