I smiled as I just reread my Thanksgiving blog post from last year.... pretty much thankful for the same things this year. :)
This year has been a hard year - death of friends, tension with co-workers, uncertainty about our future ministry. But thankful for some sweet times together as a family and all the lessons the Lord has been teaching me.
So some little things I'm thankful for this year...
- That we can get import turkeys and cranberry sauce and fake Christmas trees and Christmas lights here. :)
- That Elijah is reading. I was terrified to teach my children to read, but somehow he's learned! One down, two to go. :) I love reading time with Elijah in the afternoon - I love hearing him read "Frog and Toad" and "Amelia Bedilia." I enjoy reading "chapter books" to him - we've read "Henry Huggins" and "My Father's Dragon" and "Boxcar Children" this year - all favorites.
- That my children get to grow up without commercials and TV. And that they are growing up around other children who don't watch commercials or TV.
- That Ezra is potty-trained! Do you know how much we are saving on diapers each month?!?!? :)
- Pizza Hut and "nasi kuning" night (Sunday nights we get fried yellow rice from a street vendor - so yum! - and a nice break from cooking) and "Frappacino" night at the MK school once a month (last night they made peppermint mocha frappacinos!)
- That cheese can survive a month in a package mailed from America. :) That we have family and friends who send us packages and treats from America.
- That international calling rates are so cheap. SO good to get to talk to friends and family and keep connected with life in America and call my mom (and mother-in-law!) for recipes or to pray together or to cry on a really hard day.
- That our house has a view. It's so beautiful and peaceful to look out over the valley. And I love all the fresh (FREE) fruit.
- That our boys have had so many experiences - helicopter rides, hiking in the mountains, playing with children who don't share their language or culture, but share their love of soccer and peanuts and popcorn. That our boys get to eat passion fruit and fresh pineapple and papaya daily. That they love foods from other cultures and can speak words in another language.
- That Brant is good at his job and enjoys it. That it allows him the flexibility to be home for lunch some days and take the boys along with him some days.
- That Caleb, even though he turns 5 on Sunday, is still my little boy and loves to rock and make up little songs and play with Play Dough and laughs with his big brown eyes.
- That Brant and I are celebrating 10 years of marriage next month. SO thankful for a great husband. We really have a lot of fun together and it's been a really good 10 years together. (Also thankful that we will be in America soon to get away someplace nice and celebrate by ourselves while Grandma watches the boys!)
- That people all around the world pray for us. We have felt their prayers this year and have experienced incredible peace during difficult times.
- That God is patient with me and forgives my sins. I am learning I am a Grade A sinner and yet God loves and forgives me. When people are Grade A sinners towards me (or Brant!), God forgives them too... and loves them too.
Praying that wherever you find yourself on Thanksgiving, you will have a beautiful day celebrating God's goodness with your family and friends!
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
The tribe
We just got back from our trip interior. (We say "interior" because we live on the coast and all the tribal works are on the interior of the island.) Wow. What a trip. I am past exhausted, but wanted to get my thoughts down before the craziness of this week starts tomorrow. (Thanksgiving and Caleb's birthday!)
We had a great trip. Several times during the trip I just got this sense of "I am so thankful that we are able to do this and I am so thankful that my kids get to experience this." Rather than give a play by play, I'm just going to list out some memories/highlights and then dump a bunch of photos at the end. If you have questions, feel free to email or comment. :)
- Riding on the helicopter with the little boys. We wore these headset things to protect our ears from the noise and so that we would be able to talk with each other.... the entire first five minutes of our trip in the boys were screaming and yelling - they were SO excited. I'm not sure the headset did much to protect my ears in that case. :) But the ride was so smooth - no long taxi take off or landing - we just floated. Plus we could see so much and flew really low to the ground - the mountain peaks were above us in most cases.
- Watching Elijah play with the tribal kids. He played soccer with them, handed out candy and peanuts to them and tried to communicate using a hilarious series of grunts, national language words and facial expressions. I was so proud of him. Yesterday he and I got to visit a tribal house, just a round thatched low roofed hut with a bamboo floor and fire in the center. He did great.... though I think it was because he got to play with the fire. :)
- Getting to see the missionaries' homes and how the ladies had decorated and turned a rough plywood and plastic and pole house into a "home." We had a ladies movie night one evening and just had so much fun eating cheesecake and talking about their struggles and victories in tribal ministry.
- Staying in our "own" home. We stayed on our own in the home of a missionary on furlough (pic below). On previous tribal visits we've stayed with someone... this time I was responsible for cooking some of our meals and Brant had to keep track of the solar electric system and we sat on our own front porch and interacted with the tribal people without the experienced missionaries around us. It was definitely a stretch but I so enjoyed the experience!
- Eating soups and stews and drinking hot tea and hot coffee in a cool climate. We were in the mountains so it was COLD - I mean, it probably got down to the low 60s, which definitely warrants sweatshirts and long pants and down comforters at night. I loved it! We are going to freeze to death when we go back to America. :)
- Looking up at the stars at night.
- Hiking with the all the kids - the MKs and the tribal kids - we could only hike single file down a narrow path. At several points some of the little girls picked up Caleb and/or Ezra and hoisted them up on their shoulders to help them over rough terrain.
- Going to bed before 9 at night... can't believe this night owl would admit that. :) But electricity is a precious commodity and we couldn't waste it by staying up late, so we went to bed early and were up when the sun came up!
- No malaria mosquitos, no ants, no geckos. Too cold. (Could have definitely done without the huge fly infestation that plagued the missionaries - who knew flies could handle the cold weather!)
- FAST internet - the missionaries have a satalite internet system, so it was so much faster than what we have here in town. :) I even got to call my dad via Skype on his (60th!) birthday, which was really special.
Still have more photos from my camera to get onto my computer, so might add some more.
Thanks so much for praying for our trip! It was such a fun time, a great learning experience and a trip we will not forget.
We had a great trip. Several times during the trip I just got this sense of "I am so thankful that we are able to do this and I am so thankful that my kids get to experience this." Rather than give a play by play, I'm just going to list out some memories/highlights and then dump a bunch of photos at the end. If you have questions, feel free to email or comment. :)
- Riding on the helicopter with the little boys. We wore these headset things to protect our ears from the noise and so that we would be able to talk with each other.... the entire first five minutes of our trip in the boys were screaming and yelling - they were SO excited. I'm not sure the headset did much to protect my ears in that case. :) But the ride was so smooth - no long taxi take off or landing - we just floated. Plus we could see so much and flew really low to the ground - the mountain peaks were above us in most cases.
- Watching Elijah play with the tribal kids. He played soccer with them, handed out candy and peanuts to them and tried to communicate using a hilarious series of grunts, national language words and facial expressions. I was so proud of him. Yesterday he and I got to visit a tribal house, just a round thatched low roofed hut with a bamboo floor and fire in the center. He did great.... though I think it was because he got to play with the fire. :)
- Getting to see the missionaries' homes and how the ladies had decorated and turned a rough plywood and plastic and pole house into a "home." We had a ladies movie night one evening and just had so much fun eating cheesecake and talking about their struggles and victories in tribal ministry.
- Staying in our "own" home. We stayed on our own in the home of a missionary on furlough (pic below). On previous tribal visits we've stayed with someone... this time I was responsible for cooking some of our meals and Brant had to keep track of the solar electric system and we sat on our own front porch and interacted with the tribal people without the experienced missionaries around us. It was definitely a stretch but I so enjoyed the experience!
- Eating soups and stews and drinking hot tea and hot coffee in a cool climate. We were in the mountains so it was COLD - I mean, it probably got down to the low 60s, which definitely warrants sweatshirts and long pants and down comforters at night. I loved it! We are going to freeze to death when we go back to America. :)
- Looking up at the stars at night.
- Hiking with the all the kids - the MKs and the tribal kids - we could only hike single file down a narrow path. At several points some of the little girls picked up Caleb and/or Ezra and hoisted them up on their shoulders to help them over rough terrain.
- Going to bed before 9 at night... can't believe this night owl would admit that. :) But electricity is a precious commodity and we couldn't waste it by staying up late, so we went to bed early and were up when the sun came up!
- No malaria mosquitos, no ants, no geckos. Too cold. (Could have definitely done without the huge fly infestation that plagued the missionaries - who knew flies could handle the cold weather!)
- FAST internet - the missionaries have a satalite internet system, so it was so much faster than what we have here in town. :) I even got to call my dad via Skype on his (60th!) birthday, which was really special.
Still have more photos from my camera to get onto my computer, so might add some more.
Thanks so much for praying for our trip! It was such a fun time, a great learning experience and a trip we will not forget.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Things I would never do in America...
- Explain to a 5 year old how to wear a head-set and microphone for his upcoming helicopter ride.
- Explain to an almost 3 year old what a long sleeved shirt was. Try long sleeve shirt on for the first time in his life.
- Call half my friends in town looking to borrow said long sleeved shirt.
- Cram my 7 year old into pants and long sleeve shirts and pajamas 2 sizes too small because he owns nothing appropriate for temperatures below 75 and because none of said friends own any of those things either.
***
Can you tell we spent the afternoon packing for our upcoming trip to the tribe!?!?
We leave on Wednesday - SO excited. Looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving in sub-88 degree weather. :)
- Explain to an almost 3 year old what a long sleeved shirt was. Try long sleeve shirt on for the first time in his life.
- Call half my friends in town looking to borrow said long sleeved shirt.
- Cram my 7 year old into pants and long sleeve shirts and pajamas 2 sizes too small because he owns nothing appropriate for temperatures below 75 and because none of said friends own any of those things either.
***
Can you tell we spent the afternoon packing for our upcoming trip to the tribe!?!?
We leave on Wednesday - SO excited. Looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving in sub-88 degree weather. :)
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