More Unprofessional Photography

 

(The neighbor's 7 surviving piglets.  We watched part of the birthing process! Educational, but also sad when 3 little piggies didn't make it.)

 

(The growing garden! We're seeing baby beans and cucumber.)

 

(A new one for me: Pineapple on the plant.)

Hunting and Exploring

In a couple days, some of us adult ladies will be heading to Manila for some appointments and odd supplies.  We will be out of the village for some ten days, while rest of the family will remain here.  The kids are excited because this means they will get a two week break from school.  I'm excited because this means I will get to FaceTime with my family back home.

One of the things we need to do while we're in the city is search for art supplies.  I will be "teaching" (though in art, I feel it's more like guiding than anything) two of the high school age girls through a homeschooling art curriculum.  I made a supply list on Wednesday and set out to find what we already have, so we don't purchase anything unnecessary.  Thursday night, I'm going through the final drawer and lo!  Gary the Cockroach twitched his nasty little antennae at me from his nestled position between the molding clay and finger paints.  The molding clay was my objective, but there was no way I was going to reach for it with Gary just chilling there.  As I debated my options, Gary waved farewell and crawled deeper into the recesses of the drawer.  That made my decision for me.  I shut the drawer and went up to bed.

Friday morning, I announced to S and J that we would be going on a hunt after our morning lessons.  True to my word, once snack had been consumed, S was armed with a fly swatter and J was bequeathed a bottle of Baygon.  We opened the drawer with due apprehension.  One deep breath.  Two deep breaths.  Eventually, winged by my fearless cockroach slayers, I began to unpack the drawer.  The results?  A whole lot of cockroach poo and rock solid molding clay.  At this very moment, Gary is at large.  The only questions is where?

A couple of us have started going on an early morning walk every Saturday.  It's enjoyable for a number of reasons: it gets us out in the sun and fresh air, we become more familiar with the land around us, fellowship...  Needless to say, walking in the morning has become something I look forward to all week long.  This week, we took a familiar path out, but a new ridge path back.  All was well until we reach the end of the loop, where we were met by a lovely standing pool that looked to be about 5/8 water buffalo poop.  With many laughs, groans, and helping hands, we technically made it across.  Sufficed to say we needed to rinse in the river before we made it home.

Each passing day brings a new lesson, picture, or idea.  Whole pockets of flowers hidden from view in the bush praise God with their beauty.  A mother water buffalo protects her young by chasing the strange white people away.  A little pineapple sprouts from a plant beside the river.  Piglets are born.  It seems to me that the details might make a difference after all.  Maybe it just depends on the details I choose to focus on.

Cucumber (Among Other Things)

 

(Our cucumber plants are blossoming!!)

 

(J has started a snail shell collection)

 

(We've been taking advantage of the better weather. S looking down into the village from the helipad.)

TBH

To be honest, I'm tired.  I wake up at all hours of the night.  Sometimes I know where I am, other times is takes a couple of minutes to figure out why a DC fan is thundering in my ear and nothing smells like home.  You would think this perpetual wakefulness would carry over into daylight hours, but it doesn't.

To be honest, gumption is running incredibly low in my system. We're painting the interior of another family's house after school every day.  Even though I love helping and I'm always glad afterward, I dread going down there every day until I'm there. Something is wrong with that picture.

To be honest, there is an insistent little voice in my brain that thinks God should hurry up and tell me what's next, already.  The rest of my mind and heart know He'll tell me when I need to know, but that little part is some kind of impatient.

To be honest, if I never see another cucumber when this is over, it will be too soon.  I crave corn, sprouts, kale, spinach, and berries.  Chipotle and Loving Hut haunt my hungriest dreams.  Guacamole.  Say it with me.

To be honest, I just want to stand in a hot shower after a long swim.  Then, I want to put on leggings and a sweatshirt and chill with the fam.

To be honest, this experience is everything I hoped it would be and more.  Every day brings new lessons for me as well as the girls.  I wouldn't change anything that brought me here, even if I could.  Each small discomfort or longing is so temporal.  They will not be the things I remember come October.  The work God is doing here is exciting, life-changing, for an entire people group, not just me.  It's about the big picture, not the uncomfortable details.  As long as I remember that, we'll be okay.

When The Orange Flower Blooms

Seventy years ago, the village I am currently living in and the surrounding villages would watch for a certain tree to blossom.  Rainy season would creep toward its slow end and then, sprinkled like bright beacons over the low ridges, little orange flowers exploded into color.  When this happened, they knew head-hunting season had begun.

I'm told it was a rite of passage into manhood.  When a boy brought back his first head from a warring village, he returned a man in the eyes of his people.  Today, no signs of their violent past remain.  The people don't speak of it.  "We are ashamed of what we were," they say.  "Why would we talk about it?"  The old ways seem especially forgotten when, despite the orange flowers staring down from the treetops, we hike freely from one village to the next.  We hike through corn ready for harvest and green rice fields, past flowering bananas and loaded coconut trees.  Every now and then, we catch sight of another tree with orange blooms.  It is a great reminder of where God finds each of us, especially as the missionaries here prepare to share the full gospel with this people for the first time.

God has also been reminding me of His great love through a seemingly endless stream of blessings:

1) Just as I was hitting a slump of "Yeah, I'm ready for a spinach salad, a Chipotle burrito, and a nice HOT bath," I received a package from home.  Of course, the package didn't bring a spinach salad or a burrito or a bath, but it DID have lots of love and cream of wheat inside. 

2)  Then, I received and account statement from the office and discovered a very generous monetary gift.  I inquired after who sent it, but no one seems to know!  My hope is that, whoever you are, you read this and know I am extremely thankful!  God bless you and yours! 

3)  Yet another blessing came my way just yesterday.  When I packed up and moved to the Philippines, I had a pipe dream of learning the local language.  As of yesterday, I am officially in part-time language study!  Realistically, I know that I won't become anywhere near fluent in the seven months I have left, but I'm stoked to learn what I can.  It is a humongous blessing to have the people helping me take time out of their busy schedules to learn a language I may never use again, just because I want to learn.

All in all, I'm a slightly snuffly, yet very happy camper!

TTFN (Ta-Ta For Now!)

Art and Gardens

 

(J's most recent project, learning about Frank Phillip Stella.  S was sick this day.)

 

(Watching beans grow)

 

(The kids love catching Baka-Baka in and around the garden.)

 

(Overcast view from our most recent hike.)

Another One Bites the Dust

It's been another full week here in Northern Luzon.  A week full of sickness, that is.  S and J have been passing different head colds back and forth since Christmas, so it's no surprise that they are still hacking and coughing like champs.  In the village around us, chicken pox is still making its rounds.  Most recently, a charming little stomach virus has started blossoming in the pits of unfortunate stomachs. 

I fell victim to the stomach bug Tuesday evening.  Never before have I experienced an illness quite like it, so I naturally held the vomit back long enough to Google my symptoms.  About ten minutes before the diarrhea or vomit, my stomach would boil with a tangible heat.  It felt like a flesh eating slug was trolling the inside of my stomach.  Only when the heat became unbearable, my stomach would unleash a watery Armageddon.  Google, of course, told me that my stomach lining was being destroyed and, in any case, I was experiencing a severe allergic reaction.  Truth be told, unless I'm allergic to Filipino potatoes, it really was just a bug and I was fine by Wednesday night.

Whether it is due to sickness or prepubescent mood swings, S seems to love me one moment and hate me the next.  She has adopted a charming mute condition whenever I ask her questions about what she is working on.  Fortunately, she miraculously regains her power of speech whenever throwing her pencil does not properly communicate her frustration.  Of course, there are just as many moments when she is practically an angel.  Go figure.

J has a thousand questions lately.  Most recently, there have been lots of questions about "the good H" and "the bad H."  She also wants to know "Why do we call it saved?"  It has been an honor to be able to experience this part of her growth.  Her head cold has also made her slightly more emotional.  When she discovered that the multiple illnesses would prevent a "real party" for B's birthday, she burst into tears because "it isn't a real birthday without a party."

Which brings us to B turning four.  It seems like she has transformed over night.  Now all she wants to say is, "I CAN DO IT MYSELF!"

In the village, it is almost time to harvest corn again.  This is causes mild concern because the constant rain has prevented the previous harvest from being sold as of yet, so the price for that corn is dropping tremendously.  Prayer that both harvests will make it to town and be sold would be greatly appreciated! 

TTFN (Ta-ta for now!)