Sweet Sabbath

the hand-carved cross in our church in Marulaon

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne."

Hebrews 12:1,2 NLT

Marulaon Journal

This is the last of my journal from our time in Marulaon:

Tuesday, August 4
Lots of packing and cleaning today. We learned from our last trip that we can't do school and pack at the same time - it just takes too long to prepare the house, cover every bookshelf with sheets, rat proof everything, etc. So, we let the kids have yesterday and today off (ah, the joys of schooling year-round). Everyone pitched in to help, and by the time we got the supper dishes washed, the house was ready for our departure. We all enjoyed sitting on the porch and relaxing instead of frantically counting how many cans of tuna were in the pantry, rolls of toilet paper in the bathroom, or bottles of dish detergent under the sink.

Aaron and the kids took our cargo down to be loaded on a friends canoe for the trip out to the Bikoi. A couple of people came by with lelenga and green coconuts for our trip on the Bikoi. I put Olivia and Katherine to bed, but when Katherine heard visitors on the porch, she hopped up to join the party. After a while, I lay down to rest in anticipation of our long night. We gathered the family around 9:30, locked the house, and headed down to the beach. We sat around and storied with friends who enjoyed taking turns holding Katherine and trying to get her to go to sleep.

Finally, around 10:30, the Bikoi came, and we saw all of the canoes head out to sell food to the ship. The Bikoi comes from way out in the Western Solomons, and the trip is long. Passengers are thankful for some fresh food when they reach Marulaon. We finally loaded the canoe after it had dropped off our stuff, then we waved goodbye to all of our friends and sped off to the Bikoi. Two of our foam mats had mistakenly gone under the boat, so we only had our new woven mat that we bought at the Grand Bazaar. Thankfully, someone brought us another one, and we quickly spread out and tried to settle in for the night.

All evening, Katherine had been excitedly talking about the boat, "Look, Mama. A boat!" But now, her excitement was short-lived, and she cried on and off throughout the night. Olivia, having enjoyed a two hour nap, was wide awake and quickly succumbed to the rocking of the boat. So, I held a crying Katherine, and Aaron took Olivia to the side of the ship and then down to the bathroom. We eventually settled down and dozed until we reached Honiara around 5:00. What a welcome sight to see a fellow SITAG member with the truck! We couldn't pick up our cargo until 6:00, so we decided to go on back to the house and begin to get settled in while Aaron went back to the wharf. Honiara always looks so huge and busy whenever we come back from Marulaon. We're looking forward to spending time with all of the SITAG families again!

Monday, August 3

Sarah lost her tooth yesterday in church while we were singing. Her eyes got big and she looked at me funny, then she handed me her tooth. We discovered that when a child in Marulaon looses a tooth, the proper thing to do is throw it on the roof and sing this songof two notes (a minor third apart), "Kokomita dengoneo nam nganeo." This songs asks the gecko (kokomita) to take your tooth and give you the new one in its place. "Nam" is one of the first words that Katherine learned in language. It basically means, "Give it to me." Sarah took the tooth to David and Eileen's house, sang her song, and threw her tooth on the roof. The tooth missed, bounced into the house, and David had to go searching for it. When David found the tooth, Sarah tried again, and this time the tooth landed securely on the roof.

Me and My Girl

This morning, I was hiding behind the closed door of our bedroom, trying to drink my coffee and read my Bible, when I heard one of my favorite words, "Maaaaammaa!" come from Katherine's lips. I walked over to the door and opened it to find a jaybird little girl with a mop of brown curls. Aaron said she had put her mouth down to the bottom of the door to call me more efficiently.

So, I grabbed my girl, tossed her on the bed, and covered both of us with a quilt. We sang "This Little Light of Mine", "Deep and Wide", and one of my favorite hymns "He Keeps Me Singing" before she began to play peek-a-boo underneath the quilt. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute.

Action Jackson

We've had a good time learning about Jackson Pollock, and since we couldn't get the internet to cooperate on Classics For Kids this afternoon, we decided that this would be the day to practice being "Action Jackson".

So, we loaded up the egg beater, paint brushes, spatulas, whisks, and anything else that looked like fun, and headed down to the basketball court to paint. I followed a trail of green splatters on the sidewalk! We quickly gathered a small crowd of SITAG kids who offered their suggestions.

I loved watching the kids just let go and have fun being creative.

Sarah found that the potato masher worked quite well.

Great job, kiddos!

Peanut Butter Cookies

We have really enjoyed being back in Honiara and getting to meet all of the fascinating people that come through SITAG. This week, the SITBLP workshop has given Sarah several opportunities to make cookies to share. Monday, she made snickerdoodles, and today she doubled a batch of my mom's peanut butter cookies so she would have enough to share with the workshop and the staff meeting (and our family still had plenty left over). Here's my mom's recipe in her own words:

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup chunky peanut butter
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. slat
3/4 tsp. soda
1 Tbsp. vanilla

Cream butter, sugars, & vanilla 'til sugar is dissolved. Add egg. Beat 'til creamy. Add peanut butter & beat in slowly. Mix dry ingredients together. Fold into creamed mixture. (I like to refrigerate the dough until it's firm.) Use a teaspoon to get a "walnut-sized" ball of dough. Roll it in flour & roll between the palms to form a ball. Place on cookie sheet & press a fork into the top of each ball to form a criss-cross pattern. Bake at 35o degrees for 5-8 minutes until the shine is gone & cookies just begin to brown.

While we lived in Dallas, we made a friend who introduced us to lots of good books and to the joy of adding chocolate chips to peanut butter cookies. I had been saving a bag of mini chocolate chips from a care package and decided that today was the day to indulge! It was a decision enjoyed by all - yum.

Holy Stone!

Soima and Eileen

Sunday, August 2

We have become good friends with the family who lives just down the hill from us. David and Eileen have four children, and their daughter Naris, son-in-law David (Aaron calls him David, Jr.) and two granddaughters Bernadine and Soima live with them. Naris has helped us with the house some, and Eileen has been a source of joy and friendship for me as she helps me learn language and culture. Every Sunday, she is sure to bring some lelenga and the most delicious, moist fish you have ever tasted. The small girls are a delight and will sit in my lap, and Katherine frequently asks to toddle down the hill to spend some time with this family.

This afternoon, Naris and her husband came up on the porch looking uncomfortable and asked to talk with us. My heart sped up not knowing what to expect. After some small talk, they explained that they were concerned that we didn't know about the custom medicine being practiced in the village. They just wanted us to be aware that a man in the village was known to still practice custom medicine. This medicine could be used to make a person well or sick. David was very careful to explain that he didn't think we were in any danger, but that we just needed to know that custom medicine was alive and well. After they left, Aaron looked at me and said, "Now, we can be REAL missionaries!"

This is one of five stones in our village. This stone sits between our house and the church, and four other stones like it sit in each corner of the village. The stones have been blessed by the priest to protect the village. Notice the yellow bushes around the stone, they traditionally have been used to protect people and places from evil spirits. These bushes are planted all around the church yard and our house.

New Roof

One of SITAG's literacy workers with three of the ladies who help us keep things running smoothly at SITAG.

For lunch today, SITAG gathered to celebrate the completion of the roof for the new dormitory. Our family brought a yummy carrot cake, and we all enjoyed grilled hot dogs and cold watermelon. The men who are constructing the building just said that they were thankful to be able to work in the shade now that the roof is on. They posed on top of the new building. When the dorm is finished, they will begin construction on the new training center. Lots of exciting things happening around here!

Simple Woman's Daybook

If you would like to participate, please visit Peggy's blog.

For Today...Monday, August 10


Outside my window...sun just peeping up over the horizon, roosters welcoming the day, the huge coconut tree outside our house putting out some sort of long finger-like yellow flower that the insects LOVE



I am thinking...about this huge house where we are living while we stay at SITAG, it's twice as big as our house in the village, and we are getting spoiled to two bathrooms. Sarah loves having her own tiny room that she can keep as neat as a pin. And we still have a guest room set aside for company during conference.



From the learning rooms...History - Roaring Twenties, Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt, Gertrude Ederle, Sarah - memorizing Gettysburg Address, percentage of a quantity, thesis statement for her new research paper (can she really be that old?), Benjamin - math review, alliteration, Olivia - adding three numbers, alphabetizing, Katherine - I forgot her book back in the village, so she'll be enjoying her puzzles and lacing beads, Science - our solar system, painting pictures in the style of Jackson Pollock (that should be messy and fun!), language learning - practicing songs with the videos we took before we left




I am thankful for...Splenda Hazlenut coffee sweeteners, especially since I used my last one yesterday



From the kitchen...toast, eggs, and watermelon balls for breakfast, SITAG luncheon celebrating the completion of the roof on the new building (we're bringing carrot cake with yummy cream cheese icing), chicken noodle soup for supper



I am wearing...sea foam green cotton nightgown trimmed in white eyelet



I am reading..."Family Fragrance" by J. Otis & Gail Ledbetter, a great re-read by Focus on the Family



I am hoping...that we can find the parts to fix our computers without too much hassle or expense



I am creating...some care packages to send back to the States



I am hearing...not much but the hum of the ceiling fan



Around the house...just a little unpacking left to do, a carrot cake to ice, bagels to make



One of my favorite things...turning the monster ceiling fan on high and wrapping up in a quilt in the early morning with a cup of coffee to watch the sun come up



A few plans for the rest of the week...SITAG luncheon today, working in the Educational Resource Center during the afternoons to ready it for the new school year, Sarah has a sleepover to attend Friday night



Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

my sweet and silly ten year old in one of her favorite places

USS Mustin

Special guest post by Aaron:

7 August 1942, US Marines landed on Guadalcanal. This weekend, the US sent the USS Mustin to Honiara to honor the memory of the event. Three different memorial services were held around town and tours of the Mustin were offered to US citizens and special guests. Aaron, Sarah and Benjamin had a great time getting a little taste of America again.

First I will say thank you to the men and women serving aboard the Mustin. Seeing the US flag flying and knowing that all over the world our airmen, soldiers, sailors, and marines are working and or fighting was humbling. Psalm 144:1 "Praise the Lord who is my rock. He trains my hands for war and gives my fingers skill for battle."

Here we are waiting to board the ship. It is amazing how big is gets the closer you get to it. We never did find out what those two garage doors on the back were for.

This is a complex photo. The octagonal plate on the left is part of the missle tracking system on the Mustin. The USS Mustin is a guided missle destroyer. It serves is a battle group of eight ships in the Pacific. And the Mustin won the group's efficiency award last year. Our guide told us that coming here was kind of a reward for that! The tall mast of the ship carries most of the radio and satellite equipment. Making the ship top heavy, we learned that if the seas were very rough so the ship rocked to a 45 degree angle, the mast is designed to break off so as not to capsize the ship.

These are torpedo tubes on the side of the ship. There is another set on the opposite side. The tube with the door open has a live torpedo inside! The Msutin came to Honiara from unfriendly waters and the loaded torpedo was just part of protocol. We learned some fascinating science in dealing with torpedoes; launching using 1600 lbs of air pressure and chemical reactions with the salt water to activate the torpedo.

Sarah was our photographer most of the day, so we had to get her in at least one shot. This is one of two anchors at the front of the ship.

It was a great experience for us. God bless the USA.

Old Shoes

For some years now, my mama has called Aaron and me "a pair of old shoes" because we've been a comfortable pair for so long. Well, my "old shoe" outdid himself yesterday. You have to realize that after a while here, even the most yummy papaya doesn't quite taste as good as the fresh fruits of summer back in the States. So, when we get a new boat load of fruits and veggies in town (about once a month), we are willing to pay big bucks for something like, ahem...broccoli. When Aaron came back home from the store yesterday, he grinned and handed me a small, white plastic bag. Inside were...gasp...eighteen beautiful plump cherries. He paid about USD $26/lb. for those tokens of love because he knew that they would remind me of a farmers market we discovered in Germany. There was a sign explaining that these had been air-freighted into Honiara to justify the extra expense. The lady at the checkout even double checked with Aaron to make sure he was willing to pay for the cherries before she rang them up :) I'm so thankful for this amazing man and for God's provision of simple pleasures like cherries.

"A soul without a mate is like a vase without flowers."

Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today...Saturday, August 1

Outside my window...beautiful moon rising in a BRIGHT blue sky, my big kids splashing in an incredibly clear ocean with friends

I am thinking...about the family who lost their young son (late teens) this morning. He had been sick for three days, and yesterday the family called in the man who practices custom medicine. At 7:15 this morning, I heard the wails begin and knew somebody had died. Then our house girl showed up early to tell us that her cousin had died, so she couldn't help us today. I grieve for the family, but especially for the lies that still masquerade as truth here.

From the learning rooms... a short school week due to packing and moving, traveling overnight on a boat, and unpacking

I am thankful for...a great market this morning: pineapple, fish, bananas, green beans, urio, papaya, tomatoes, eggplant, bei, green beans, & cassava

From the kitchen...cleaning out the fridge since we will unplug it to defrost before we leave (and somehow I've stocked up on loads of green beans, so we still have seven bundles in the fridge that need to be eaten)

I am wearing...purple skirt, purple floral sleeveless top, and lots of sweat

I am reading..."Secret of Chimneys" by Agatha Christie, a well loved copy that Aaron picked up for me when he was in Europe in 1991

I am hoping...that we don't have to stay up late packing that the Bikoi comes on time (10 p.m.), last week it came at 3 a.m.

I am creating...a meal to take to the family of the deceased

I am hearing...Katherine playing in the sink, mourning cries from across the village

Around the house...boxes and piles and lists and dirty dishes

One of my favorite things...when a neighbor puts her hand on my arm while we talk

A few plans for the rest of the week...returning to life in Honiara, and definitely a trip to Frangipanni Ice for some ice cream

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

This is our newest find at market, wing beans. They cook like green beans (sort of).

More escapee urio

Wednesday, July 29
You think we would learn our lesson and cook the urio right away, but we were so tired after market this afternoon (too many nights filled with howling dogs, loud music, kids with bad dreams, etc.). So Aaron put two very alive urio in a pot, put the lid on, and placed the pot on top of the stove. In the middle of the night, I awoke to some sound I couldn't identify. I decided since I was awake, I might as well make a trip to the bathroom. The pantry and the bath room share a wall, and I could hear a scritcha-scratcha sound coming from the pantry. So, I woke up my sweet husband! Aaron grabbed a flashlight and went off to find one urio climbing out of the pot and another one in the far corner of the pantry on top of the cassava scraper. He put both in separate containers, secured the lids, and set them on the porch so we could enjoy the rest of the evening in peace.

Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today...Sunday, July 26, 2009

Outside my window...REALLY dark and quiet

I am thinking...about how hard it is to live a life full of grace, that it is much easier for me to live in unforgiveness and bitterness and finger pointing

From the learning rooms... History – end of WWI, Spanish Influenza epidemic, Sarah – exploring parts of a story's plot, expressing a decimal as a percentage, Benjamin – writing a short story, word problems with pounds & ounces, Olivia - studying antonyms, addition & subtraction with renaming, Katherine – sorting foam shapes, Science –building electric circuits & then creating bypasses

I am thankful for...for ten years with sweet Sarah

From the kitchen...Sarah's choice for birthday meals tomorrow: breakfast – almond bread and yogurt popsicles, lunch – Mexican, birthday party – cherry pineapple dump cake & vanilla ice cream, supper – chicken fettuchine alfredo florentine (her annual favorite)

I am wearing...blue & white seersucker pajamas, damp hair

I am reading..."What's So Amazing About Grace?" by Philip Yancey

I am hoping...that John (the guy from SITAG) can figure out why we can't do e-mail and fix the problem this week

I am creating...lists of things to take back to Honiara, things to do while in Honiara, & things to brings back to Marulaon

I am hearing...kids' heavy breathing, Aaron & John visiting

Around the house...varnishing floors almost finished, dishes drying in the rack, candle burning on the table, all at peace in a house ready for the next day

One of my favorite things...having people stay in the Choate Bed & Breakfast

A few plans for the rest of the week...Sarah's birthday tomorrow, a friend from SITAG staying until Wednesday night, markets on Wednesday and Saturday (we always make loads of banana cake to sell), lots of list making and packing towards the end of the week as we prepare to go back to Honiara

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

Benjamin opening a kino (a type of nut)