Here’s to another week, living it up in Papua New Guinea and thanking the Lord for His abundant grace.

I often find myself thinking, “Did I really just say that?…moreover…did I really just NEED to say that?”

Life is never dull with a 3 year old…especially one like Layla…

Here are some things I really NEVER thought I would be saying…

• Layla, please don’t lick the front door….

• Yes, I do wear a bra…no, it’s not to keep the milk in my chest…(compliments of Lucy Osborn)

• Layla, you’re bigger and faster than Eli…just run away from him if he’s attacking you…

• Layla, you need to wait for a kleenex before you start blowing your nose…

• Layla, why are you naked…again?…

• Uh…why did you think it would be a good idea to flush your underwear down the toilet?…

• No, I really DON’T want puppy kisses EVER!…

Things I HOPED I would never have to say…to a 3 year old…

• Layla, stop with the attitude and take your hands off your hips…

• Layla, did you just tell your brother to “shut up?”

Some things I’ve said while trying not to laugh…

• Layla, I’m glad you wanted to say hello to our neighbors, but did you really have to strip down to your underwear and stand in the window to do it?

• Layla, I’m glad you love Eli, but no…you cannot marry him…

Life sure is an adventure…and an entertaining one at that….

I’m not a hoarder by nature…I’ve never been the type of person to hold onto things I don’t use on a regular basis…or buy things I don’t really need.  I’m not the type of person who keeps 7 old cell phones, 500 pieces of scrap fabric or 20 bins of clothes that my children will never wear.

Plus…

1. We have never had the money to accumulate tons of stuff
2. We have moved so many times it’s literally been impossible for us to accumulate tons of stuff
3. We used to watch the show, Hoarders: Buried Alive, and that really ruined us…

I’m really not a hoarder…truly…

But I’ll be honest…

Living in a foreign country has done something to me….something strange…

I go to town (once or twice a month) to buy groceries and I see an item that I may or may not have used before, while living in the States.  Huh, I think to myself….I should buy that.  I mean, really….I don’t need it…and I might not even use it….but I should definitely buy it.  Hmmm… if I don’t buy it…1). Who knows if I will ever see it again in Papua New Guinea (true story) and 2). I might need it at some point in my life for something….I should totally just buy it.  It’s familiar…I know what it is….I’m going to buy it.

I’m sure some missionaries who are used to NOT doing their own supply buying…or used to rarely grocery shopping for themselves…probably die of culture shock whenever they hit civilization again and realize how many billions of choices of cereals they have to choose from.  I’m sure they see a familiar item and choose against buying it because they are simply overwhelmed by all the options.  Me?  I think to myself,

Uh…buy it all!  50 boxes of wheat thins for you!  25 bottles of lime juice for me!  Yay!  I can’t make these sort of decisions…so…we’ll just buy it all!

Oh, well…it might not be that severe…but I DO certainly have to fight against my inner self that wants to buy anything and everything that is familiar.  Good?  Bad?  Thoughts?  Am I crazy?  Don’t answer that…

Who knew finding a place to allocate to would be so difficult…so time consuming…and so NOT what we expected it to be like.  We are finding this process to be hard…and at times, very frustrating.

But, the Lord is good and continuing to be faithful to bring us back to Him and what we know to be true.  He is in control.  He loves us.  And He has a plan.

So far…the only real progress we’ve made in deciding on which tribal group to work with is…well…ok, not much progress has been made.

We’re trusting the Lord, excited for what He has for us, and praying hard!

Praying for…

• unity
• wisdom
• direction
• peace

Thanks for praying with and for us.

Before Dave and I moved to Papua New Guinea I was so excited and ready to begin the whole “missionary thing.”  Sure, I knew there would be challenges to living overseas, away from family and friends…but overall my expectations of how awesome of a language learner/missionary/missionary wife/mom/Superhero/etc. I would be, overrode the reality of what missionary life is actually like.

Don’t get me wrong…I love being in Papua New Guinea and I firmly believe the Lord wants us here.  He has been gracious, merciful and faithful to us as we have transitioned to this new life…and it’s not as though life is super difficult…I mean, really…I’m sitting here drinking a blended coffee drink and eating ice cream…the Lord has been good to us in many many ways.

But being a missionary…specifically a missionary wife…is a lot different than what I had imagined it to be.  I find myself over and over again coming to terms with certain aspects of my life here…

• I’ve come to terms with the fact that I cook every meal, mostly from scratch…and while I do enjoy cooking, there oftentimes seems to be something “amiss” about the food…I miss the days of sending Dave out to In N Out for a quick and easy meal.
• I’ve come to terms with the fact that I will willingly wake up to cockroaches in my sink or ants walking across my counter tops because I’m too lazy to wash the dishes every night.
• I’ve come to terms with the fact that I would rather wash my clothes in yellowish/brownish water…instead of walking 50 feet away to gather “clean” rain water…it’s just too far away.
• I’ve come to terms with the fact that I will not be able to put in as much language learning time as Dave…which might sound silly, but in actuality…is something I come to terms with almost on a daily basis…yes, I AM that competitive…
• I’ve come to terms with the fact that I WILL be homeschooling Layla and Eli…those poor children…
• I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m really not as tactful, thoughtful, kind, sweet-tempered or loving as perhaps a good missionary wife should be.
• I’ve come to terms with the fact that I sweat way more than I thought humanly possible…and when you sweat like that there really isn’t any point in showering on a regular basis…I will forever be a sweaty mess.
• I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m really quite bad at most board games…and good missionaries should ALWAYS be good at boardgames.
• I’ve come to terms with the fact that even though I no longer own a full-length mirror, I still care way too much about my appearance and what people think of me.

I really AM a lousy missionary and missionary wife.

But thankfully the Lord doesn’t require perfection in order to have the opportunity to serve Him…

And maybe the Lord allows me to excel in lousy missionary-ness in order to chip away at my hugely, distorted sense of self pride…so He can be more rightly glorified.

*sigh…blurb

Well, I would have written this blog post last week, but I had strep throat. I’m feeling much better now and wanted to give you the report from my trip 2 weeks ago. I went on a 5 day trip to a tribal location among the Kuman people group. The purpose of the trip was to help the missionaries there with some projects around their house. Kuman is one of the largest people groups in Papua New Guinea with around 150,000 speakers and Will & Kelly are currently the only NTM missionaries working among them. They have had partners in the past but they’ve all left for different reasons, none of them being Will & Kelly. They have planted a church and now have their hands full more than ever teaching, doing the work of discipleship and continuing to translate the New Testament. According to Will, they would have finished the translation by now had they had partners. Most tribal locations are plane or helicopter access only but there is a road to the village Will & Kelly live in so they have their own vehicle to get in and out of the tribe. Because they are a “drive-in” location they do all their own supply buying and pay for all the maintenance of their vehicle. When they slice the sidewall of one of their tires on a rock it costs $300 to replace it.

So, 2 weeks ago I got in a pickup truck, affectionately known as “The D-cab” with Bill (resident master tech) and we left our center near Goroka and got on the Highlands Highway headed towards Kundiawa in the Chimbu Province.

Last time I rode in this 4 wheel drive beast I was sitting in the back on a generator. This time I was happy to ride shotgun. When I think “Highway” I think “fast and smooth”. Not the Highlands Highway, there are long sections that are unpaved and very rough and you can be held up by thieves as often as the Police.

From Kundiawa which is a smaller town than Goroka, we turned off onto the road that goes to village Will lives in. It’s about 6 miles from town to Will’s house and the drive takes about an hour (on a good day) because the road is so rough. You can barely see the road on the right side of the divide near the bottom of the picture.

Once we got there we had some lunch and go to work. Our first task was to replace some Pitpit (woven bamboo) with plywood on a couple of interior walls. Personally I hate Pitpit, it is really dusty and aggravates my allergies. Here is Pitpit with some growing on it, gross.

The rest of the week was more remodeling and covering walls with plywood with a little bit of electrical and cement work too. Will was doing most of the cement work with some help from tribal believers and the morning of our last day one of the guys showed  up to work with a plastic bag tied around his big toe as a makeshift bandage. Will had him take the bandage off to clean the wound and put a proper dressing on it. Here’s what his toe looked like.

According to him, during the night a rat came and was eating his toe while he was sleeping. You might think, “How could he not feel that?!?!” Because tribal people rarely wear shoes they develop thick callouses on their feet and toes. So he probably couldn’t feel anything until the rat got through the callous. So, Will cleaned up the wound and bandaged it. We packed up Will’s vehicle and all three of us headed back together and left the D-cab for the weekend. Will & Bill went back last Monday and used it to haul sand and gravel for the remaining cement work that needed to be done. We had a good trip and completed most of the tasks that Will had for us to do. Thanks for your prayers for me and the family while I was away.

I typically don’t watch Christian movies.

I did watch them quite a bit when I was in elementary school because my mom would order them through the mail.

And then throughout Junior High and High School I stopped watching Christian movies because everyone knew they were lame and so uncool.  Even throughout college I stayed away from them.  The only people who watch Christian movies are the super religious, ultra-conservative Christians who don’t know that artistic cinematography and sound acting actually matter…uh, right?

I mean, it’s still pretty uncool to watch Christian movies…at least from a secular point of view…or just a really stuck up Christian…

Well, this year I’ll be the big 29.  Whoa!  And since I’m now SO OLD…things like “being cool” and “hip” don’t really matter to me anymore…at least that’s what I tell myself.

So last night I decided to watch the movie Fireproof, a Christian movie starring Kirk Cameron, about a struggling marriage and what takes place in order for this couple to be reconciled to each other and to God.

I had never seen the movie before…and since my options were Fireproof or Pride & Prejudice (the A&E version, which I LOVE…but unfortunately I kept picturing my friends Faye and Elizabeth shaking their heads at me because they can’t appreciate a good Period piece…) I chose Fireproof.

I’ll give it 2 1/2 stars out of 5.

Here’s my reasoning…

• Kirk Cameron…I like Kirk Cameron.  Who doesn’t like Kirk Cameron? (positive)
• Bad acting…I mean, REALLY bad acting…I realize that the Christian movie industry is limited in their resources, but don’t some of these stories deserve better than that? (Negative)
• Story…a good story…underdeveloped, but overall a story that many people can relate to. (Positive)
• Cinematography…I am no expert, don’t get me wrong…but my point is the same in relation to the acting.  The Christian community deserves better. (Negative)
• Religiosity…I know this is supposed to be a “good” thing in a Christian film (and to be honest Fireproof handled this part better than a lot of other Christian films) but so often it just feels fake, stereotypical and forced.  If it’s not real, than people can’t relate…and if people can’t relate, than the film is missing the mark. (Negative)

Although there were some very good things about the movie, unfortunately for me…the negatives outweighed the positives.

BUT, that doesn’t mean I didn’t cry…because I did…like a baby…I blame it on the fact that since having two kids my emotional state has turned me to mush…physically too for that matter (but that’s a different story).

So even though I wasn’t too crazy about the movie, Fireproof, I still appreciate the story.  And although I only gave it 2 1/2 stars, I’ll say this…don’t get caught up in the “I’m above Christian movies because I’m not ‘THAT’ type of Christian” as if “THAT” is something to be ashamed of.  Christian movies have their place and they do speak, encourage and teach those who love and watch them.

Don’t hate, man.