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. :)
Friday, October 28, 2011
Someday I might laugh...
We're in full on party prep mode here. (Tomorrow's the big day - pray it doesn't rain!) So after plastering all week, it was finally the day to paint the pinata! Brant spray painted the body black this morning and then we were going to hand paint in the Batman logo.
So this afternoon Brant was painting when I walked in...
"Hey, Em, how old is this black paint?"
"Couple years old, probably, why?"
"It's going on really goopy and thick. And it doesn't seem to be drying very well."
I had tested the paint this morning, so wasn't sure what was up. So at this point I walk out on the porch....
He was using the black food dye to paint the pinata.
The food dye that I had borrowed from my friend, promising to use only the *smallest* bit. The food dye that came from America and was expensive. The food dye that now had dirty paint brushes shoved in it.
The food dye that we will be replacing. :)
So this afternoon Brant was painting when I walked in...
"Hey, Em, how old is this black paint?"
"Couple years old, probably, why?"
"It's going on really goopy and thick. And it doesn't seem to be drying very well."
I had tested the paint this morning, so wasn't sure what was up. So at this point I walk out on the porch....
He was using the black food dye to paint the pinata.
The food dye that I had borrowed from my friend, promising to use only the *smallest* bit. The food dye that came from America and was expensive. The food dye that now had dirty paint brushes shoved in it.
The food dye that we will be replacing. :)
Thursday, October 20, 2011
The Calm Before the Storm
These last couple weeks have been mercifully quiet and normal. I've so enjoyed it - nothing to think about or deal with other than schooling the little boys and trying to get dinner on the table. :) The biggest excitement was that I celebrated my birthday - I guess I could post about it, but it would look exactly like last year's celebration - lunch at Pizza Hut with obscene amounts of ice cream and toppings following. :):)
But life is about to get exciting again....
My baby is about to be 7. Next week, in fact. So the preparations have begun in earnest for "THE BATMAN PARTY."
Elijah making invitations....
I am not quite sure why he decided on a Batman theme. Elijah has no idea who Batman is or what he does and I'm not in any particular hurry to clue him in. :) I think he heard somewhere that all 7 year old little boys are supposed to think Batman is cool. He got a Batman toy last year from a family from our church in San Diego and he saw a Batman cake at the grocery store in the big city. I think the cake is what did it. :) It was a COOL cake. :)
Anyways, today we stuffed goody bags. There are many, MANY drawbacks to trying to throw a COOL birthday party in a 3rd world country, but the goody bags are not one of them. :) Because people cannot afford much here, ALL snacks are packaged in individual servings - small amounts, small price = more sales. (It also ensures that the contents are eaten so they won't be spoiled by the humidity or bugs.) But it makes it so easy to buy stuff for goody bags and stuff is way cheap! So we went down the snack aisle at the grocery store and let Elijah pick out snacks for the bags. Then we had a fun mess trying to get all the bags filled this afternoon.
Notice the pack of tissues... all 3 boys are sick with nasty colds. :(
The finished product with the VERY excited little boy. :) Party pictures next week. :) Although maybe I will do a post on the PINATA making that we are going to attempt this weekend. :)
Caleb's birthday quickly follows Elijah's; which is backed up by Thanksgiving, Christmas, Ezra's birthday and then our return to America. I think the next few months are going to fly. (At least Caleb hopes so, as he's already asking when it's time to stuff goody bags for his party!)
But life is about to get exciting again....
My baby is about to be 7. Next week, in fact. So the preparations have begun in earnest for "THE BATMAN PARTY."
Elijah making invitations....
I am not quite sure why he decided on a Batman theme. Elijah has no idea who Batman is or what he does and I'm not in any particular hurry to clue him in. :) I think he heard somewhere that all 7 year old little boys are supposed to think Batman is cool. He got a Batman toy last year from a family from our church in San Diego and he saw a Batman cake at the grocery store in the big city. I think the cake is what did it. :) It was a COOL cake. :)
Anyways, today we stuffed goody bags. There are many, MANY drawbacks to trying to throw a COOL birthday party in a 3rd world country, but the goody bags are not one of them. :) Because people cannot afford much here, ALL snacks are packaged in individual servings - small amounts, small price = more sales. (It also ensures that the contents are eaten so they won't be spoiled by the humidity or bugs.) But it makes it so easy to buy stuff for goody bags and stuff is way cheap! So we went down the snack aisle at the grocery store and let Elijah pick out snacks for the bags. Then we had a fun mess trying to get all the bags filled this afternoon.
Notice the pack of tissues... all 3 boys are sick with nasty colds. :(
The finished product with the VERY excited little boy. :) Party pictures next week. :) Although maybe I will do a post on the PINATA making that we are going to attempt this weekend. :)
Caleb's birthday quickly follows Elijah's; which is backed up by Thanksgiving, Christmas, Ezra's birthday and then our return to America. I think the next few months are going to fly. (At least Caleb hopes so, as he's already asking when it's time to stuff goody bags for his party!)
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
No one dies early
Two weeks ago we had the funeral for our friend who died when the plane he was piloting went down in the mountains. Really, really hard days. There are no funeral homes here; no events coordinators; not even a pastor at the missionary community church we attend. Thus, the task of arranging the countless details of everything from preparing the body and having a casket built to renting chairs for the memorial service fell to his grieving friends and co-workers. Because most of the pilots and higher ups in the aviation missions were busy with government investigations and insurance paperwork and all the stickiness with Embassies that comes when an American dies overseas, the details of setting up 800 chairs and arranging the obligatory funeral meal for 1200 fell to people like Brant. Needless to say, by the end, we were totally exhausted, mentally and physically.
The funeral itself was amazing and it's kinda hard to put into words. It was not joyful or a great tribute to his life and no one laughed. There were lots and lots of tears, but it was full of hope. Hope so real and tangible it enveloped the auditorium. Hope in God's goodness and His sovereignty over every detail over our lives - including clouds and mountain peaks and plane engines that stall and take a friend's life. The funeral was not a chance to remember a friend as much as it was to remind us, the living and crying, that God is good and He is in control. We say that often as Christians. Here, we either live it or we give up and go home. We cannot say it and not fully commit our lives to the Truth. So to live in God's sovereignty is to not question His decisions, but to accept them and then to ask His help to bear the pain that sometimes comes when His plans are not our plans. Sharing that with hundreds of other missionaries was amazing and when we sang "Blessed be the Name of the Lord" our friend on the other side of town watching the boys said she could hear us and got goose-bumps.
While our friend was sharing during the sermon, he said "No one dies early." Maybe I've been in the dark all my life, but that was a new concept to me. Me, the American who has been taught that good eating habits, enough exercise and proper health care keeps you alive longer. I know I thought that this summer when Penny died - that her death was wrong and a direct result of her poverty and citizenship in a 3rd world country. I thought Paul's death was due to an error, bad weather, you name it....
Wrong.
We all die. God has given us a day to be born (and I had a great day celebrating mine this past weekend!) and a day to die. There are no accidents, tragedies or mistakes and *oops* someone dies. God ordains the number of days we each have and when they're up, they're up. He might choose to use some horrific circumstances to take us out of this world, but in reality, the circumstances didn't end our lives - He did.
Very powerful stuff for me. God will end my life (and the lives of those I love) when it's time. My job is to accept His timing as perfect and to trust His goodness, even when I hurt. And my job is to enjoy each day I have with my family and friends, knowing they are gifts from God and knowing that He doesn't give us tomorrow, only today.
After the funeral and all the whirlwind of preparations, we just took a few days to rest and recover and process... and to enjoy the little boys and the life we have today.
We built forts....
We did school.... these are Caleb's Doggie ears (for D day!) He wore them NON-stop for 3 days, taking them off only for showers and to sleep. It was a nice comic relief for everyone here in town (because, yes, he wore them whenever he left the house!) :)
We blew bubbles with the suds from the washing machine...
We celebrated one of the boys' friend's birthdays. When you're two, is there anything more fun than a new balloon?
Thankful for the little boys and the life the Lord has given us and for another day to enjoy it all. Thankful that God is in control.
The funeral itself was amazing and it's kinda hard to put into words. It was not joyful or a great tribute to his life and no one laughed. There were lots and lots of tears, but it was full of hope. Hope so real and tangible it enveloped the auditorium. Hope in God's goodness and His sovereignty over every detail over our lives - including clouds and mountain peaks and plane engines that stall and take a friend's life. The funeral was not a chance to remember a friend as much as it was to remind us, the living and crying, that God is good and He is in control. We say that often as Christians. Here, we either live it or we give up and go home. We cannot say it and not fully commit our lives to the Truth. So to live in God's sovereignty is to not question His decisions, but to accept them and then to ask His help to bear the pain that sometimes comes when His plans are not our plans. Sharing that with hundreds of other missionaries was amazing and when we sang "Blessed be the Name of the Lord" our friend on the other side of town watching the boys said she could hear us and got goose-bumps.
While our friend was sharing during the sermon, he said "No one dies early." Maybe I've been in the dark all my life, but that was a new concept to me. Me, the American who has been taught that good eating habits, enough exercise and proper health care keeps you alive longer. I know I thought that this summer when Penny died - that her death was wrong and a direct result of her poverty and citizenship in a 3rd world country. I thought Paul's death was due to an error, bad weather, you name it....
Wrong.
We all die. God has given us a day to be born (and I had a great day celebrating mine this past weekend!) and a day to die. There are no accidents, tragedies or mistakes and *oops* someone dies. God ordains the number of days we each have and when they're up, they're up. He might choose to use some horrific circumstances to take us out of this world, but in reality, the circumstances didn't end our lives - He did.
Very powerful stuff for me. God will end my life (and the lives of those I love) when it's time. My job is to accept His timing as perfect and to trust His goodness, even when I hurt. And my job is to enjoy each day I have with my family and friends, knowing they are gifts from God and knowing that He doesn't give us tomorrow, only today.
After the funeral and all the whirlwind of preparations, we just took a few days to rest and recover and process... and to enjoy the little boys and the life we have today.
We built forts....
We did school.... these are Caleb's Doggie ears (for D day!) He wore them NON-stop for 3 days, taking them off only for showers and to sleep. It was a nice comic relief for everyone here in town (because, yes, he wore them whenever he left the house!) :)
We blew bubbles with the suds from the washing machine...
We celebrated one of the boys' friend's birthdays. When you're two, is there anything more fun than a new balloon?
Thankful for the little boys and the life the Lord has given us and for another day to enjoy it all. Thankful that God is in control.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
God is gracious
We're potty training Ezra this week. I'll spare you the pictures; I'm not sure Brant would want them posted all over the Internet anyways. :) It's gone pretty well overall - more successes than accidents and he's dry during nap times and during the night, so I really can't complain 4 days in. What has been hilarious is that we've quickly figured out that Ezra likes total privacy to do his business! So early the first day he pushed his little potty chair from the living room where we had set it up, down the hall, into his bedroom. Now, when I take him, I help him get his pants down, sit him down and then leave! He's very particular. :) It's also hilarious as I'll watch him scoot around his room (we have tile floors) sitting on the potty chair the whole time - he'll scoot himself over to his bookshelf, toy box, whatever. He even scooted over to his dressed this afternoon and pulled all the clothes out... all while sitting!
Ezra with a sucker - his treat after going potty. :) Proof I do give my children sugar... sometimes. ;)
Anyways, Tuesday was NOT a good day potty training and by noon I had changed 4-5 pairs of dirty underwear. Yesterday was much better and when Brant came home for lunch I remarked, "God is gracious today - Ezra hasn't had an accident yet." As soon as I said the words, I immediately regretted them. Is God gracious only when things go my way? Was He not gracious on Tuesday giving me patience to clean up messes? Does God - or my view of God - change depending on my circumstances?
Today has been a rough day. Brant was down at the airport this afternoon getting stuff ready for a flight when he said "all hell broke loose." A plane went down in the mountains. Just like that one of our good friends, a missionary pilot who has been serving here for 20 years, was in the presence of the Lord. Tonight as we cried and prayed for his wife and kids, I tried to picture what their last morning together as a family was like - did they recognize God's grace in the moments they were spending this morning, not knowing they would be their last?
I am not a good missionary. My faith in God is weak. I see God as faithful and gracious this morning, and yet question His plan and timing this afternoon. Yet, if I question the God Who Never Changes, then why am I here - in this hot, horrible place, 1200 miles from the nearest Starbucks and half a world away from my family and friends? Is not the very reason we are here in the first place to proclaim in the darkness that there is a God Who does not change? His love does not fail when a plane engine does. His grace is the same whether my child messes in his underwear or makes it to the toilet. His faithfulness does not waver even when my faith falters.
I am thankful we serve a God like that.
Ezra with a sucker - his treat after going potty. :) Proof I do give my children sugar... sometimes. ;)
Anyways, Tuesday was NOT a good day potty training and by noon I had changed 4-5 pairs of dirty underwear. Yesterday was much better and when Brant came home for lunch I remarked, "God is gracious today - Ezra hasn't had an accident yet." As soon as I said the words, I immediately regretted them. Is God gracious only when things go my way? Was He not gracious on Tuesday giving me patience to clean up messes? Does God - or my view of God - change depending on my circumstances?
Today has been a rough day. Brant was down at the airport this afternoon getting stuff ready for a flight when he said "all hell broke loose." A plane went down in the mountains. Just like that one of our good friends, a missionary pilot who has been serving here for 20 years, was in the presence of the Lord. Tonight as we cried and prayed for his wife and kids, I tried to picture what their last morning together as a family was like - did they recognize God's grace in the moments they were spending this morning, not knowing they would be their last?
I am not a good missionary. My faith in God is weak. I see God as faithful and gracious this morning, and yet question His plan and timing this afternoon. Yet, if I question the God Who Never Changes, then why am I here - in this hot, horrible place, 1200 miles from the nearest Starbucks and half a world away from my family and friends? Is not the very reason we are here in the first place to proclaim in the darkness that there is a God Who does not change? His love does not fail when a plane engine does. His grace is the same whether my child messes in his underwear or makes it to the toilet. His faithfulness does not waver even when my faith falters.
I am thankful we serve a God like that.
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