As we say back home, "Word up Tozer!"

“The vague and tenuous hope that God is too kind to punish the ungodly has become a deadly opiate for the consciences of millions.” -A.W. Tozer

a breezy clothes-drying day

After a torrential rainfall this morning, John and Sam went outside to bike and enjoy the cool air brought in by the rain. I asked them to pose for this picture at the clothesline, thinking (correctly, it turned out) that might distract them from trying to pull the sheets off the line (apparently a gleefully fun activity for small boys when mothers aren't around).

In the front yard, all our freshly bleached diapers are drying in the bright sun. Do you know why I bleached all our diapers? It's because we're having our first official visitors in the nearly two years we've been here! Yes, we have friends coming all the way out here to Berbérati, and their little boy is still in diapers and will be using ours while he's here.

This morning I heard the drone of an airplane coming overhead: the sound of the only commercial flight that flies into Berbérati, once a week. Next Tuesday, a week from today, our friends the Olsons will be on that flight. And we can't wait!

Meet Gingerbread

This is Gingerbread, our first chicken. We bought her when the lady who came by trying to sell her insisted that she is a great layer and produces plenty of eggs. It only took John a millisecond to pick a name for her (he has a knack for naming quickly). She spent yesterday hunting for things to eat in the garden, and then climbed a tree and spent the night there. So far, we like her very well.

Remembering Mamaw

"Mamaw" Elizabeth Huntley - January 11, 1925 - October 14, 2012

Mamaw's life was one that in every way showed the love and joy of Jesus to those around her. We have so many precious memories of times spent with her--listening to her stories (about her family, or about her adventures in her youth with her friend Polly, and many more)...and sharing stories from our own lives, which she was always eager to hear. She showed us love in so many ways, and always prayed faithfully for us. Every time we were together, it was obvious that Mamaw cared deeply about us and, most of all, that she loved Jesus with her whole heart.

We will surely miss Mamaw's loving presence here on earth, but we know we will be seeing her again soon, in the presence of Jesus.

"For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)

Gbaya Word of the Day #2

Today’s word is  tondolo (pronounce all the ‘o’s like the ‘o’ in ‘bottle’)  [also all in high tones for you linguists out there]

 

Its definition is interesting: this is my best stab at one…

The state of someone either asleep or dead lying on the ground that doesn’t seem to have any muscle control.  Imagine someone who has just collapsed or fainted or suddenly was killed.  The way their body looks...sort of arms in weird positions, etc.…that is tondolo.

 

Can anybody think of a one word English equivalent?

 

This word (so far this side of testing) is in the Gbaya Bible.

 

After the surprising defeat of Goliath the Philistines do not make good on their wager of becoming slaves to the Israelites since they lost.  Instead they got out of there in a hurry heading to the closest Philistine city for refuge…Ekron.  Israel took up the pursuit and killed them as they were fleeing.  It is used to describe the dead bodies of the Philistines on the road to Ekron in 1 Samuel 17:52. 

They were lying all along the road… tondolo.

monday joys

Here are a few of the things I'm thankful for this Monday:

A two-year-old who loves to paint but gets most of the paint on himself rather than on the paper:

Orange blossoms on the orange tree! And we just finished drinking the last of the juice from the oranges off this same tree!

Johnny insisting on peeling ALL the potatoes for the soup all by himself:

A wonderful late-afternoon visit to friends young and old:

My friend Kiki selling me oranges at the market and promising to bring a bunch of grapefruits by our house tomorrow:

The intrepid three-year-old who goes with me pretty much everywhere:

Not pictured: I'm also thankful for Adam getting our kerosene fridge running again. Cold water tomorrow!

Oh, and I am also anticipating one Monday joy as of yet unrealized--a birthday call to Becca--happy 26th!

30

In the year leading up to yesterday, my thirtieth birthday, I spent random segments of time trying to figure out what I should get in order in my life before closing out my twenties, and what kinds of goals and ambitions I should set out for my thirties. I do not have a big list to show for my efforts. But I can see what God has done in me over the last ten years, and how faithful He's been, so I am excited to see what His grace will accomplish in my life in time yet to come.

Looking back over three decades God has given to me has made me so grateful for His goodness to me, and for the family and friends He has put in my life (some since the very beginning, and many new people along the way)--who have made these thirty years so wonderful.

My birthday itself was very nice. John wrote me a birthday card all by himself (with Adam telling him which letters to write), Adam had a nice fish meal made for our lunch, and Esther Zubot made me an amazing cake topped with chocolate frosting and (real!) M&Ms. Sam did sneak a few off the cake ahead of time, but I still let him help me blow out my candles.

In the evening after our kiddos were all in bed, Neil and Esther brought over their nifty new portable cinema (consists of a tiny projector and large white painted board for projecting a movie onto) and we watched a movie together. It's convenient that our homes are so close together that whether we sit in our living room or the Zubots, we can pretty much hear if one of the kids wakes up at either house.