Kami masi hidup! (We're still alive!) **Now with Photos!

I'm so sorry for not updating this blog lately!

We are still alive! Our weeks are filling up with things to do. It's very different than when we first arrived. We're thankful for friends that have been here for a LONG time and friends that have just arrived.

We had a good time experiencing the Sentani Lake Festival. This is a time for the villages, who live around the very large Lake Sentani, to dance tradional dances in their native dress. I have never seen the colors orange and red stand out so much like they did against their dark skin! Beautiful! (Photos to come!)











We celebrated two years! So many changes have happened in those two year. It was great to look back and see how we've changed to compliment each other more and more. All the glory goes to God!

This past weekend a friend took some "couple photos" of us to help build up his portfolio. I also just wanted some recent photos of us. That was alot of fun, but by the end of the day we were both really tired! Thanks Max! (Photos to come!)



















No changes on this photo. This is how the shot came out :)








Tomorrow we will celebrate our first year in Indonesia! It has gone by SUUUUPER fast. We've lived in three places- Jakarta (about 3 weeks), Bandung (about 9 months), and now Sentani (almost 3 months).

We have started to house hunt again. During this time, Psalm 77:19,20 has really been a challenge and a great reminder to me.

"Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters-- a pathway no one knew was there! You led your people along that road like a flock of sheep, with Moses and Aaron as their shepherds." Psalm 77:19,20

The Reminder: God knows the way! He knows what He's doing. He knows where He's going. While finding a house, I trust that He's leading us down a pathway that no one knew was there!

The Challenge: All of us have different shepherds- God, teachers, preachers, parents, husbands. God has placed Josh as my shepherd. I am constantly learning (this pursuit of knowledge started 2 years ago) to trust him to lead and to guide me. This is hard, because sometimes (most of the time) I think I know better! So, I'm learning to trust.

Here are a few things to pray about:

- that we would trust God as the shepherd as He leads us down pathways that only He knows about

- that God would continue to show me how to follow Josh

- that we would continue to develop friendships in this still new place

I'll update this entry with photos when I get the photos ready to be posted! Thanks, you all mean more to us than you'll ever know.

-A&J

Whew, What a Weekend!

It all started in March, when we moved to Papua. We took a trip to the "pasar" (pah-sar) or the farmer's market. Here you can buy fresh veggies, fruit, meats, and whatever else you need. In a way, it's like the Wal-Mart of Sentani, if you use your imagination. They have a section of meats- chicken, fish, shrimp, even some pork or deer meat. Josh is always making comments of how he wants to buy a fresh piece of fish to grill. So, I took a trip on Thursday with a friend and bought a piece of fresh yellow-finned tuna ALL for him. I don't really like fish, but I love my husband so I bought the fish. I brought it home, cut it up, made a batter to fry it in, and cooked corn on the cob and made a salad. So we ate dinner, and Josh made me feel so great! He kept saying," This is so good. This is really good. Wow, so good." As he put another fish bite into his mouth.

After dinner, we were watching the Bourne Ultimatum- great movie!- and he said that his hands and feet were itching. I just said while still focusing on the movie that maybe it was the fish. He then got a big headache, which he thought was because he didn't drink enough water, so he took two tylenol. After the movie was over, he went to lay down in the bed. I followed, and I looked at his eyes. I said something like," Wow, your eyes are really red! I mean like REALLY red. You should go look at them." So he got up to look in the mirror, when he turned around I noticed that his face was REALLY red and swollen. The redness went onto his neck too. I asked him to lift his shirt up- red EVERYWHERE. It looked like some design of red and white. My first reaction was to laugh and get the camera (we were both laughing about this!), but after the photos we immediately realized that this was not a good situation. So I called some friends that knew we were having fish. After our friend got his laughs out, called a nurse, and came to our house with his wife, Josh took two benadryl. He lasted about 1 1/2 hours on TWO benadryl- he's a beast. Most people would have been out after about 20 minutes. So I woke him up again at 2:30 AM for two more pills. When I woke him up at 7 AM, he was back to normal but had a big headache. He did look tired, but after 4 benadryls in 9 hours anyone would, right? He's back to normal now, but we're staying away from tuna.

Saturday we took a trip to the beach with some families that Josh works with. It was a cloudy, overcast, rainy day. Not unusal for some mornings here, but we thought it would clear up. So we went anyway. Someone had built a new swing. You climb up a tree onto a platform of bamboo and swing into the water. Along the shore of the water was alot of dead coral, due to fishermen that use dynamite to bring in the catches. That not only kills the fish but also the coral. So, I climb up the tree, grab the swing, and go. I had sand on my hands that caused me to lose my grip! So I land on my right knee in the row of dead coral. I stood up, tried to laugh it off, but my knee looked a little rough with blood running down my leg. I iced and elevated it. I was out for about an hour, mainly because I was afraid of the salt water burning it like crazy. Josh and I did go out again for snorkling. It is really different when there's no sunshine, but still quite the sight. I woke up Sunday morning with really intense neck pain. When I slipped, we think I had a little bit of whiplash too. It's funny, because you never realize what neck muscles are used for what until they are sore- like holding your head up, you use them when you yawn, or when you look down or around. As of Monday morning, it's still a little tender, but looking down is a little bit less painful.

You really NEVER know what will happen in life :) Praise God that He knows everything that is going to happen to us and wrote it out before time. Incredible!

I've been withholding information

It's true, I have been withholding information from the blogging world. It's okay, I think that's normal. This particular event I haven't shared, because it was SUPER embarrassing for me.

Here's the story:

I decided that I wanted to go on a bikeride. Can anyone even remember the last time I rode a bike? Didn't think so, me either.



The bike looked something like this. It was a mountain bike decked out with a basket on the front of it and a bell. So I put my ETBU hat on, grab my ipod shuffle, and I'm off. My route was just around the neighborhood near by our house.

These are some renditions (taken from google images) of what the side of the road may have looked like. The road was higher than the ground, so it was not level but raised way above the ground. To go to someone's house, you would turn DOWN into their driveway.

The grass was about this high. At one point, the road actually turned into a path and by that point I turned around.



From the street, the grass looked like this (please replace the black bear with a couple of chickens).



The grass, if standing in it, could have been this high maybe a little shorter.



As I am riding along a rocky, unpaved road a group of women are outside of their home (which is set DOWN off the road) working and hanging out. They look up, smile, and wave at me. So I smile and proceed to wave back. As soon as I wave back, I hit a rock big enough to move the tire or I lost control of the bike, or BOTH! Off I go, way down deep into that high, high, very high grass.



I look up, and the ladies are already at the edge of the road looking down at me! I am eye-level with the road and totally embarrassed. I was laughing in my head because of the picture from their point of view- one second I was there, and the next I was completely gone!

The bike landed on my left leg. So, my ankle was covered in dirt with a couple of scratches. Nothing serious at all. My ankle was a little swollen, even now if I jump, run, or step on my left foot the wrong way, I remember what happened that day!

So fast foward to yesterday.



This is the third week of the couch to 5k running program. I enjoy running the same route, because it makes me feel safer I guess. It's easier to calculate where I am time-wise, so I don't get stuck walking back the rest of the way. As I am running, this girl is walking the oposite direction. She stops and says," Are you the lady the fell?" and points to the very, very high grass where I had previously fallen. I said that that was me. This opened the door for a small conversation. She asked where I lived and if she could come visit me. I said sure.

I share this story with you (3 weeks late), because we never know how God is going to use those moments we wish to forget (although, this moment I consider quite funny, but a little painful too). He could open the door for a new friendship or something else unexpected. I also share this story to remind you that laughing at yourself and those moments that you wish to forget is okay! We need to loosen up and enjoy this gift of life that we've been given. We don't know when our last breath with be, so make the most of every opportunity-

laugh,



dance (even if you don't know how),



sing (even if you can't carry a tune),



but most of all...

live.

running and planning

It seems like now is the time that schools are out for summer, students are bored, and teachers are ready for a break. This makes me laugh, because I have been experiencing "summer break" since we moved to Papua. With no job and lots of free time, my day is totally open- just like summertime. So, I try to find things to occupy all this free-time.

My friend started a running program called "Couch to 5k". I thought to myself," That would be so good for me to do here." It's basically for really lazy or out-of-shape people (like me) who want to start running. It starts off slow and gradually work its way up to the distance of a 5k. The program is 3 times a week, so it's not really that demanding. After I do the work-out, I head to the pool for water aerobics. This helps work out any of the soreness in my legs, and gives me a chance to cool off, because let's face it, it's hot here.

I don't love running, but what I do love is seeing the same faces on the route that I jog. I haven't stopped to meet anyone, but I see their smiling face each time I pass. There's a woman who is always working in her garden- rain or shine! There are the same group of kids that play outside of their home underneath the shade of a tree. There are the two scary dogs that sometimes chase me, and I promise that the other day the white dog had a black mask painted on its face!

Other than that, I have been spending my time developing a math test the math skills of Josh's Indonesian co-workers. Many of them are training in the hangar and hope to get their certifications later, but to do this they have to be proficient in math skills. So this test, hopefully, will show what they know and give our trainers an idea of where they can begin to tutor these guys so they can pass their tests!

I never thought I would say this, but math is becoming my life. I'm teaching 6th grade math this upcoming year. Yesterday, while our power was out, I spent the day looking over the first chapter. Get this- I have basically the first week roughly planned out. Look at that, planning ahead... I never do that, Josh can testify, probably lots of you can testify!

Thanks for reading this. Sometimes the posts are waaaaay exciting and others are not that exciting. Such is life- some days are waaaaay exciting and others are not that exciting, but each and everyday is a gift from the Lord. I'm thankful for every single day that we are here in Indonesia. We're going to LOVE looking back on these days 50 years from now! Will you enjoy looking back at these days 20 or 30 years from now? If not, I challenge you to do something that will be unforgetable, so when you look back you're not disappointed!

-a