A story of a boy and his bed

Once upon a time (last week), Daddy decided Ezra was too big for his crib, so he built a "big boy bed" that vaguely resembled a boat. :)


Ezra was SO excited when it was finally finished and moved into his room.


...until Daddy tried to put him in it... then he turned around and ran out the door screaming "No, no, no!!!"


But alas, Ezra's fat little white legs don't run very fast; Daddy grabbed poor Ezra, hauled him back to his bedroom and tried to put him in his new bed....

Notice the tears. :(

So for several days, the "big boy bed" was a "boat" and it was occupied all day long by little sailors going on faraway adventures... except at nap time and bed time when it sat empty, while Ezra very happily slept in his "other bed" (as he called his pack-n-play). And Daddy and Mommy pulled out their hair and lamented all the hours put into building the bed and envisioned a 16 year old still sleeping in a crib.


But one day at nap time, after a particularly tiring morning, Ezra was too tired to fight, so he went to sleep in his "boat bed" and has been sailing away to sleepy land ever since (for the past 2 days), while the pack-n-play is folded up and neatly packed away... forever.


The end.

Little taste of American summer

In the last four years, we, as a family, have consumed exactly 2 nectarines and one peach (which was nasty and out of season bought last time we were in America in the winter!) so I was beyond THRILLED when I found these at the grocery store in the big city yesterday (when we went to sign our 5 year visas!!!) Was a huge blessing from the Lord....


Aren't they beautiful? The little stickers say "America" on them. :) They smell amazing! I had forgotten how good a peach could be (and was so surprised that these were so good after travelling so far!) And they were actually pretty cheap... they were mislabeled at the store, and try as I might I couldn't get a straight answer out of the clerk... she was "oooohhhing" and "aaaaahhhhing" and trying to figure out what the weird fruit was that she had never seen before. :) So I gave up and got 8 of them. :)

Our boys had no idea what they were.... but they caught on quickly and LOVED them....


Ezra kept calling them "apples." Caleb kept trying to correct him saying "No, Ezra, peaches" to which Ezra would laugh and so "Noooooo pizzas." :) He spent all day talking about "apples" and walking up to the table to look at them.


As I was putting him in bed and about to walk out of the room, he stood up in his crib and yelled "NO EAT MY APPLES!!!"

So I guess the peaches were a hit. :)

The Duka

Sorry it's been a while... lots to process lately. And we (Brant and I) have been sick with some type of stomach virus/parasite/amoeba thing that is really common to get and really hard to shake.

So last week we went to the "duka" for Penny.... A duka is basically a 3 day long mourning period where people come and pay respects. The day we went it was drizzly and gray... a good day for crying. Penny's family lives in this one room little wooden shack - no running water, no electricity, dirt floor. A big tarp had been set up outside the house. It was muddy. Old men were sitting in one back corner, in the other corner a group of ladies were cooking. One side had a cook fire going and a group of kids huddled on the other. In the center, totally by herself, and almost oblivious to the action around here, sat Penny's mom on a little stool.

I cried when I saw her. She cried. We just held each other and cried and cried.

She told me of the last few weeks of Penny's life. How her breathing became more labored daily. How she wouldn't eat. How she was coughing up blood. How the doctors said there was nothing they could do.

I cried.

What could I say to her? Me, with my white skin and healthy, chubby babies... Me, with my nice big house with tile floors and a toilet and stove and fans and electric lights... Me, with a bank account that has enough money to buy my kids medicine when they get sick, and meat to feed them dinner, and birthday presents for their special days. It doesn't seem right.

Penny's mom was doing better than I was. She's part of this rough, raw culture that accepts that life is hard and death is common in a world with poor nutrition and inadequate medical care. I am still the new missionary, fighting against things I don't like and I don't understand. Fighting a world where little girls die because they are poor.

All this was going through my mind as I held her and we cried - as two mothers from vastly different cultures - mourning the loss of a beautiful little child we loved.

We left Penny's family sitting in the mud. It was raining and the tarp was leaking. The boys were ready to eat, but we didn't dare take one scrap of their food. So we got in our car and drove away. Back to our nice big house a world away. Back to movie night and popcorn and smoothies like any other Saturday night.

I don't understand Penny's death. I don't like it at all and I admit I have had moments of guilt and doubt and "If only.....???" But I am resting in the fact that the Lord loved Penny more than I ever could. And I am resting in the fact that the Lord knew Penny's name - when the doctors just saw "a poor little tribal girl with uneducated parents" and decided she wasn't worth treating, God created her. Formed her. Cared for her. Died for her. I am so thankful we serve a God like that.