It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

In December and January, everything in the Solomon Islands slows down.  School is out, most people return to their home villages, church organizations like Sunday School and women's groups close.  And many of SITAG's employees will combine their remaining vacation days with the two weeks that the office is closed.

So we held the Christmas party this weekend.  The event is always a huge team effort, and work started early in the week with shopping.

Thursday afternoon, several of us gathered to harvest, peel, and scrape cassava.  Katherine found one with a "nose" and quickly used the knife to make a face on her cassava man.

Aaron squeezed forty coconuts worth of nice thick coconut cream.  No added water.  I love his servant's heart.

Katherine asked to be able to stay up late with her SITAG aunties to finish the cassava pudding and get it on the fire.  So one of the trays was "Katherine's special pudding from the Russell Islands".

While Katherine stayed up late and left a note on the chalkboard asking to sleep in late, Olivia got up at 3:00 to join the SITAG aunties with the second fire and all of the food prep.

By mid morning, the food was all off the fire, and we were all driving over to the beautiful SWIM campus, trying hard not to pull over and eat the food in the back of the vehicle as the aroma made our tummies growl.

While the ladies cut up fruit and plated all of the hot food that had been cooked at SITAG, the dads and kids played.  

Olivia enjoyed helping out with the smallest of our SITAG family.

The men are normally so focused on work and taking care of their families, watching them shed the weighty mantle of responsibility as they played games made my heart sing.

The food was abundant and delicious.  There is absolutely nothing like food cooked on hot stones.  Especially when you are sharing it with some of the most dedicated and precious people on the planet.

We lingered long around the tables, then the cleanup crew stepped in as people drifted away to let their stomachs settle.  We parceled up the leftovers and washed dishes and swept the floor.  Then everyone gathered again to sing a few Christmas carols and to say goodbye to the BTLP SI director who was moving on to another ministry position.

What a perfect way to kick off December, with some of my favorite people.

Friday Favorite Five

 

1)  I was doing a little early Christmas shopping and found this adorable welcome mat.  It's perfect to go in front of Sarah's apartment, and I plan to get one for our house in Arkansas when we return next year.

2) If you are thinking about Advent and how to make it meaningful for you and family this year, Wycliffe has just released "The Weary World Rejoices", a devotional complete with a Spotify playlist!  For kids, they have also provided "Travel Around the World This Christmas With Your Family", a conglomeration of devotionals and geography and activities focused on broadening your knowledge of Christmas traditions around the world and honing our eyes on Jesus.

3) This colorful daily dozen challenge chart reminds me to steward my body well by the fuel I ingest.  The charts come in both imperial and metric measurements, so no matter where in this beautiful world you live, you can find a good fit.

4) It's no secret that I prefer to read nonfiction.  Modern Mrs. Darcy is one of my favorite book blogs, and she recently released a list of fascinating but true untold stories that you didn't learn in history class.  I've already read several of these, and thanks to Arkansas' digital library, I've just checked out a few and put several more on hold!

5) One of my favorite authors, Glenna Marshall, always seems to find the balance between encouraging and challenging words.  Recently, her blog posts about remaining faithful to the Lord when the world is so distracting (hello, Black Friday) and the slow, hard work of sanctification gave me thoughtful words to chew.

Celebration

Aaron took the translation team out for a celebratory ice cream cone at the end of their week of hard work.  We're so thankful that Matthew 1-4 is checked and printed and ready to be used for Advent which begins this Sunday.

Our alarm went off at 4:30 Saturday morning so this crew could take advantage of the early morning water which is always calmest at dawn.  The next step is to prepare the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7, for a consultant check before we return to America.

Goodbyes

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."

-Winnie the Pooh

Goodbyes never get any easier.

It' super duper easy to find articles and suggestions about how the pain of goodbyes or how to say goodbye well.

 But nothing can ease the pain when it feels like your heart has had a hole ripped in it.

Living overseas means we say goodbye a lot.  On both sides of the Pacific Ocean.

We're learning to make sweet memories together whenever we can make the opportunities.

Even simple things like playing "Butterfly" and "Ninja" while we wait for the boarding call to pull our friends toward the airplane.

And we're so grateful for technology and the way it makes staying in touch a little bit easier.

In just a few months, we'll be the ones saying goodbye.

Cultural Differences and Bible Translation Checking

In my passport country, training in critical thinking skills begins at birth.  Families give little ones simple puzzles to groom their spatial abilities.  Some people play classical music in hopes that the "Mozart Effect" will make their children smarter.  In my education classes, I learned about models like Bloom's Taxonomy and how to work towards higher order thinking skills.

That kind of grooming doesn't happen here in the Solomon Islands.  If you look at Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, our friends here live mostly in the lower half of the pyramid.  Their culture is just different from the culture in which I grew up, and their brilliance shows up in different ways, too.  They laugh at me because I have to write everything down (language learning, grocery lists, family trees), while they can keep it all in their heads.  The things we've been asking the translation team to accomplish this week would be difficult in any culture. 

Imagine having a sixth grade education and needing to read a paragraph and then tell back the meaning in your second language.  And yet my strong friend, Kiko, fills this role day after day during the translation consultant checking.  And I'm so proud of her.  Lugging bags of produce around market and making cookies for afternoon tea and buying reading glasses for their tired eyes all seem like incredibly small ways to say thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Our intentionality is a key ingredient determining whether we notice God everywhere or only in church or only in suffering or nowhere.  It all depends on how we choose to fashion our world."  

-Elizabeth Dreyer, "Earth Crammed With Heaven"

We celebrated Thanksgiving early this year.  As far as I know, only three families with American roots are living in the Solomon Islands, and one of these families is flying back to the USA this week.

So, in the midst of the consultant checking and the general chaos of this week, we continue to set aside time and methods to help us be intentional.  Our Thankful Turkey continues to grow, this time we again had little hands to write on feathers.  I love having adopted little ones around.

We will leave Mr. Turkey up until Advent begins, even though we've already enjoyed our Thanksgiving feast.  Because who doesn't need reminders to count their blessings?!?

Every day, I need fresh eyes to see the abundance that God pours out and a heart soft enough to allow those refreshing blessings to soak in.

Overflowing With Thankfulness

"Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom...with gratitude in your heart to God."  Colossians 3:16

I'm so grateful for this team.  Their job of fine tuning Matthew is tough, and they don't approach it lightly.  As the American families here get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving a little bit early, we have our growing thankful turkey and a playlist to help tune our hearts to sing praises.

And these men and women are at the top of my list of reasons to be thankful.

The translation team arrived this morning, and we're super excited about the week ahead.  They are settling down in the Training Center, Aaron is in another building at a SITAG Team Meeting, and our home is full of giggles as I prep supper and kids play "The Game of Things".

The consultant check should begin at eight o'clock tomorrow morning, and we appreciate prayers for all of the little details...things like the internet to cooperate and the ability for James to catch anything and everything that needs to be changed in the translation, for good sleep for the Lavukal translation team of four men and two women and for good mental clarity for Aaron.

All systems go!

Aaron and James met for the last time today in preparation for the consultant check.  Now, Aaron is tasked with figuring out all the details for arranging and paying for transportation, feeding, and housing of the translation team and the Uninitiated Native Speakers (UNS).  It's getting exciting around here, and we appreciate prayers for next week...prayers for protection as well as for all of the pieces of the puzzle to fall into place.

 

Yesterday, school for the girls meant science experiments.

Olivia finally worked up the courage to poke her finger so she could determine her blood type.

If she is going to train as a nurse, she needs to be comfortable sticking not only herself, but others, too.

Then Katherine got to chew up a cracker and watch the enzymes at work

when she added iodine to her chewed up cracker as well as the control of a crushed up cracker with water added.  We've had a lot of fun learning together!

Sweet Sabbath

To live is not to have a body of a certain size or shape or degree of health, or a home in a certain neighborhood, or a particular job or status.  To live is Christ.  And most of us have to be convinced of this today and convinced again tomorrow, because we are so thoroughly immersed in this world that tells us otherwise.  This reconvincing happens as we begin eating now of the tree of life by feeding on Christ and his Word today, and again tomorrow, and again the next day.

-Nancy Guthrie, "Even Better Than Eden"

 Oh, how I need this "reconvincing"!  Our technology continues to fail and fall apart, and I think this removal is one of the tools God is using to remind me to focus on things of eternal value.  We've started our "Thankful Turkey" again this weekend.  I love looking back at the feathers over the years and reminding ourselves of all the good things God has given us.  We're choosing to focus on His goodness (like beautiful melon popo) and His Word.

"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm.  Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."  

I Corinthians 15:58

Lessons in life, love, and learning

We're enjoying being back in Honiara with all of its abundance...internet and food are the two things that immediately come to my mind.  Aaron has spent much of his time this week sitting in meetings, and he is hustling to get all of the details wrapped up in preparation for the upcoming consultant check.  Even though he is a full on Enneagram Five, I love the way he always has time and energy for others.

I think his shepherd's heart really shines through, reminding me of our days in church ministry.  After spending time in town this morning, picking up things for several different people, he came home with a big, beautiful kingfish from market.  And Katherine wanted a lesson in how to fillet it.  So, after lunch, I watched my busy guy take time to patiently show our lastborn how to prepare almost twenty pounds of fish for us to enjoy throughout November.  

 I follow several personality type accounts on Instagram because I love the conversation starters (and the laughter) they provide.  Recently, I saw a post about how each type spends their anniversary, and I was reminded about how Aaron uses every single day to invest in the people around him.  "Every day is a day to show that you love each other so why is this one any different than the rest?" is how his type is supposed to react.  I laughed out loud, because it is SO true, but not in the non-romantic way one might think.  My husband really does take every opportunity to show the people around him, including me, appreciation and care. 

Back in Honiara

Our friend, Kiko, talked our driver into a later start this weekend.  He wanted to leave at 4:30, and she haggled for 5:30, knowing that we had originally planned for 6:00.  All without our knowledge.  But I'm thankful she did.  Team Choate had everything secured at the house, including our traditional snowman building, and we were down at the beach just as the sun began to brighten the sky on Saturday morning.

Having a group wake up early to come see you off always makes us feel special, and we were thankful for the handful of people who were willing to walk through the morning dew and the remains of last night's BIG rain (thanks for praying!) to give us hugs and well wishes.

The seas were flat, at one point Aaron said they looked like liquid silver because they were reflecting the sky like a mirror.  We saw three different pods of dolphins along the way, too.  This trip was so much smoother than the ride that brought us out to Marulaon and left me bruised!

 A huge thanks to my friend, Ann, for keeping the blog up and running while we were off the grid.  We're grateful to be back in Honiara and to be able to reconnect with friends and family via the internet again.  Aaron has a very full plate in November, and then we hope to turn around and head back to Marulaon in December for Olivia's last trip.