Fresh Perspective

What comes to your mind when you think what a “typical” Thanksgiving should be?  Instantly, I have images of tables laden with pies, and rolls, and potato dishes and stuffing, etc. etc.  Family gathered.  Thankful moments/memories shared.  Cool weather.  Cheerful warm fires.  It amazes me how core those feeling reside.  Often in America, we were very non traditional.  I usually worked, lured by the time- and- a- half pay.  Leaving the guys to set up the tree.  Then usually by the weekend, we would all gather at the Boyd’s house, on the farm, in Cookeville.  My parents, were fine to miss getting together…..perhaps those English roots made Thanksgiving not seem such a core holiday?  (I’ll have to ask them). So this holiday found us with Darron out of town at mandatory year end meetings and boys out of school (which was an unusual treat, as American Holidays are usually not observed).  Aubrey and Andrew had connived with the...

I think it has been over a month since I have been completely, 100% all by myself.  At last this divine moment has arrived.  I have 2 hours, in the comfort of my home to do whatever I choose.  No, “Mom, where are you?”  Nothing….just me and my “old” music.  It would still be too modern for my parents, but one of the older boys said it was “annoying him” the other day.  Mercy me!  And I try to be very tolerant of their new little bebop tunes.  But that is ok….because there is nobody here to judge my music or my activity.  I’m alone and my soul is drinking in the brief solitude.  The reprieve from meeting 5 other individual needs, constantly. I wanted to share some of my sacred time with you.  Selfishly, because it is therapy for me to write and reflect.  Honestly, because it does my soul good to share.  The weeks are just running into each other as life is full and brimming.  I have never been a soccer Mom.  So ...

When Darron is gone, I don’t like to stray far from home.  It all stems from the fear of a potential break down with the car, in a foreign land.  In America, I don’t worry….travelling hundreds of miles on my own.  Papua, leaves me intimidated to go further then my normal trips to town.  Culture and language barriers make me intimidated, if there were car problems.  So when we were invited to join a group of friends from the international school to go to “Kali Biru”, while Darron was away…….we decided to “leap” for it.  The morning came for us to go to Kali Biru (translated = Blue River).  Over 30 of us were travelling with 2 men coming along.  One man led in the first vehicle.  I was the third car.  Then the other man was in the fourth and last car.  I felt “hedged” by these men.  The drive was long, twisting over steep hills and around the Sentani lake.  Pushing us further then we have driven before.  Over an hour a...

Teaching Aubrey to read was a breeze.  That is why I say every parent should not have just one child, because child #2, 3, and 4 can build character in the mother.  : )  Teaching reading ranks about as high as teaching a child to potty train, on my list of non favorite things to do as a Mom.  I have found myself sitting there biting my tongue in complete frustration at the child who is trying to guess or bluff his way through reading.  Needless to say, we always manage to push through and nothing is more victorious then seeing a boy curled up reading a book all to himself, for the sheer pleasure.  However, we still have not arrived there with boy number 3 and 4.  Still many hours, days and weeks of couch (reading) time loom ahead.  Today, was a classic day.  A day I must never forget.  It must go down in the book of remembrance for homeschooling.  Mr. Eager to hear all of the Box Car children series is busy working his way through ...

Another night…..another big problem.  It effects 1 billion people a year.  4 million die a year.  The problem tonight is not the disease.  It is just the topic of the health seminar.  The problem is the rain.  I am sitting under a makeshift church.  Often they are made out of slices of bamboo, tarps and woven coconut fawns.  But tonight we are under the luxurious “tent” with poles and a tight tarp.  The problem is the tent is leaking.  So as we wait for people to come to hear the presentation……..the seats are all being dried with rags.  Chairs are being shifted to avoid the leaking drops.  The crowd will be low tonight, because who wants to walk or ride a motor cycle in the rain?  I didn’t even want to come in the luxery of my car.  Yet here I sit…..ready to be a missionary again and talk about how to prevent and treat diarrhea.  A disease that affects every person on this planet, but especially the malnourished...

There are so many conflicting feelings as a missionary, at least for me.  Often I feel so guilty about being home with my family.  Or not speaking more fluently.  I feel guilt about spending money on basic groceries.  Do I really have a purpose for being here?  What is my “ministry”, my “calling”?  I know that my family is my biggest mission field.  But at times, I can trip myself out thinking……”It’s not enough.  I can do more.”  So…..at times I do, just little drops in the huge bucket of life and needs in Papua.  As always I am more blessed by serving, then those who are served.  The latest endeavor has been doing some health presentations (along with Jan Roberts) at some of the local churches.  My topics have been hand washing (yes, it is not just for the hospitals in America to hear that wonderful reminder that this is our greatest way to reduce infection), high blood pressure and stress reduction.  Tonight I went to ...

You all have been patiently waiting for part two.  Do you remember the day the chicken’s came?  I asked you to stay tuned, because question’s asked was going to lead to more things given.  One week turned into many weeks.  So many that we began to doubt that anything would even happen.  So many weeks that perhaps you have forgotten.  And then they were here.  Ours.  Unreal.  Free.  Huge gift.  Ahhh…..but I am getting ahead of myself.   Each week on Wednesday afternoon’s I tutor a 9 year old girl in English.  Her mother read to her in English when she was a baby until she was two years old.  That is all the English she was exposed too. Currently, she understands and speaks at a 2nd grade level.   I knew her family owned a pure bred Golden Retriever.  So one day I asked her Mom “questions”.  Pure Bred pups are very coveted amongst the missionary community here.  They are also extremely expensi...