Easter Eggs

I thought this year the kids wouldn't be interested in the annual Easter
egg dying... after all, they are 11 and almost 10 years old.
Thankfully, I had an extra dozen eggs on hand because our store here is
not open on weekends or holidays. Friday morning (Good Friday is a
public holiday here), Sydney says to me, "Mom, when are we going to
decorate Easter eggs?" and "Can we each invite a friend to dye eggs with
us?"

I have to admit, I was kinda looking forward to not dealing with the
mess of it this year, but without too much complaining, I went and
boiled a dozen eggs while the kids each called a friend. Thankfully,
too, I had the food coloring and vinegar on hand (Which brings me to a
quick rant... Why do we (in the US) spend money on packaged egg dye kits
when all you need is water, vinegar, and food coloring? I will admit
that I didn't know it was so simple until I moved to the land of no
commercial holiday items.)

So, once again, the kids enjoyed the tradition of coloring Easter eggs
with friends. The mess wasn't bad and I can't really blame me daughter,
I am the one in the family who is big on traditions... I guess I've
rubbed off on my daughter a bit... that's not so bad is it?

Missionary Kid moment

Recently we had a team of people come from the US and Australia to hold a 2 week long Vacation Bible School for our kids while we attended our biennial PNG branch conference (translated that means the parents were in all day meetings for 2 weeks and we needed people to look after our kids). We were so thankful for these wonderful people who came to help in this way.  The kids had a blast doing all sorts of games, songs, activities, crafts, etc.

Doing a Vacation Bible School for a large group of missionary kids is an interesting experience, I'm sure.  The typical commercially produced VBS curriculum doesn't work so well with a group like this who often know the Bible stories as well (or sometimes even better) than their VBS leaders. We heard many times from the teachers how smart and well versed the kids here are in their knowledge of the Bible.  As you can imagine, the leaders had to use some creativity to keep this group of MKs interested and engaged... they did a great job!  As we spoke to the kids teachers we heard some great stories of things they did together and the fun they had.

I had to share one such story with you all....
The grade 6 girls were playing a game of Apples to Apples.  Their leader (a really fun college aged young lady) knew that these missionary kids may not "get" some of the things on the cards (this game is heavily tied to US culture). She told the girls, If you don't know the thing on the card, just put it back and take another.  This lead to quite a lot of cards being turned back in.  Finally, after trading in several cards, one of the girls turned over a card that read "Abba" (it was referring to the popular music group, Abba).  The girl excitedly said, "Oh, I know this one!  It's another name for God!"

And there you have it folks...out of the mouths of MKs

Settling In

We've been back in PNG for a week now and we're feeling pretty well
settled.

Some things I've enjoyed as we've begun settling in:

Having a huge group of people to greet us at aviation! We were
obviously missed!
Being back into our home and having my kitchen back.
Trying some new recipes this week
Getting back to a routine... including exercise!
Beginning a new semester at school and getting to know my new
students... they are a great bunch!
Seeing my kids reconnect with their friends and having a house full of
kids after school each day.
Looking out my windows at this beautiful country.
Catching up with my PNG and expat friends here.
Getting back into our weekly Bible study groups.

Of course, we miss friends and family in the US, but God has called us
to this work in PNG and has even blessed us with contentment as we do
it. Life here is not always easy. There is cultural stress. There are
no restaurants. Now 24/7 grocery stores. No places for shopping except
our little store. However, this place feels like home. We have purpose
in our work here. We have good friends. Life is good!

Goodbye Winter... Hello Summer

At the beginning of this week. we were in the US feeling the cold of
winter (Okay, it was only winter in CA, but still, we felt cold). Now
we find ourselves in the heat of summer in Australia. Wow is it hot
and humid!

We're spending a couple of days in Cairns, Australia before we head back
to PNG. The plan is to get over jet lag and have a couple of days rest
before we get to Ukarumpa and hit the ground running. We arrive on
Saturday (Friday US time) and school begins on Wednesday. It will be a
busy few days getting settled and getting ready to start teaching.

The goodbyes were hard, but we are excited to get back to our home in
PNG. The kids are looking forward to seeing their friends, seeing our
dog, having their own rooms again, and even getting back to school
(believe it or not).

We're all enjoying the warm weather and swimming in the pool here. This
is something we don't get to do much in PNG since there are no pools
where we live. I think the kids would live in the pool if they could.

There's lots more floating around in my head, but I suppose it's time to
make breakfast and see what the day holds.

It's Almost time

We just spent our last night in our furlough home (okay, I just spent my
last night here. Everyone else is still sleeping!) What a blessing it
has been to be in Mount Hermon for this home assignment! We've loved
living here. It's a little bit outside of the hustle and bustle of busy
city life. Not so far that we can't easily get there if we need to, but
when you are here you feel a bit removed from the busyness. Because we
are "on the other side of the hill" as people here call it, we've been
blessed to make new friendships, become a part of a GREAT church family,
and spend time with some family members who we otherwise may not have
seen much of. God knew THIS was where we needed to be during THIS
time. We are truly blessed.

Today we get to worship with our church family at Gateway Bible church
one last time and then spend the evening surrounded by family. God is
good. Most of the work is done.

We appreciate your prayers as we begin our journey back to PNG
tomorrow. Here's our itinerary is you are interested:
Monday Jan 10th-- Depart SFO at 7:45 PM Flight time approx 13hours
Wednesday Jan12th 6 AM arrive in Auckland NZ (Tuesday morning US time
-- We skip a day when we cross the international date line)
Layover in Auckland for approx 2 hours
Fly Auckland, NZ to Cairns, AUS Flight time approx 6 hours.
Arrive in Cairns, AUS approx 12 PM on Jan 12th (approx 5 PM Tuesday US time)

Spend a couple of days in Cairns AUS recovering and getting over jet lag

Saturday morning depart Cairns AUS and fly to Port Moresby PNG at 6:45
AM (approx 1 PM Friday US time)
Flight time 2 hours

Finally... Fly From Port Moresby PNG to Ukarumpa arriving approx 12 PM
(approx 6 PM US time)

So, there you have it!

We'd appreciate prayers for safe travels and relief from the colds we've
been fighting.

Friends

As we prepare to return to PNG in just a few days, we are doing our best
to have "one last visit" with as many people as possible. As we balance
this desire to be with people and the need to "get things done" my
prayer is that I can be in the moment-- enjoy my time with people and
not be preoccupied with the to do list AND use my work time effectively.

As we spend time with people I can't help but realize how blessed we
are. We truly are rich in family and friends. Both on this side of the
globe and on the other. While we grieve for the time away from friends
and family in the US, we look forward to reuniting with friends in PNG.
God has blessed us with some amazing friendships, if you are reading
this you can probably count yourself among the blessings in my life.
For that, I thank you!

Happy New Year

It's been such a blessing to be with family and friends this holiday
season. We're sitting at Chad's parent's house enjoying one of the last
traditions of the holiday season, watching the Rose Parade. What a great
tradition that is! I love to see all of the creativity that goes into
all the floats. I remember as a child going to Pasadena to see all of
the floats from the Rose Parade. I've always wanted to go see the Rose
parade in person. (although the reports about cold and rain every year
make me thankful I'm watching from the comfort of a warm house!)

As we begin 2011, I look forward to the things in store. God bless each
of you as you begin this new year!