Fresh Perspective

Hello dear blog readers……  I know you are all anxious for some news from this distant land.  I have no idea what to write about……let’s see what random thoughts I can pull together for you.   The last 10 days have melted into each other as a parasite demanded my attention and energy.  At last the medicine seemed worse then the disease.  Flagyl.  Leaving me utterly exhausted after a full night’s rest.  It took me a few days to figure out that this was a side effect of the medicine.  It is not really a good thing, when Mom has to keep spending 3 or 4 hours a day in bed.  For no other reason, then completely wiped out.  Fortunately I had a super book and a good friend, that helped pass some of that down time.   Meanwhile, life rushed on.  Aubrey and Andrew are now officially on school soccer teams.  Which means lots of practice time and much energy expended.  They come home….limping around the house.  From sore m...

My blogs would not be complete without writing about Pastor Desmond.  He is the head of the local seminary.  His passions are so similar to Darron.  They are quite a pair together.  They both love bird watching, evangelism, both are extremely visionary and both love adventure.  Pastor Desmond is fluent in English and is married to a Filipino wife, named Lalah.  They have 2 young children and hearts of gold.  Often Pastor Desmond has offered Darron great cultural counsel and insight.  God has used him to encourage Darron.  He is the pastor of the little blue church that we attend. His church members love him.  Please pray for his ministry.   God has done and will do great things through this man.  We are thankful that Pastor Desmond is here….right now. 

Never is it comforting to get an email from your credit card company stating that they think “fraud” has taken place on your account.  A call to VISA revealed this to be true.  So the only way to deal with the problem was to close out our account and issue us a new number.  The added challenge was getting new cards to us.  After explaining that we lived in Indonesia, the customer service representative assured me that in 7-10 business days “UPS would deliver”.  I chuckled at this statement, because UPS does not exist in Papua.  However, much to my surprise 14 days later (and $38 dollars later), our credit cards arrived.  I’m impressed.  Apparently UPS delivers all the way to Jakarta and then there is an overnight delivery service, “DHL”.    This brought to memory a conversation I had just prior to our return from furlough.  I was trying to get a prescription filled, through a 90 month supplier.  The customer service represen...

This week has brought one of the most exciting upgrades to our missionary life: hot water by solar.  Hartly, has worked almost the entire work converting a solar water heater that had all Chinese fittings to work on our western/Indonesian water fitted home.  Hartley has spent so many hours taking care of endless lists of the nitty gritty punch list details to our home.  Hartly, has always helped us with such a cheerful giving spirit.  When Darron is gone, if I have any problems with the car, etc. I can call Hartly and he will quickly come to help me.  Back to the water:   Just to turn on a tap, what luxury.  The water gets hot enough to burn a person. Today over 170 degree’s (F).   Amazing what the sun energy can do.  It get’s so hot, it is still hot in the morning for early morning bathers.  It is so liberating to not have to heat water for dishes (we have been doing this for over a year, now). Also, the gentleman that has i...

As a little girl I hid band aids (the British term is “Plaster’s” and funny enough it is the same word here in Indonesia) under my bed.  I loved them.  I wanted lots.  I’m not sure what made me hide them.   I don’t know.  Yet it is one of my first memories of life as a 5 year old in our new country, America.  Fast forward to my 2nd year working at Siskin Hospital.  Some 30 + years later.  I had a patient who had a very complicated back wound and the dressing needed changing.  Our normal wound care nurse would not be in that day due to it being a Sunday.  I mentioned to my nursing friend, Heidi, that I needed to do this difficult dressing.  Honestly, I was completely intimidated by it.  Heidi stated, “I’d be happy to help you Ruth.  I love wound care.”  Her words stuck with me and made me think for months after she stated them.  “Love wound care.”  After that encounter, I began to learn all I could….any...

What will be the greatest things that we will accomplish for Christ in Papua?  Will it be people coming to know Him, whom we love?  Will it be acts of kindness?  Will it be donations made to this project or that?  I’m glad that we don’t even have to worry about the “greatness” of any of our works. But if there was one situation in which I am sure the heaven’s rejoiced, it is the case of Juntina.  When Darron travelled into the interior mountains at the beginning of summer, Juntina’s story caught his attention.   Juntina had just finished 6th grade in the mountain school and was just about to turn 13.  Her parents came and pleaded with Darron that she be allowed to travel down to the low lands and attend the Adventist Christian school near us, so that she could have a chance at life beyond a childhood marriage.  Otherwise, it was just a matter of a few months before she would need to get married. Juntina agreed to work on the airstrip in the ...

When 4 boys are running, toddling, and crawling around your feet ages 7 and under, the words “they grow so fast”, don’t really register or make sense.  Now, 7 years later, 2 of our boys are taller then I and the younger two are heavier then I want to carry anywhere.  We are comprehending, that we have them but for a small twinkle in their lives.  I am thankful for a husband who is determined to whittle out snips and snaps of time to make memories and relationships with our boys.  I have mentioned before that Darron and Aubrey are working on a sea kayak.  Here are some snap shots of just the forms.  They have countless hours left.  The goal is to make several double sea kayak's.  A number of men in the mission community have already made gorgeous boats, leading to this inspiration. 

The weeks are just blending one into another as school dominates our schedule and demands routine and structure.  Mid term grades were all A’s and B’s to which the former home school Mom, takes a deep breath.  Because no matter what anyone else may say, she is sure her children’s performance is a direct reflection of her former teaching or lack thereof.  Mountains have been made out of Jell-O.  Aubrey is now doing the prep work to try out for the soccer team, which means on Tuesday and Thursday mornings he is leaving the house at 5:30 a.m. and heading to the school to condition.  He is riding in with Zach on his motorcycle (that alone, is a fun privilege). Jacob and Nathaniel are picking up in their reading and writing skills, along with Math, spelling and many other subjects.  Yet, there is still the freedom to run out to the airstrip as they hear Uncle Bob approaching or taking off.  Last week, we had finished the bulk of their school work and they ...

It was a bustle of activity at the Boyd house this past Monday morning.  There would be no school today, for it was off to JayaPura for fingerprinting (again).  School absence for fingerprinting is completely understood, as it is part of the routine semi annual tasks.  We were needing to get out the door early for the hour and a half drive.  Some mornings it just seems harder to get a decent breakfast on the table then others.  Perhaps it has to do with the mother and all the wires running through her brain and lists of things she is trying to organize before heading out the door for an all day expedition.  When the phone rang, to add to the going’s on.  I was asked for, but apparently I must have been letting off enough distress signals to notify Darron that I did not have time to come to the phone.  He told the caller I was not available and shortly hung up, exclaiming….”Hartley and Oleh will be here soon with chickens”.  “Ruth, did you ask...

When Bob Roberts told us that a house would be built for us, we were clueless of what the undertaking of this project entailed.  Honestly, I don’t even know to the full extent the weight and extra burden this house project put on Bob.  This I do know: from the fighting for funding through the last finish detail, Bob has overseen it all.  Many days he had work torn out or redone, because it was not done right.  Always he shopped for the best deals, but insisted on quality that would last.  Not only were the workers paid, but they also had to be housed here.  Yes, Aubrey drew the plans, but Bob made it all reality.  The work was started a year ago with the clearing of the land.  The workers at aviation have also spent many hours, bringing it all together.  Bob and Jan live in a house that is over 60 years old.  They should be the ones in a new home.  Yet, they have honored us with this delight.  Pictures say more then a thousand ...