Hi, all! I'm sorry that these journal notes have been hit and miss lately. Here are some entries from September. September 18. Back to school today after a week’s holiday. Bonita came along to observe; and if she continues coming, I’ll give her some things to do to help. The boys did fine in their lessons today.
Wan, Amos, and Dallas came early and worked on the extension. Shortly after school was out, the men all left too. They need to get more poles to finish the job. The three young men who came to the meeting last night offered to get trees for the flooring. The skies were so smoky today that the smoke was about as thick as fog. I’ll be glad when people are done burning off the mountainsides. This afternoon, I did a little work on lesson plans, but am thankful that most of it had been done before the week began. I also had an early bath before the cool evening came on. Before Daddy finished washing up, someone had come to see us. Daniel Antoveri came with a national EBC missionary named Dalton who had heard about us and wanted to meet us. Dalton also had Daniel take a couple snapshots of himself with us. Daddy and I got the shopping list made after we had snack this evening. We have not heard anything yet about whether or not the container [of Bibles] arrived in Goroka. It was supposed to have arrived today. September 19. A very dry, clear day, although by noon, smoke had already started filling up the air. It wasn’t quite as bad as yesterday as most of the fires were on the other side of the ridge today. But all that smoke still causes my eyes severe irritation. While I taught the three boys their school lessons, five men worked on the extension. Bonita came to observe classes, but offered to go cook some food for the men. I was thankful Nuandauro brought kaukau yesterday. Daddy learned from Dallas that the “missionary” who came to see us yesterday was an SDA missionary holding meetings at the SDA church here. We had just assumed that, since he told us he was from To’okena, he was EBC; and he led us on to believe that it was so. It taught us a lesson that we must be very careful not to assume, but to ask questions and check things out thoroughly.* Praise the Lord for word from Bryan M that the container arrived this afternoon in Goroka and has been unloaded at its storage point. I praise the Lord for helping me this afternoon to get everything ready for Thursday’s classes. Lord willing, I should be able to get some e-mails written tomorrow. *Note: Dad and Mom didn’t mind talking with Dalton and getting a picture of themselves with him. They would have just appreciated if he had been honest in telling them who he really was and who he represented.
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July 29. The day was cold and cloudy with some rain. There was no sunshine except for a few peeks. It was a super busy day, too. First order of business was to get and delete files off Anna Jean’s computer before she took it home. In the mean time, Anna Jean did laundry, cut up pumpkin, and swept floors. It was after mid-morning before the men (Wan, Mike, and Dallas) came to work on the expansion of the meeting room and the moving of the office. After reconsideration, they decided it would be easier after all to try to find trees not too far away and do the extension. So they are going to find others who can help them get trees. Because of rain, we had to bring clothes in before they finished drying and hang about half of them inside. We were thankful that about half the laundry did get dry before the rain came. I also did a lot of work preparing worksheets and flash cards for classes, and revising lesson plans a bit for Bible class. Still need to get the Bible lessons printed out. Found more verses for the Bible verse witness cards, too, and printed the verse cards and the worksheets and flash cards. July 30. The Lord gave us a beautiful morning and sent us dark clouds and rain again in the afternoon. It rained steadily all evening. It took a while to get pancakes made this morning as there were more little moth nests to remove from the flour bag and little weevils to remove from the flour. After breakfast and quiet time, I got busy cutting up the Bible verse witness cards and the flash cards and a couple other things for school. The morning moved along all too quickly, and soon Daddy had made contact with C&C. Even though the reception was not as good today and we lost connection a couple times, it was still a joy to spend a little time with them. This afternoon, I washed my hair and had my bath before the weather got too cold as the temperature was quickly dropping. This evening, the other families who have been coming to fellowship with us had other business to take care of so Daddy and I listened to the second in the series of sermons on Malachi by Dr. Spencer. July 27. Praise the Lord for a little bit of warmth and sunshine today. I was happy to get outside for a few minutes although, even though the sun was shining, the rain kept spitting at me. There was still a good bit of clouds and several periods of light rain. It was a joy to see bright stars shining in the dark sky for a time during the night. Even though we have had periods of rain, there has not been enough rain to make the ground wet. I thank the Lord for His strength and guidance throughout the day. July 28. The Lord gave us a cold, foggy, rainy morning. The afternoon was still cloudy and cool, but the skies were a bit brighter. The children had to stay inside for recess (because of the weather). How nice it would be to have a teacher’s helper in the classroom! I miss having Anna Jean there. I am amazed at the children’s progress in learning Psalm 23, especially Gideon. The memorization of the Psalm was not assigned, and I hadn’t intended for them to learn it, but I would not squelch their desire to learn the Scripture for anything. And the fact that they are memorizing it in English and are excited about doing so when they don’t even speak English yet except for a few monologues and dialogues, that makes it even more remarkable. This afternoon, I got a good start on lesson plans for next Monday and next week, and had high hopes of getting lesson plans done before the day was through. But once again, the Lord did not allow that to happen. It seems like the same thing happens every weekend — I get a good start on lesson plans and then somebody comes to visit and talk. This afternoon Rex and his wife, Judy, and little girl Priscilla came to visit before they go back to Bible school this coming week. We enjoyed a good visit with them. It was nearly 5:00 when they left, and Daddy needed to heat water and wash up yet so we had a late supper. I was thankful to have been able to finish all of Monday’s lesson plans in the early evening, except for making and printing worksheets and proofreading and printing Bible lessons for the week. July 24. A very cold, overcast day. Wore both sweater and jacket all day, and still it took a loooong time for the bones to get warm. They didn’t get warm until after we had crawled in under all the blankets at nap time and had a good sleep. Didn’t finish lesson plans until almost 8:00 this evening as after nap there were two popo that needed to be cut up and one was made into popo crisp. Then pizza had to be made for supper. After supper, I took a quick sponge bath and then did the dishes, working a little bit on lesson plans in between times, while the water was heating. July 25. Praise the Lord for a bit more sunshine today and a bit warmer day. Still lots of clouds. Anna Jean washed and hung out the clothes, and they all got dry outside. July 26. Back to cold and overcast. The sun only peeked through a couple times. What a busy day it was! I was so thankful I had asked Anna Jean to come and help me today. Before she came, I got out carrots and potatoes and washed them. I also started cleaning things out of the kitchen cupboards. I certainly wish there was something we could do to get rid of the cockroaches. They make such a mess. When Anna Jean came, she peeled and cut up the carrots and potatoes. Then I had her clean all the cockroaches and their droppings out of the cupboards and give the cupboards a washing. While she was working, I got the bed made, and folded and put away yesterday’s laundry. After those jobs were done, we all had a hot drink and a snack and relaxed a bit. I didn’t put things away in the cupboards until afternoon as I wanted to retire some items that I don’t use, put some things that I rarely use in the wooden box, and reorganize everything else in the cupboards. Besides, by the time all the other work was done and Anna Jean had left, it was time to start dinner. It was meal-making day — mashed potatoes (which turned out to be potato soup — I didn’t pour off enough water), carrots, and chicken with gravy. Everything tasted fine together like soup in a bowl. It was a little late before dinner was ready; and after we ate, there was clean-up to do. Besides putting things away that we had cleaned out of the cupboard, I also made yogurt this afternoon. Mata came with more bananas which was a blessing as we were just about out. There was still the rest of the lesson plans for tomorrow that needed attention after that. And this evening, there was a huge stack of dishes to be washed. Whew! What a busy day! Thank you, Lord, for the strength that you gave. May 14. The night was very warm, and even with the window open, it was hard to sleep, and I felt hot and sweaty. The temperature was already in the low 60’s outside and upper 60’s inside. Early morning fog soon turned to sunshine and bright blue sky. I was thankful to get out a few minutes after breakfast and quiet time. By mid-morning, the house was getting quite warm; and by noon, it was stuffy, hot, and humid. I said to myself, “It is going to rain.” And it was just a short while after that statement, that the rains were upon us. It rained quite hard for a while, and water leaked into the entry way near the front door. Afterward, I took time to finish writing the Psalm 91 poem I had started last night before going to bed. Most of the rest of the day was spent making sure that everything was ready for school tomorrow — printing worksheets, looking over lessons, writing math problems on chalkboard, etc. Praise the Lord for a good connection and an enjoyable chat with Daddy again this evening. I made sure my phone was charged just before he called; and I was thankful that I did because when we said good-bye after forty-five minutes, the battery was already about to give out. While we were talking, a small rat came running out of the storage closet (they think that is their hiding place), made a circuit around the unoccupied area next to the office, and ran back into the closet. As soon as we finished talking and I had turned the kitchen light on, two young rats came running out of the closet on a chase. Well, enough of that. Time for a rat trap. A half hour later, they were both stuck fast to the trap. With much trepidation and sadness, I helped put them out of their misery. The most High has a secret place where all who will may dwell, A place close to His heart where we can know that all is well, Underneath the shadow of our Almighty God, There we find peace and safety from the dangers of life’s road. The Lord Himself my refuge is, my fortress, and my God, In Him I’ll trust for I am sure His promise He’ll uphold, Covering with His feathers to keep me from alarm, Secure I am from pestilence, from snares, and every harm. There are no terrors in the night nor any violence by day That can cause me doubt and fear or from God’s truth to stray. I have made the LORD my refuge, even the most High, He is my hope and habitation; no plague or evil shall come nigh. His angels shall be given charge to watch and keep in all my ways, To bear me up whene’er I fall, protect me from all fearsome plagues, I’ve set my love upon Him, thus He promises to save, And because I’ve known His name, He’ll set me in a lofty place. In every trouble He is near, and with honor He’ll bestow me, With long life give satisfaction, His salvation He will show me. Oh, may I never fail Him, though I am weak and small, And may I give my best to Him who in His love hath given me all. May 13. Praise the Lord for helping me through the night. I went to bed early again last night, but not quite as early as the night before. This morning, the Lord sent Anna Jean along, and I was so thankful for her coming. She actually came to charge her phones, but she said she had time to work. She washed the clothes, cut up a small pumpkin, swept the floors, and washed part of the kitchen floor (close to the sink and counters where it had gotten quite dirty. Then she had a cup of coffee before getting ready to go home. In the meantime, Daddy called. I was happy to talk with him for a while and to hear how he is doing and share with him my sickness so he could pray. After Daddy and I hung up, Wan came by to get a couple things and ask about Junias’s phone. I had forgotten to ask Daddy if he found it so will ask him this evening, Lord willing, if we get a connection and good reception. When Wan left, Anna Jean was ready to go too, but I asked her first if she could get my suitcase down for me off the top shelf in the bedroom in case I have to go out to the doctor. I was thankful that she had no trouble doing that when she stood on a chair. I also asked her if she could check on me early Monday morning to see if I am doing okay, and she said she would. After she left, I went outside for a while in the clouded sunshine. Then I finished my prayer time, got the clothes in (a few of them weren’t dry, but I brought them in anyway and hung them in the house because it looked like it was going to rain), Then I started getting my lunch. Around noon, the sun came out, and it did not rain after all. The afternoon was hot, but cooled off early as darkness comes early in the evening these days. I must have been pretty tired at nap time as I slept two hours straight and never heard a thing. After getting up, I put water on to heat for washing my hair and did a number of small clean-up jobs in the kitchen. My supper was a little late because Sunny came just when I sat down to start eating. She had come to get her other phone, but didn’t stay long, but it was long enough for supper to be late. Then I heated water and washed the dishes. I hadn’t planned to wash them again this evening, but somehow there were a lot more dishes than I expected. It was already 6:55 when I finished the dishes so sat down in the recliner with the phone and waited for Daddy’s call. Praise the Lord for a good connection again this evening and a nice time chatting until oops, my phone went beep to let me know that my battery was low. I had never thought about charging it again after we talked in the morning. We hadn’t talked that long, but my battery is getting old and goes down really fast now. It needs to be replaced. I plugged the phone into the charger, and we talked for a few minutes more while it was charging, but I guess we were talking faster than it was charging :-) so we soon had to say “I love you” and “good-night.” I didn’t realize 45 minutes had already gone by, we were having such a good time talking together. After we hung up, I had a drink of water and put water on to heat for washing up. I didn’t really feel hungry for a snack because my tummy isn’t very happy this evening. After wash-up, I finished making a schedule of daily class routine. Psalm 91 and 92 are two of my favorite Psalms, and the Lord used them to give me such peace and strength for today. “1) He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2) I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. 3) Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 4) He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. 5) Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6) Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 7) A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. 8) Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. 9) Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; 10) There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 11) For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 12) They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 13)Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. 14) Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 15) He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. 16) With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.” (Psalm 91) May 10. It has been a very quiet day. Only Mora and Julian came to the door . I am thankful that my back has been a little better today. I still move very slowly and need to be very careful about how I move. This morning, I looked over lessons for tomorrow and made sure everything is ready for classes. This afternoon, I made yogurt And this evening, I got to talk for a while to my own best earthly friend. May 11. Christy’s birthday. Woke up this morning with chills. Had chills Tuesday evening and yesterday evening, but today I had them all morning. Have not been able to eat well for the past couple days too. The Lord helped me to feel well enough to teach, but as soon as class was over, I felt very weak and knew I needed to rest. I had a small lunch and went to bed early. When I awoke, I was hot — a fever. Started on amoxicillin and went and lay back down for another hour. Felt a little better after that, but still very weak. May 12. Did not finish writing in my journal yesterday evening. Was even too tired and weak to talk with Daddy. I was going to just let him do most of the talking, but we could not even get good reception. After trying for a good while, we finally said good night. Then I went right to bed. I was too weak to do anything else. It was 8:00 when I went to bed. Woke up a little before 10:00, and I was hungry as I hadn’t eaten much supper. Got up and had a piece of toast with honey and took another amoxicillin. Went back to bed and slept until 5:45 this morning when I was awakened by a noisy rat. Decided I’d slept long enough so got up and ready for the day. Felt so much better this morning, and felt like eating too. My back is still giving me a good amount of pain, however. While I was eating lunch, I filled up the washing machine one half bucket at a time. I had about a two-hour nap. Then I graded the students’ work for today, washed the dishes, roasted peanuts, ate supper, had a bath. This evening again, Daddy and I were not able to talk. There was a storm there in Goroka and fog, too, which may have affected phone connection. He did connect when he first called, but we lost connection within a couple minutes, and he was never able to connect again. So, sadly, we were not able to chat together. I could hear thunder off to the north when Daddy first rang, and it came closer and closer during the next hour until it reached Owena and brought us some light rain for the evening. “I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 89:1) Here is another verse that encourages us to talk about the Lord to all generations, and that includes singing. With singing, with talking, we can tell of His mercies, and we can make known His faithfulness to all generations. May 8. Quite tired today, besides still having quite a bit of back pain, so I’m very grateful to the Lord for His grace and strength for the day. We were kept awake a good while in the night by a very noisy rat. Daddy finally put out the glue trap, and the rat was stuck fast in about 20 minutes, only to find out that there was a second rat running around. That one did not get caught last night, but it did get caught early this evening. I could hear it in the storage room when I was in the bathroom washing up so I called to Daddy and he put out a glue trap. It wasn’t long before the rat had gotten his whole body onto the glue trap. School went okay. I had to pull my chair up to the front and sit down most of the day because I still have quite a bit of back pain. Between the strain of moving around with back pain and the effects of lack of sleep, I felt really wiped out. But the Lord renewed my strength for the morning, and this afternoon too, as I had to proofread the newsletter once more, write a list of acknowledgments for support to go with the newsletter, and transfer those files to Daddy’s computer to be sent off to C&C when he gets to town. I also had to make granola for Daddy to take to town and prepare something for supper. I was thankful for time to relax this evening “Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” (Psalm 100:3) May 9. Lewis’s 8:30 flight turned out to be around 11:30; but, praise the Lord, he was able to get out today. And, praise the Lord, the boxes sent from JAARS last March (2022) finally arrived here in Owena. Two boxes were full of vitamins plus a few personal items; one had the rest of the school books (thanks to the Lord for the teachers’ books as well as student books); and the third, which was a small one, has the Thompson Chain Reverence Bibles that people ordered.. This afternoon, I got all the vitamins organized and looked through the school books. Was happy to spend a half hour on the phone this evening with my sweetheart. “I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.” (Psalm 81:10) The Lord is my God. He brought me out of the land of Egypt, out of the land of bondage. Daily I need to open my mouth wide that it might be filled with God’s word and with all the spiritual blessings that God has prepared for me. May 6. So thankful for a lovely day — for the clothes to dry and to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. So thankful that Anna Jean was able to come today and do the laundry, prepare some food, and sweep the floors. Thankful, too, that Wan came and cut and raked the grass inside the fence. The rest of the day was pretty full again with preparations for the coming week’s classes. “25) Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. 26) My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever…. 28) But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.” (Psalm 73:15-18) I have put my trust in the LORD God, and what a privilege is mine to declare all His works. “Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.” (Psalm 66:16) May 7. My back was in quite a bit of pain this morning. I finally took an ibuprofen to give some pain relief, but still could hardly straighten up my back. Took time this morning to write an e-mail to Christy and Connie and send journal notes. We enjoyed a nice chat with them via Skype later in the morning. What a beautiful rainbow the Lord sent us this afternoon! High across the eastern sky and colors so bright and vivid. Praise the Lord for helping me get the quarterly newsletter written today. This evening, we had to make time to do the shopping list so were unable to listen to a sermon as we usually do on Sunday evening. We did take time to pray together, however, before going off to bed. May 4. The children seem to be enjoying the Bible lessons on creation. Lawrence and Rahab are both having increased difficulty with learning in certain areas. Today, I gave a practice paper for Lawrence to take home and do with addition problems, and I have a paper ready for Rahab to take home tomorrow for learning the teen numbers better and writing three numbers in order. I will not be able to keep that up though if the problems continue because it takes too much extra work and time which I cannot afford. Most of my non-class time today was spent on preparations for class tomorrow. May 5. The students seemed to be quite wound up today. They didn’t misbehave, but were just very expressive in all their drills and other activities.. So it was fine and actually made for a happy time throughout all the classes. This afternoon and evening, I spent most of my time planning lessons for this coming week so, hopefully, I can work on the quarterly newsletter the next couple days. I still have math lessons to plan and English lessons to write, however. |
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