March in the Solomon Islands

After SITAG's Conference, Aaron made a trip out to Marulaon to work with the translation team.

With Starlink in place, we can now stay in touch with phone calls and emails, which feels wild. 

We're so grateful for the donor who provided the system of communication.

Aaron kept sending me beautiful pictures, like this one of a sunrise from our porch in the village.

And this one, of our friends sending him off from the beach.

And this one, as he rode in the motor boat back to Honiara.

One of the bonuses of his trips back? He gets to interact with our incredible and faithful colleagues.

Our favorite colleague, Sarah, dropped him at the airport to begin his long journey home.

Finishing February

With Aaron overseas, Katherine and I busied ourselves with all sorts of good things. 

We pruned the crape myrtles,

watched the first signs of Spring as the peonies began popping,

began to anticipate Alice's arrival,

reveled in the fragrant flowers that filled our yard,

rejoiced in the opportunity to serve as the attendance mom for the youth symphony,

found whole fish at an Asian market and recreated a favorite recipe,

hit the gym together,

and taught lots of cello lessons to some amazing students.

 

Puppy Chow Power

One of my cello students suggested I replace the powdered sugar in puppy chow with my favorite chocolate protein powder.

Game changer. More flavor and protein, less sweet. Exactly right.

Lenten Sweet Sabbath

We've known Hannah Paris since she was single and attending lingustics school with us in Dallas. She recently authored "The Sacred Sacrifice: Cultivating Lenten Traditions with Bach's Great Passion", and her research and words coupled with Bach's music are shaping my Lent this year.

 

Update from the Solomon Islands

Aaron and Sarah have wrapped up their conference in the Solomon Islands.

Aaron plans to join the rest of the translation team in the Russell Islands for the next couple of weeks, and Sarah is still praying about her next steps.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

One of the nicest things about living in America is celebrating birthdays with people we love! Katherine found a fun confetti candle for my dad's birthday, and the old standby chocolate cherry cake delighted us once again.

 

Chinese New Year

Any excuse to bake and celebrate with friends gets my vote! For the Chinese (Lunar) New Year, my buddy Marin and her little brother helped bake a delicious rice cake: Nian-Gao.

We used the recipe found in the back of "The Runaway Rice Cake", and the sweet cake was a big hit! Our library had several books that filled our basket to help us celebrate the holiday:

A Gift by Yong Chen

The Runaway Rice Cake by Ying Chang Compestine

A New Year's Reunion by Yu Li-Qiong

Bringing in the New Year by Grace Lin

This Next New Year by Janet S. Wong

It's Time to Plant

It's time to plant seeds again, and this year I'm branching out into growing flowers and a few extra veggies, too. My favorite farmer is a weath of information, and once again I'm learning all sorts of new things! 

 

Valentine's Day

My mom thoughtfully reached out to the "single ladies" for Valentine's Day. She helped us make heart shaped cookies. With her decades of experience cutting out cookies, they turned out beautifully.

The delicious lemon hearts nestled in my basket as I donned my raincoat and rainboots to walk around the neighborhood to deliver. I sent chocolate with Aaron, enough to count down from Valentine's Day until his return. I love our marriage and how it's the little things that keep us connected.

Valentine's Day is a sweet reminder that my goal is to become more loving, which shapes me to become more like Christ.

 

Rest

"Rest is a vital activity in all of creation, including us. When we forgo rest, we are not only running ourselves to exhaustion but forfeiting one of God's primary provisions for us. As part of God's original, perfect creation, rest was meant to meet us with peace and clarity. It keeps us from dialing up our lives to an unsustainable pace. It transfers us out of a domain of chaos and frenzy and centers us in God's presence, where we remember what matters most and where God would have us invest our time and energy." 

~Eryn Lynum, "The Nature of Rest"

The recent snow and ice forced us to slow down and gave us space to spend time with people we love doing things we don't normally have time and energy to do. 

Like a spontaneous afternoon of drinking coffee and playing Azul with my cousin, Luke. The slower pace and the laughter created a perfect Sunday afternoon.

Sending Off Another One

Earlier this week, Katherine and I took Aaron to the airport so he could catch a plane to the Solomon Islands. Our branch will hold a conference while Aaron is there, and then he hopes (weather permitting!) to travel out to our language group to work with the team.

I love that Aaron and Sarah are now colleagues and will get to work together in person.

And we are so grateful for the many people contributing towards this trip with finances and prayers.

 

Kicking Off February

After January's big winter storm, February started off mild and beautiful. I started keeping my "office hours" on the back patio. Sometimes I enjoyed a fire in our little fire pit, and sometimes I had little friends visit me.

During the first week of February, we enjoyed cheering for Evan (my gym and race buddy, my cello student, and my favorite basketball player) as his team played in the state tournament.

Our yard's first daffodil bloomed in the beginning days of the month, a taste of all the beautiful flowers that will soon follow.

And the days were lovely enough that Grandma and I could go for a walk to soak up some sunshine. Sure feels like Spring is just around the corner!

 

More Outside Adventures

"We are supposed to be lovers of God and neighbor in our development of the world. Like little image bearers of God, we are called to garden and cultivate creation not for our name's sake but for his. And he is always a loving God, who made us to be in a relationship with him and others."

~Justin Whimel Early, "The Body Teaches the Soul"

One of my favorite things to do as I spend more time outside is to share it with preschoolers. They have a way of seeing the world through fresh eyes that rejuvenates my spirit.

Lauren and her kids joined me in visiting Cove Creek Natural Area. The ice on the creek was still thick enough that the sticks we threw just bounced. But by the time we had stopped for a snack, marveled at a white goat we saw bounding up the mountain, and played in the water, the day had warmed up considerably.

I sure do love sharing life and experiencing God's creation with these precious people.