Purim and Friends

 Once again, we pulled out our favorite recipe to help us celebrate Purim.  And once again, we invited some friends to share the baking and Bible story with us.

If you had walked by our house late yesterday afternoon, your senses would have been assaulted by the delicious aroma of chocolate baking and the cheerful noise of children laughing.  You would have heard Aaron reading the story of Esther and encouraging the kids to say "ooh la la" every time they heard the word Esther and "our hero" every time they heard the word Mordecai.  And I think you, too, would have been encouraged as we reminded ourselves of God's faithfulness and His sometimes unseen hand at work.

They did it!

 

I have never seen a harder working bunch of people.  This room was filled with perseverance and dedication despite painful knees and sniffly noses.  Every time this team works together, they get better and better.  The Sermon on the Mount is now consultant checked!

So Aaron took the team out for ice cream yesterday afternoon.  One baby step at a time, we are celebrating the Lavukal translation progress.

This morning, the team assembled early, and the truck rumbled up our gravel road at 5:30.  Those last hugs and handshakes were harder than I anticipated.  The weather was mediocre for a motorboat ride across the ocean, but the forecast for the weekend was even worse.  After waiting for several hours at Komibo for visibility to improve, the team took off back towards their home villages.  

Cousin Sisters

Yesterday afternoon, Olivia, Katherine, Kiko and I drove over to visit some Lavukal friends, Kathleen and Augustine.  God's beautiful timing meant that Olivia had quite a few of her friends available for an afternoon of catching up as several of these young ladies (three more who aren't in this picture) wait for a boat to take them to school on another island.

I haven't seen Kathleen's grandchildren (that's Iggy on the right!) in a very long time, and I got to hold her newest one, a cuddly little girl only five months old.  This house is one of the very few Lavukal homes in Honiara, so they always open their doors for students and for family who are coming and going.  I was excited to find a Lavukal friend at market this morning who was selling crabs, so I bought those and some other groceries to help feed all the extra mouths that stay at this Lavukal Bed and Breakfast.  Olivia also shared peanut butter cookies that quickly disappeared.

Kiko and Kathleen's moms were twins, so they are "cousin sisters".  In our matrilineal society, that means they function as sisters, so Iggy called Kiko tutua/grandmother.  Both of these ladies have very large extended families, and they all look after each other.  I love the focus on family and relationships here in Melanesia.

 

Blastoff

 The consultant check began this morning!  So many small details have to fall into place for this event to move forward, and it's really fun to watch God work out all of the details.

 

The Lenten season is about the sin that was the reason for the suffering and sacrifice of the Savior. It is about taking time to reflect on why we all needed such a radical move of redemption, to confess the hold that sin still has on us, and to focus on opening our hands, in confession and submission, and letting go of sin once again. But as we do this, it is important to remember that the knowledge of sin is not a dark and nasty thing but a huge and wonderful blessing. If you are aware of your sin, you are aware of it only because you have been visited by amazing grace.

-P.D. Tripp, “Journey to the Cross”

I'm thankful for the rare treat of quiet house on this cloudy Sunday afternoon.  As much as I love the bustle of a houseful, I needed time to ponder Tripp's words and to remember that the knowledge of our sin can be a huge and wonderful blessing.

3, 2, 1...

 

The translation team arrived at SITAG just a few hours ago, and already these dedicated guys are hard at work getting everything ready for the consultant check that will begin on Tuesday morning.

Shrove Tuesday

To celebrate Fat Tuesday, Olivia made Shrove Tuesday buns from the Great Scandinavian Baking Book.  You know it's a good cookbook when Amazon says you have purchased it three times!  The recipe made enough buns to share with our SITAG family at morning tea, and we used local ngali/havu nuts instead of almonds.

Since our weather hasn't been cooperating with an across-the-ocean motor boat ride, and America's punch of cold weather has created intermittent power outages as far south as Dallas, where our translation consultant lives, we've decided to delay the check of the Sermon on the Mount until next week.  Thanks for your continued prayers for the translation team as they prepare!

Scaffolding

During January, I watched the progress of this house from my rocking chair on the porch of our village home.  The bones of the house went up first, and then we cheered on the guys as they added the roof and the walling to fill in the gaps.

Lent begins this week.  We've bought plane tickets to return to America, so during the course of Lent, we will be living in three different places.  I need some scaffolding to thoughtfully observe this season.  We'll be reading through "Journey to the Cross" as a family during breakfast, and on my own I'll be working through "With All Your Heart: Living Joyfully Through Allegiance to King Jesus".  I hope to continue some of our favorite Lenten traditions like making pretzels and listening to some Penitential Psalms to help keep our minds and hearts undivided as we sort and pack and prepare for our long journey back to Arkansas.

Settling In

 Today we woke up to sunshine after weeks of rain, and finding sparkles on our slippery cabbage brought me joy as the sun rose just outside our back door.

We've unpacked and settled back into a Honiara routine, and now we are just praying for good communication with Marulaon and another break in the pattern of rain so common for this time of year.  We're ready to get the Lavukal translation team across the ocean and into SITAG for the consultant check of the Sermon on the Mount!

Last Morning

 "Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done.  The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare."  

Psalm 40:5 (NIV)

Before we returned to the Solomon Islands for this term, I asked our two college kids if they thought growing up overseas was still a good idea, and if they thought we should return with their two younger sisters.  First they looked at me like I was an idiot, and then they replied with a resounding YES!

Thursday night, our best driver and Translation Committee Chairman Belza told us that if we woke up to no rain on Friday morning, he would drive us across in the motor boat.  So dark and early, we began to bring our cargo down to the water.  We sat and waited for the boat coming from Karumalun for almost an hour, and friends began to wake up and tiptoe towards us.  As we said goodbye, yet again, and I watched Olivia grieve, I wondered afresh if giving our kids this life of a Third Culture Kid was worth all of the heartache.

The wet and wild ride across the ocean reminded me of a cross between a mechanical bull and a log flume ride.  At one point, Aaron leaned over and hollered in my ear, "You know, some people would pay money for a ride like this!!"  We bounced and splashed, and I thought about the many wonders God has done for our kids and about the many things He has planned that we can't even count.  I listened as my family belted out one of our favorite scripture songs from school, "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof..." and observed the birds soar above a bait ball before diving in for breakfast.  I watched as one of our colleagues met us on the beach, drenched and salty, and provided a fresh press of coffee after I had just whispered to my husband how much I would love to drive through my favorite local coffee shop back in Arkansas.   Again as we bought some fresh fruits and veggies at market and one of Olivia's town based friends just happened to be there, too, the Lord whispered to my heart:  "Those wonders for your kids?  They will be too many to declare..."

Last week, while we waited for Tropical Cyclone Lucas to clear out, we had extra opportunities to spend time with people we love in Marulaon.

We intended to leave on Wednesday, but our SITAG colleagues advised us on the weather conditions and urged us to stay put instead of trying to come across in the motor boat.

Watching our kids grow up in Marulaon brings me joy.  Especially this trio of smiles.

Back in Honiara

 After several days of delay because of weather, we are back in Honiara again and looking forward to reconnecting with the outside world.  Thanks for your prayers for our time in the village!

Sunday, January 31

Torrential rains fell all night and continued all day today. We’re hearing rumors that the SI Marine issued a “stay in port” warning last night and that at least some of the bridges between Honiara and Komibo, where we usually land in the motorboat, have been washed out. This could certainly alter our travel plans for this week! Prayers appreciated as we seek to discern between rumors and the truth and as we work for good communication with SITAG.

The Marulaon Youth held Olivia’s farewell tonight. Olivia has built so many sweet memories since she arrived in the village as a five-year-old. I love the Melanesian value on relationships and their goodbye customs that give good closure and a meaningful farewell, just in case your paths don’t cross again.

Saturday, January 30

It feels so good to be out and about again. My ankle has healed more quickly from this round of cellulitis than ever before! Navigating the rocky up and downs of the trails in our village still poses a challenge, but I’m really enjoying the opportunity to visit with my friends and to share the last of our onions and the clothes the girls have outgrown.

We’ve been sitting underneath a low pressure system that is bringing repeated bands of heavy rain and wind for the last several days. I’m loving the coolness! We’re monitoring our solar power carefully and looking for a break in the rain so we can put the BGAN unit out to connect to the satellite for email.