Funnies From 'Round Here

 I've found several funny things around town this past month.  I just have to share them with you!  


First of all, have you ever seen

a car with eyelashes?  Well, I had not until I saw this Mercedes with fake eyelashes.  Really!

I

 Next was this sign at a local water park that gave instructions on acceptable swimwear.  Wow, everything from string bikinis to full body "burkinis."  Once we got in the park we saw NO bikinis and several "burkinis," but mostly everyone just swam fully clothed!

 Here is some ice cream I found at the grocery store I shop at.  Would you buy Dung Dung ice cream?

And last, but not least... this lady on a motorcycle at a stop light.  Her shirt advertises Ultra Violent Skin Block.  Now, I like to protect my skin from the sun just as much as the next gal.  But I wouldn't want to but anything "ultra violent" on my skin!  How about you?

Watch Me Eat This!

Ibu W. comes five days a week to clean our house.  This is a big help to me since I am homeschooling the kids.  This week she has added a couple of hours each day and I am teaching her to cook.  This will also be a huge help for me as most things have to be cooked from scratch, again requiring more time than what I have these days.

Today she and I made peanut butter cookies.  While we worked in the kitchen I asked her about yesterday.

"Yesterday you didn't eat the food I made for you,"  I said.

"Oh, I thought it was yours," she replied.

Oh no!  Just what I'd feared, another mis-communication!!  Yesterday I was making bean burritos and she was asking about it.  I went into this whole explanation of Mexican food and how we are from Texas and love Mexican food.  I showed her the tortillas and the beans and cheese and the homemade salsa I had made.  Then I thought, well, I should make her one.  I cut a tortilla in half and made two little ones.  I thought I would demonstrate to her how to roll it up and eat it.  She was washing dishes at the time, but I called her to turn around and see what I was doing.  I told her she should try it and showed her the burrito on the plate.  Then I rolled mine up and showed her how to eat it, popping my half into my mouth.  But I left hers in the kitchen, not wanting her to feel like she had to eat it right away.  That's why I was surprised to find the plate and burrito still sitting on the kitchen table after she left.

So today we talked about it and I discovered that my Indonesian was not very clear yesterday!  Ha, big surprise I know.  Anyway, she thought I was just showing her how you are supposed to eat a burrito and that the extra one was mine.  I am horrified that she thought I was just eating in front of her to show her how I ate my burrito!

Thankfully we both got a good laugh about it and then talked about how, even within the same country there are many cultures and even differences in meaning between people who speak the same language.  Well, I am glad that we laughed and that she now understands what I meant yesterday.  I was VERY CAREFUL to explain today that she could take some cookies home and she even understood me! ha!

Bathrooms

We have five bathrooms in our house.  That's a lot of bathrooms, you say.  I know, right?  Usually bathrooms have basic things like toilets, showers or bathtubs, sinks, running water, lights, fixtures that work...you know, stuff like that.  Between our five bathrooms we have all those things!  Just not all in one bathroom.  The bathroom with the hot shower has no light.  The bathroom with the tub, well, the tub is cracked, unusable.  The bathroom with a light has no shower or water heater.  You know, etc etc!  Last night when people wanted to bathe, our rechargeable lamp had used all its charge (of course) so we had to stay up late to let it charge before taking baths in the bathroom with hot water but no light.  And tonight, no bathroom has water because, surprise surprise, one of our bathrooms (that had no shower, water heater or sink) is getting remodeled but the worker couldn't get the pipes fixed before leaving for the day, so he shut our water down!  Never fear, one of our bathrooms has a bak, one of those "indoor reservoirs" for splash baths.  You know, the bathroom with no light.  A cold splash bath would not be too bad after such a hot muggy day.  And the lantern is charged and ready. The problem?  Well, the shower is so close to the bak that when we DID have water, we took showers and the soapy water has all splashed into the bak, so the water is dirty!

So tonight we are all sweaty and hot, our kitchen sink is full of dirty dinner dishes, the clothes washer is filled and overflowing with dirty clothes, it's raining outside, water water everywhere and not a drop to...take a bath with, wash clothes with or wash dishes with!  No need to get upset, it's just life right?  A free evening!  So I spent the evening "window shopping" on Target's website! :)

Frisbee Friends Part 2

 Last month some friends from Texas came for a visit!  They brought with them some frisbees (donated by a Sunday School Class) for the boys to use and to give away.  Playing frisbee has been one way the boys have been able to meet some boys in our neighborhood.  (Click here to see that blog post)  The gifts from Texas came just in time because our frisbee cracked the week before they arrived!  Here are some of the boys in our neighborhood.  Our three boys are teaching them how to throw and catch the frisbee. They learned quickly!

This is the road in front of our house, by the way.  Ain't it perty?  Our house is on the right.  Can't see it...sorry.

 In the end, our boys were able to give the frisbee to the boys.

Happy boys and their new toy!

Remembering Africa: Potholes and Prayer Groups

I manuevered our car around the potholes of one of the paved streets in our area of town. All the streets branching off of this one were dirt roads with bits of pavement peaking out of the dust, remnants of tarmac from a previous existence.  There was no drainage along the streets and roads of the city, so when the rains came, this road would be flooded with muddy water, making it impossible to miss the potholes.  But it was dry season and the city was as bone dry as the desert that surrounded it.  There were more than just potholes to dodge when it was dry season.  I passed the intersection where Legless Louie used to sit.  For years that intersection was his place of work.  I suppose a relative would set him there each morning because, even when I drove by in the mornings, Legless Louie would already be there.  He was an elderly gentleman in a jallabeeya and a brown tageeya, a skullcap-looking hat worn by many Muslim men.  I never knew his real name, but we called him Legless Louie because he had no legs.  He would sit at a T-intersection, but just a bit out in the road so that you had to be careful not to hit him as you drove by.  He would hold Muslim prayer beads in one hand and beg from passersby with his other.  Legless Louie always seemed to be in good spirits, and people walking by never seemed scared of him.  He was there for many of the years that we lived there, but he was getting old, and I wondered how long it would be before he died.  One year we went on vacation and when we came back, Legless Louie was gone.  The intersection seemed so empty without him.  My heart hurt when I thought about Legless Louie and where he was for eternity.

About half a kilometer past Legless Louie's intersection was my destination.  I made a U-turn and parked under a tree on the side of the road.  I grabbed my container of brownies and my Bible.  It was Tuesday morning.  Every fortnight a group of ladies gathered in a home for fellowship, Bible study and prayer.  Sometimes this group of ladies felt like my very life-line.  We were two Germans, a Dutch and three Americans.  In the beginning it felt a bit awkward to me, like we were all “checking each other out” so to speak.  After a few months of meeting, however, I really began to look forward to the time and I enjoyed praying for my sisters in Christ in-between times.  We prayed over each other through the loss of a dear friend, after the miscarriage of one of the ladies, after a horrible accident where one of our children was badly burned, and through the successes and struggles of our husbands in their work.  I loved the fellowship of a group of ladies who were not all American.  Though, I have to say, I was very thankful we worshiped in English.  Those poor European ladies still had to fellowship and worship in a second language!  When we were all together, I would try my very best to not be the “obnoxious American” that I often felt like Americans become when a group of them (us) get together.  For me that was difficult because I was already an extrovert and quite talkative.  But, as we grew closer, we were knit together and appreciated each other's differences and all we had to offer to the group.

Usually one of us played the guitar and we would sing a few songs.  Of course we didn’t sound great, but our voices blended and the accents just made the melodies even sweeter:  women from different backgrounds all called to live here in the Sahara for this moment in time.  All of us struggling to be devoted wives, caring mothers and dedicated followers of Jesus in a poor, hot, dusty Muslim land. Our differences melted away so that thoughts of denomination, culture and language were replaced by our unified desire to worship Jesus together.

Jesus had summoned, we had answered, then He gave us precious sisters to walk with.  Even now the melody of this beautiful song plays in my mind and the message tugs at my heart.  Whether I am in the desert of Africa or the Jungle of Asia, will I follow Jesus for this one reason only:  that He called my name?

Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don't know and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown? Will you let my name be known,
will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?

Will you leave yourself behind if I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind and never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer prayer in you and you in me?

Will you let the blinded see if I but call your name?
Will you set the prisoners free and never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean and do such as this unseen,
and admit to what I mean in you and you in me?

Will you love the "you" you hide if I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you've found to reshape the world around,
through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?

Lord your summons echoes true when you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you and never be the same.
In Your company I'll go where Your love and footsteps show.
Thus I'll move and live and grow in you and you in me.

(The Summons, http://www.godtouches.org/cathhymns.html#summons)

Sick, Ugh!

I am sick again which means it takes WAY more energy to do the normal things of the day.  And that means I have no energy left to do anything besides the "musts" of the day.  Ugh.  It's times like this that I'm tempted to think, "Well if I'm way over here in the tropics just to lie at home and be sick, what use is that?"  And of course, we all know the answer, I need to rejoice in all things!  And I need to be faithful in the "ugh" days just as much as I need to be faithful in the "woah!  I got a lot done!" days.

It's mid-afternoon and a light rain just began.  A soft breeze is coming through our house and it's lovely.  My boys are quietly entertaining themselves.  I've just popped a huge bowl of popcorn for us as well as made a pitcher of grape Koolaid.  I actually know what I'm gonna cook for dinner so I won't be frantic come 5 O'clock.  I am resting on a comfy couch under a ceiling fan with a laptop in my lap.  So I'm a little sick, but there is so much more good around me, it's hard to be too upset!

Puzzling Pictures: Elegant Presence!

Staying at this hotel made me feel so...elegant!

Pea Brains

“You pea-brain!” 

Insult?  Well, that depends on what culture you come from!  I was explaining the analogy of a pea-brain to an Asian friend who kept looking at me, bewildered, waiting for the punch-line.  

“It’s an insult,” I said.  Aware that my audience was not catching on, I added, “It’s like saying your brain is the size of a pea.  That’s insulting!”

“Why?” he asked.

“Well, because a pea is so tiny, and if your brain is the size of a pea, that means your brain is tiny!”

“Yes,” said he, “but even though a pea is tiny, it has lots of benefits!  It is healthy and gives so much nutrition even though it is so small.  I thought you’d say it was a compliment!”

I hope it doesn’t happen, but if you ever do get the urge to call someone a pea-brain, stop and consider: you might be paying them a compliment!  Be careful though, the opposite can prove true as well.  If you want to compliment someone from another culture, be sure you aren’t insulting them!

“You’re fat!” 

That’s a compliment, or at least a benign observation, on the island where we live.  We as Westerners feel that calling someone fat is an insult.  But that’s not how folks here feel!

Now this is a little extreme, but just hang with me to the end of this post.  Think about it:  calling someone a “pea-brain” or “fat” where I live is not actually anything but a simple compliment!  Now I’m from Texas and I have a pretty good idea what would happen if someone dished out that comment while standing in line at the grocery store!  You can imagine what would happen in your own neck-of-the-woods.  If culture and words and emotions are so tightly intertwined, I need to be very careful to share Jesus’ love with others in a way that they can understand and receive it.  I thank the Lord for HIS LOVE, that transcends language and culture, enveloping our emotions and chasing away our fears!  I also thank the Lord for HIS GRACE that fills in the gaps in our words and actions as His Holy Spirit draws people to Himself!

And the next time someone makes you feel like a “pea-brained fatty," just think, that’s a compliment in some cultures! J

Puzzling Pictures: Trapping Baggage

Last month I did a little traveling.  I found this great banner in the airport that offers free baggage trapping.  I stayed far away from the counter lest I got trapped along with my baggage!  By the way, as stated on the banner, baggage trapping is "safety for your and for your flight."

Who's Gonna Win?

The team is gathered in our living room.  They have been practicing for this day.  It is a big game in the city-wide basketball tournament.  Kris, a high school math teacher, is the oldest on the team.  He is giving his teen-aged African teammates a pep talk.  The have gone over the plays.  They have rehearsed their strategy.  Now Kris inspires them with words of encouragement and then calls them to a unified ending with the dramatic, climactic question: "Now WHO'S gonna WIN?"

pause...

The players look at each other.  They are confused.

"We don't know who is going to win, we haven't played yet."

All Kris can do is laugh (on the inside, of course) and try to explain, "WE are!  We have to believe that WE are gonna win!"  The confidence booster is lost on them.

Don't we live life like that sometimes?  Like we've forgotten Who is gonna win?  The difference is, we aren't playing basketball and we aren't playing against another team of equal skill.  In our life, the Lord Himself is our Leader and He has already won!  But for some reason, it seems like His children often find themselves fretting over difficulties in life as if they've forgotten Who is gonna win.  When we do so, we are acting like that basketball team, looking around at each other, wondering who is gonna be the strong one, or even who is gonna be the weak link. The great news is, we don't have to because in Christ we are already victorious!  Let's act like winners!

Kris and his basketball team in Eritrea.  Can you guess which one is Kris? :) 

My Life as a TCK

I ride my bike as fast as I can

Beside rice paddies full of green,

And feel the wind blow through my hair

And smile and sing.

I hide my treasures ‘hind the box

In the garage and there I write

Secrets on the cardboard walls

Out of sight.

I swing about on bamboo poles,

Constructed into jungle gym.

Pretending I’m a gymnast star

And that I win!

I eat delicious delicacies

Of rice and fruits; spicy and sweet.

And never have I since had food

So good to eat!

I swim in tropical waters blue,

Among sand dollars and jelly fish.

I am a mermaid, I am a pirate

Anything I wish!

At night I watch the lava red

Trickle down the sides of the volcano.

The only sound is its rumbling

The stars above glow.

Then for a visit we travel

To the land of my family, far away.

And life there seems, well, not so deep.

I’m glad we will not stay.

Others shake their heads and tisk,

“To live where you do must be burdensome!”

But I shake my head and inside I ask,

“When can I go home?”

The World Around Us

The other night we lay out on the flat terrace on our roof.  There were clouds in the sky, but we could still see some stars.  We began to sing praise songs and especially enjoyed the songs that talked about the stars that God created.  It was peaceful and a great spontaneous time of worship.  When we stood up to roll up the mat and go back inside, I realized that the waist-high brick wall that surrounds the terrace had blocked our view of the neighborhood, as well as the porch lights that otherwise would have hampered our view of the stars.  As I stood, the whole neighborhood came back into view.  Houses with neighbors of different social levels and different religions.  It all popped back into view as I stood up and looked around.

Wow, what a great time of worship:  all the things around me blocked out, just me and the sky and the other people praising God.  Then we stood up and there it was, the world that we are sent to live in.  May we be faithful to seek time daily for focusing on Him alone, and then be faithful to go out into the world He has called us to!