Tuesday, June 7

Aaron returned from his time in Hae Village just before our radio sched with SITAG. Things didn't go exactly as planned since the translator from the Eastern Russells didn't come, but Aaron was able to be flexible, get some good work done, and continuing building relationships.

Monday, June 6

For Olivia's last Language Arts assignment, she had to give a short speech. This morning before Aaron left, Olivia taught the rest of the family about the Tanka (a Japanese poetical form in which the first line has five syllables, the second line, seven syllables, the third line has five syllables, the fourth, seven, and the last line has seven again). She ended her presentation with inviting each of us to write our own Tanka, and I loved the results!

“Weather” by Katherine

Weather brings cool breeze
Cold weather is fun to me
Then the leaves blow down
Then cover the ground with leaves
Leaves are really pretty, too

“Speeches” by Benjamin

I don't like speeches
At least the giving of them
I think they are fine
But rather embarrassing
To the giver of it

“Burned Banana Cake” by Sarah

Burned banana cake
Are really okay because
Then we can eat them.
And we don't have to give them
All away, we get some, too.

“End of School” by Aaron

Motivation lags
Clock ticks, topics drag, so, so slow
O sweet freedom's end
The promise of so much time
To do, to do, I don't know.

“Kino” by Joanna

Kino trees blooming
Make my face want to explode.
White fluffy flowers
Look beautiful, yet inside
My head, small bombs detonate.

Sunday, June 5

Please be praying for the Lavukal Bible translation project:

-Two of our translators, Ezekiel and Simon, are in Honiara attending a workshop on comprehension checking. This step in the translation process is vital, and we're excited that our colleagues at SITAG are teaching this skill set for a wide array of translators around the country. The workshop finishes on Friday, June 10.
 
-Aaron will be in Hae Village on Monday and Tuesday, working with Matthew and Albert, who are assigned to translate the book of Matthew. When the translation team gets together, they work intensely to maximize their time together, often staying up half the night. Their stamina, mental clarity, and willingness to work amaze me!

Saturday, June 4

After market this morning, the Sunday School children worked together to clean up the grounds of the church and to get the inside ready for church tomorrow. I was proud of my kiddos as they toiled alongside their friends.

 

 

I found Katherine inside the church, copying a hymn that the kids have been learning. Her friends have been asking her to write down the words for them.

 

 

Olivia was working alongside Sophie to get the flower bouquets ready to decorate the church. Notice that the flower “vases” are shell cartridges leftover from WWII.

 

 

Sarah left weeding a little early because Margaret showed up to show Sarah how to weave a different kind of mat. As they were getting started, I had a couple of friends come up for medical attention. Skin rashes and diseases are common here for all of us. I didn't try to diagnose the problem, but I was able to give soap, Benadryl, and hydrocortisone cream, as well as some medicated powder. It's hard to keep skin clean and dry here!

 

 

The big church fundraiser that was supposed to happen last weekend has been postponed to June 18, after we are back in Honiara. This morning, I've already had two requests to help out with some of the fundraising projects. The first one was my friend, Kiko, who is an extraordinary chef. I would love to see what she could do with a full kitchen, but she still works wonders with an open fire. She wanted some baking powder and some powdered sugar, as well as a recipe for icing, so she could bake some goodies for the fundraiser. My friend, Margaret, asked for material and thread so that several of the ladies could sew skirts and shorts for the fundraiser. I didn't have very much of the requested items, (and once again, it feels like I'm putting in my two widow's mites) but I'm glad we try to bring out a little bit extra of just about everything, so we have enough to share.

Friday, June 3

 

The rats are winning. As soon as Aaron can get one screen patched up, those rodents find another place to sneak in. Now, we have discovered they have a taste for flip flops.

Wednesday, June 1

Aaron pulled another "Twelve Hour Tuesday" yesterday when he attended a celebration in the village of Nono. He and I were in the kitchen by 4:45 to cook banana muffins as our contribution to the day's festivities. A little after 6:00, just as the sun was trying to break through the clouds, Chief Hensy was on our steps to get fuel, and just a little while later, Aaron joined the motor canoe full of people. The celebration was to honor a “big man” and his wife with the renovation of their graves. A reconciliation ceremony was also planned concerning some hard feelings left over from the elections in 2014. Aaron finally returned home just after 6:00 last night. We're so thankful that he had the opportunity to chat with people from all over the Russells, including church leaders and village chiefs, and to remind them of all that is happening in the Lavukaleve Bible translation program right now. Any time our family has the chance to laugh or cry or celebrate or work alongside our neighbors, we do our best to share that time with them and to share God's love while we live shoulder to shoulder.

Marulaon Woman’s Daybook

Just for today...Monday, May 30

 

Outside my window...Benjamin climbing a kino (cutnut) tree to see if the nuts are ripe yet.

 

 

From the learning rooms...it's week 35! Katherine is discovering Constantine and finishing her math book. Olivia is making revisions to her research paper and reading about Shakespeare in history. Sarah and Benjamin are racing through the 1990's in history (which I'm loving!) .

 

A heart overflowing with thankfulness...for big sisters who make lovely flower crowns for little sisters to wear

 

 

I am hearing...Debussy's string quartet in g minor. Music to feed my soul this afternoon.

 

Pondering these words... “Our perfect helplessness is demonstrated, and then faith lays hold of God's perfect helpfulness....The soul cries out for God, and can rest upon nothing but omnipotence. This is the Christian life - despairing of our own power, confident in God's.” ~E. Hurndall

 

A few plans for the rest of the week...Aaron will be gone most of the day tomorrow to attend a grave “cementing” of a big man and his wife in another village. The grave had fallen into disrepair, and the village was celebrating the renovation. People from all around the Russells will be there, so Aaron will have many opportunities to chat about the current state Bible translation. This week is the “calm before the storm” of packing and preparing to move back to Honiara and some big events coming up next week.

 

A peek into my corner of the world...Olivia came home this afternoon proudly bearing a lobster's head she found in the ocean. That crazy, animal loving girl!

 

Sunday, May 29

My Sunday afternoon walk took me down to Kiko's house, where I was delighted to find the Saber that we had loaded with a few Lavukal Bible stories. Ladies from three villages came together to craft and record these stories several years ago, and Aaron and I wondered if anybody still listened. The Saber is charged by winding it by hand, and Kiko has done a marvelous job of taking care of the unit and of passing on a love for the stories to all of the little ones in her little hamlet of houses.

This is the kind of Scripture use that I'm excited and passionate about! I also talked with the ladies gathered underneath the house with Kiko about using “Aitum Ovovo” and the best way to be culturally appropriate in discussing such a sensitive topic. It's fun to watch people get excited about God's Word!

Saturday, May 28

 

“Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.”
Psalm 96:2-3

Friday, May 27

My family celebrated me so well yesterday. Sarah made delicious coconut ice cream using freshly squeezed coconut milk. The ice cream paired perfectly with the coconut tres leches birthday cake.

The kids each made me something for my birthday, and their gifts reflected their personalities so very well. Benjamin finished notating a composition for two sopranos. I've admired it for a long time, and he printed it out for my birthday. Sarah embroidered another gingham napkin with snowflake stitch to add to my collection. She also painted a beautiful canvas for me with the phrase, “Where you go, I'll go. Where you stay, I'll stay.”

 

 

Olivia made us all laugh. God gave her that gift, and our family is grateful. She made me several beautiful bookmarks, but the highlight of her gift was the limericks and acrostics she composed. Here is a sample:

 

Cataracts are nasty,
Cataracts are ghastly,
They turn your eyes blue,
And give you the flu,
And sadly never leave fastly.

Just in case you didn't know, I,
Olivia, have something to say.
And it starts like this: My mom is
Never mean,
Never hateful,
And always kind.

Katherine made me my very own hymnal with copies of some of my favorite hymns inside.

 

 

We played games almost all day, and it was so nice to have a day to play and laugh together. My sweet friend, Gayly, sent a birthday box, complete with a Flat Gayly inside. Since 2012, we've celebrated our birthdays together every year. After four years in a row, we have gotten spoiled to being together for our May birthdays, and she was super thoughtful and generous to mail a box to help me feel special and loved!

Thursday, May 26

Aaron was gone for more than twelve hours Tuesday. When he left the house, he said he anticipated being home for lunch, but the mini-tour of the Russell Islands grew into more of trip than he realized. Especially when they had a little engine trouble and had to paddle for a while! Since he was gone, Matthew worked by himself in the church, and we took him some cassava for lunch. I also dropped off several yards of material for his wife as a thank you for loaning Matthew to translating. Each of our guys have plenty to keep them busy every day - responsibilities to provide both food and money for their families, positions of leadership in the community and church - and yet they are faithful to set aside time and energy to do the tedious work of Bible translation.

Wednesday morning, the Kosco arrived around 8:00. Quite a few of our friends were going into Honiara. Our family walked down to the beach to say goodbye to the translators going to attend a comprehension checking workshop at SITAG. A group of ladies who are first cousins were going to participate in a custom ceremony. My friend, Ofoaen, has a nephew who is marrying a girl from the Gela language group. So, her brother has called together the women in his family to come be a part of presenting the bride price and making the arrangement official.

 

 

Our family enjoyed a little bit of visiting and holding babies while we waited for the motor boats to taxi everybody out to the Kosco. At 8:30, I shooed kids up the hill to the house to begin school, while I stayed just a little bit longer to wave goodbye to friends before I joined the kids to tackle another day of school.

 

Wednesday, May 25

“Each kiss a heart-quake - for a kiss's strength, I think, it must be reckoned...by its length.”
~Lord Byron

Today marks the 26th anniversary of our first kiss. The Lord knew that we needed to build an early foundation of trust in each other and in Him to prepare us for the adventure He had in store for us. There will be extra kissing going on in our pantry today as we retell the story to our children and celebrate our marriage and God's faithfulness to us through the ups and downs of the last twenty-six years.

Marulaon Woman’s Daybook

Just for today...Monday, May 23

 

 

Outside my window...the wind is blowing and the rain is spitting earlier this morning! We had a huge storm blow through last night, complete with thunder and lightning, which is quite unusual for our area. The heavy rains filled up all three rain tanks on our house. I was thrilled to sit on the porch (in my damp rocking chair) early this morning and actually feel cool while I drank my coffee.

 

I am hearing...coconut being scraped. A familiar and homey sound.

 

 

A heart of thankfulness...for our SITAG family who sent out a new radio and a refilled propane gas cylinder on the Kosco yesterday. The best part was the snail mail that arrived. A HUGE thank you to everybody who mailed us letters and care packages. Those are sweet reminders that we are not forgotten, even though we are living in a remote village on the other side of the world.

 

 

Putting a smile on my face...kids playing together. Regardless of language or nationality.

 

 

From the learning rooms...the kids have worked extra hard to get a day ahead in school so we can take a complete holiday for my birthday this week. We're working on Week 34 of our curriculum, and I'm so proud of my kids for their diligence as we finish up a school year that has been full of transition.

 

 

Pondering these words... “The essence of self-discipline lies in making commitments in times of strength in order to avoid making decisions in times of weakness.” ~Mark Graper

 

A few plans for the rest of the week...Aaron will be going with Leonard tomorrow to travel around the Russell Islands to distribute newsletters and collect contributions from our language group to send two of our translators to a workshop in Honiara this week. Saturday is a big fundraiser for the church, and we look forward to seeing what everybody brings. We're hoping we can buy a paddle or two to replace the ones that have walked off.