More from Marulaon

Wednesday, August 11

One of the hardest things for me to adjust to in this culture is the flexibility of time. We have to be able to drop whatever we are doing at any time to be able to accomodate our neighbors, just as they do for each other and for us. Ezekiel dropped by this morning around 10 o'clock and joined Aaron underneath the house where he had been studying. The two men worked on corrections for the prayer book, shared their hearts, and planned for the future. I took down some kino and a green coconut as I finished hanging out the clothes on the line. Their meeting was very fruitful and very long. When I was on the porch finishing reading aloud "The Wolves of Willoughby Chase" (we just couldn't put it down), Aaron came up and asked if I could bring them some coffee. Soon afterward, Benjamin spotted a beautiful blue bird perched in the molokita tree in front of our house, so the kids quickly ran in the house and grabbed the camera. We need to buy some field guides to help us recognize all of the beautiful flora and fauna around here.

Around 12:30, I served the guys coconut rice and stir-fried veggies I bought at market this morning. Finally, around 3 o'clock, Aaron finally came up and Ezekiel left with banana cake and 4-inch nails to take back to Karumalun. They enjoyed a very productive meeting!

Tonight, Barnabas came by around 7 o'clock when we were snuggling the kids before bedtime. It's his favorite time of day to come over and a very appropriate time, too, since it's when all of our neighbors are eating and visiting with each other. He visited for a little while and then asked for some tea leaves. I guess today was a pretty normal day for all of us, and God is teaching me that He will give me the time to accomplish everything that He wants me to accomplish.

Tuesday, August 10

We finally went to my new garden today! Eileen, her husband David, Pogo, and I tromped off through the bush to a plot of land owned by Eileen. It was hard to pay attention to the work because I kept finding beautiful butterflies, seed pods, and mushrooms to distract me (butterfly - felfel, grasshopper - fanfan, firefly - funfun). Since I used Aaron's big bush knife, I quickly developed a blister at the base of my right first finger, so I began to hack at the trees with both hands to provide a little bit more leverage. We cleared away a small plot and piled the brush to dry. In a few days we'll come back and burn the brush and dig up the ground. After several more trips, I hope to be able to find my own way to the garden, but for right now, I still need help navigating all of the forks and turns in the path.