Marulaon Woman’s Daybook

Just for today...Monday, December 8

(Note from Ann H – I’ve gotten a few posts a little out of order. Sorry about that! Let’s back up a day and get this one!)

Outside my window...Aaron is painting the house with the last of the used motor oil to deter termites.

From the learning rooms...Benjamin is learning about the rate of change & slope in Algebra while Sarah is learning about second-degree equations with two variables in Albegra 2; Olivia is reading the Hobbit; and Katherine is studying insects.  All of the Marulaon kids are out of school for their summer break now!

From the kitchen...shepherd's pie for lunch and bierrocks for supper - both with the same filling and both cooked at lunch to maximize time and energy spent in the kitchen and the gas used in the oven.

One of my favorite things...Christmas picture books that we've collected over the years

On my bookshelf..."Revolution in World Missions:  One Man's Jouney to Change a Generation" by K.P. Yohannan (a gift from Edi) and "Into Africa:  The Epic Adventures of Stanley & Livingstone" (on loan from Roxanne).  I think these two books will carry me into Christmas, especially knowing how busy we are about to be with guests and moving back to Honiara.

Around the house...pumpkin babies.  Over the course of a few markets, four pumpkins with curvy necks showed up, and I was thrilled to buy them.

Now, the pumpkins all have names, and Olivia and Katherine carry them around every waking moment of the day, curvy neck thrown over their shoulder.  Katherine even wants to sleep with her set of twins!

Wearing out my knees in prayer...for our residence visas to be approved. We found out today that the government will not waive the fee for dependents, at least not right now, so the expenses for the visas continue to mount and time keeps ticking.  Would you please join me in praying for God's provision in both areas - financial provision and timely approval of our visas?

Pondering these words..."Why do you think God has allowed you to be born in North America or Europe rather than among the poor of Africa and Asia and to be blessed with such material and spiritual abundance?"  ~K.P. Yahannan

Plans for the rest of the week...provincial voting is in Marulaon on Wednesday, so Aaron will take a table down there again, on Saturday he plans to go over to the East Russells (about a 45 minutes motor canoe ride) to meet with the Translation Committee to discuss key terms and where the translation will begin.

A peek into my corner of the world...we've been waiting to open some boxes of Christmas tea that my mom sent last year.  We finally opened them this weekend.  To our surprise, instead of four boxes of tea, we found two beautiful mugs with a little bit of Christmas tea poked inside the mugs!

Last Christmas, my mom sent four small thermoses with an outline of Arkansas surrounding a heart on one side of the thermos, and a map of the Solomon Islands with a heart on Marulaon on the other side of the thermos.  Unbeknownst to us, she also made mugs for Aaron and me!  So it was a late (or early, depending on how you look at it) Merry Christmas to us.