#H54F: #Thankful!

It's Thanksgiving Week! Our kiddos had two days off from school this week and are super pumped about that. I am glad because that's two days that our broken-armed son won't be rushing  the halls of middle school with a held-together-by-screws-and-metal-plates-but-no-cast-or-outer-protection-whatsoever arm. Here are highlights from my week:

#1 Our son went back to school, metal plates and all! (see what I'm talking about here) He's a tough kid and we are SO THANKFUL for the amazing way the Lord has made our bodies to overcome trauma.

#2 The Lord has also made the body of believers to help each other overcome trauma! We are SO THANKFUL for so many friends who surrounded us with help and encouragement during our son's injury. We are SO THANKFUL for family who, while they could not be with us, prayed for us.

#3 Two of our kids participated in a service day this week. How great is that? SO THANKFUL for a school that guides our kids to think beyond themselves. S visited a home for the "infirmed and elderly". He was not able to play clarinet as was planned, but he was still able talk to some of the people and to pass out cookies. J helped clean at a soup kitchen for homeless people.

#4 This week I enjoyed meeting for prayer with an Indonesian friend. It blessed my heart to join with a fellow-believer and to come before the Lord in two languages. THANKFUL that we can approach the throne in any language and THANKFUL that, because of Jesus, we are sisters!

#5 Thanksgiving of course! We are SO THANKFUL to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with some of our overseas family. We had all sorts of yummy food and great conversation. It was fun to see the kids all enjoying the food and fellowship as well.

What was YOUR Thanksgiving Week like?

10 Life Hacks for Third-World Livin' (from Back in the Day)

Life Hacks would have meant a serial killer holding a machete back when my husband and I first went overseas. Nowadays it means: cool tricks to make life easier.

I didn't have Google or Pinterest or blogs to read back then. I had a Lonely Planet book about our new country in one hand and a copy of Where There Is No Doctor in the other. The rest we just had to figure out along the way.

Because there was nowhere to share my tricks of the trade, most of them have faded into the "I Don't Need That Anymore" corners of my memory. So before I lose every one of them, I thought I'd write them down. And since nowadays I have a blog (we went overseas before internet y'all!) I can share my Life Hacks with you! Now, keep in mind these may be old school...but sometimes old school is cool, right?

1. If you don't have running water, drain your laundry water (from hand-washing or hand-filling your washing machine) into a container (tub, bucket, etc) and use it to flush your toilet. Saves on water and your toilet gets washed with laundry detergent!

2. If your electricity goes out all the time and you want cold water to drink during the day: Buy a large water thermos. Buy a bowl that is big, but small enough to fit into the thermos. Every evening fill the bowl with water and freeze (if you have electricity at night). In the morning, dump the ice into your thermos and fill it with water. Don't forget to refill your bowl and put it back in the freezer for tomorrow. All day long you'll have cold water to drink without opening your fridge and losing the precious cold. We did this for years in Africa.

3. Toothpaste works to ease itchy mosquito bites. Just dab it on every one of them. You can easily count them as you go so that you know how many there are for your next blog or Facebook status. You smell minty fresh, but lint also sticks to your skin. Up to you.

4. If you don't know what you are doing for dinner, but it's time and your hubby and kids are getting hungry, saute some onions. Makes the kitchen smell like you know what you are doing and buys you a little time. (I got this idea from my mom!)

5. If you live in a super hot and dry climate, do these things to keep relatively cool:

*Get your head and hair wet and don't dry off. I know people who just left their clothes on and got fully wet and then walked around the house like that. The water cooled them off and since we lived in the desert, it didn't actually take very long to dry!
*Get towels wet and lay them on your floor at night. If you don't have AC but you do have a ceiling fan, the wet towels will cool the room off a bit.
*Wear cotton undershirts or tank tops under your clothes. If you are living in a country where you have to dress conservatively, this seems counter-intuitive. But my friends and I discovered that tank tops collect your sweat and #1 keep your outer clothes from stinking and #2 used your sweat to cool you off.

6. Keep a container in your freezer and put the "final" leftovers in it, no matter how small. When the container is full you can make soup. Dump the frozen stuff into a pot and add whatever you feel might be missing (water, stock, a can of veggies (or fresh ones if you don't have cans), a taco mix, some spices, some pasta, rice, etc.) My family doesn't realize that's what I do and almost every time they say, "Wow, this soup is really good!" It's better if it cooks a long time in the crockpot. Honestly, my family usually likes it even better the second time around. I call it "Hearty Soup" like my mom does!

7. Here's a truly old-school tip. Back in the day our only communication back home was through letters. It did not cost any more in postage to add one Koolaide packet or one ziploc bag. Since both were hard (uh...impossible) to come by, we had our friends and family stick one or the other in every letter. It was like getting a double treat every time!

8. Learn how to breathe through your mouth and not your nose. If you live in a Third-World country, chances are you are gonna smell pee, poop, blood, sewer, fish, carcasses, spoiled garbage, and durian. It's nicer for those in whose country you are a guest if you don't wrinkle your nose and pass out or gag every time your nose is offended. I also try not to think about the fact that my mouth is still taking in all those smelly germs without the advantage of nose hair filters. So breathe through  your mouth and distract your mind and you'll be fine!

9. If you happen to stay at a nice hotel that supplies shower caps, save them. They are handy for covering food dishes, like plastic wrap...only free. I wash and reuse until they are kind of gross and then throw them away.

10. Weavels and unsavory critters like that will leave your flour, cereals, rice, and other grains if you spread it out in the sun (on a woven mat or large tray). Stale cereal and chips crisp back up in an oven set at low. Don't through away that stuff!









If you live in a third-world country, in the boonies, or if you live somewhere else, what tips have you learned for every day life?

#H54F: High Fives on Monday

You know how you have those days that don't play out the way you imagined they would? That's what happened to us last Friday. Who knew we'd be spending the weekend in the hospital? Well, the Lord did, and that's a good thing! So here's my Friday Highlights...on Monday:

#1 Our oldest son hosted Bible Study at our house last week and it is such a joy to see teenagers gathering on their own to study the Word. I made a lot of ice tea, a lot of popcorn, and a lot of meatball sandwiches. It was a lot of fun.

#2 I'm stopping my Neighborhood Narrative story. Sorry. I hate to stop things unfinished. But, you may have guessed, it is a true story and it just got crazier than it already was. I will still write it and perhaps one day I'll get to post it. For now, you can pray for the characters. The names are different but the people are real.

#3 Thanks to friends, I figured out how to buy pork! (shhhhhhh #nothalal) It is no longer chunks of meat hanging on hooks to me. I now know which chunk can be used as a pot roast and which chunk can be cut into pork chops. Watch out Pinterest...I'll be searching for pork recipes pretty soon.

#4 I am super excited to have received final confirmation from the publisher on book title and cover for my debut novel. Woohoo! Post coming soon about that.

#5 And the biggest news from last week happened on Friday, although I am not sure it is in the "highlight" category! Our middle son broke his arm pretty badly while running a race at Field Day. He broke the ulna and radius and had to have surgery to put plates and screws in each bone. The Lord was so faithful in providing excellent medical care and a great community around us. Surgery was on Friday and our son was free to go home from the hospital by Sunday afternoon! And get this, he's back at school today. What a tough guy!

I am hoping that #5 for this week will be super boring.

Have a great #Thanksgiving Week!

The Sad Story

This is a serial story that I started a few weeks ago. To read the full story, click HERE

Jackie never planned on getting hit in the face. But that's what happened.

She and her friend Liya were visiting in the neighborhood again. Time to practice more language skills.

"Halo!" Jackie said, turning her attention to a little boy who appeared beside her. Sitting on the floor, she was eye-level with his cute little face.

POW! He punched her in the face.

OK, this one is gonna be a little hard to play with. I'll just sort of hold him at arms length like this so he can't hit me. Oh, yes, there we go, he's behind me now. And...pulling my ponytail now. Awesome.

Two other little boys charged into the house with a little cardboard game and some game pieces. They played quietly to the side. Jackie thought that was very sweet. Maybe she could bring a game for them to play next time. Then they jumped up, tore the game to pieces and threw it into the air. Bits of cardboard fluttered to the ground like falling leaves.

Nice. No games.

Screams came from a bedroom as an unhappy little boy wailed his protest over who-knew-what. Rohiza grabbed a long stick and walked about the room herding, hitting kids, and hollering.

Well, they are not worrying about being on their best behavior anymore. As much as I hate the hollering and hitting, I guess it means we are in the inner circle!

Jackie eyed Liya. She obviously did not enjoy watching the adults holler and hit the kids either, but really, what could they do at this point? LOVE them. That's what.

Rohiza put her stick down and sat on the floor so Jackie tried to join the conversation at hand across the room. Scootch, scootch. Rohiza was talking to Liya. To her delight, Jackie realized she could understand some of it. Rohiza's mumbled words were finally making sense to her. Rohiza told how the blind son used to be married but his wife ran away.

"Thank goodness they didn't have any kids," she said. "Or I'd have to take care of them too."

Jackie looked over at the blind man who sat next to his mother. Why do they talk about him like he's not even there?

"Oh," commented Liya, "what about your daughter's father-in-law who is in the hospital? How is he doing this week?"

"Oh, he died," said Rohiza.

"What?"

"He only lasted two days," Intan chimed in.

Oh Lord, does the bad luck never stop with this poor family?

More talking revealed that Rohiza had been married twice. In both cases her husband died. So when relatives urged her to marry again, she said no way. Now she lived with her daughters and blind son. Her own sons didn't care for her.

"The one that was here last time," she said, "they one laying over there who said he couldn't work, he took drugs,"

"Yes," said the blind man. "He used to be different, but drugs messed up his mind."

Jackie's heart was heavy. There was no end to the sadness in their life.

"Rohiza, I pray for you all the time. What specifically can I pray for?" asked Liya.

"Life is so hard."

"Do you pray Rohiza?"

"I can't. I have high blood pressure from all the stress. If I bow to do the necessary ablutions for prayer, I will faint."

"Can't you just pray in your heart?"

"It's too hard." The old woman turned and began to bounce Fardus in the bouncy seat. Her quite action said loudly that she was done talking about God and prayer.

Intan and the blind man, Jackie noticed, perked up. The blind man smiled, as if to say, "Finally,we are talking about something interesting!"

Later, when Jackie and Liya said goodbye, Intan walked them to the door. "Come back soon," she said. "I'm not patient waiting for your return!"

The two ladies departed with heavy hearts. They had not shared a Bible story, but they had let Rohiza share her story. Hers was a sad one. Jackie wanted with all of her heart for their story to include Jesus. He could redeem this family, so tangled in the devil's hold.

Later that night, when she was in her own home, Jackie prayed for the family. Her heart felt heavy. No joy, only heartache filled her thoughts. Reading in the Gospel of John, she ran across John 16:24 "Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete."

What? Where did that verse come from? Jackie reread it. This verse had everything all wrapped up in one. Was she taking it out of context? Was this a sign? Was this what she was supposed to do? She repeated the words to herself...

Until now, Jackie, you have not asked anything in Jesus Name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

Four Years of Blogging

I started blogging four years ago today! I was looking back through my posts, trying to find something and I ended up back at the beginning. When I glanced at the date, I noticed my very first blog post was published on November 17, 2010. Cool!

Since I began blogging, we've lived on three islands in Southeast Asia. We are island hoppers. We used to be desert dwellers. That's really neither here nor there, but "desert dwellers" was fun to say and it matched "island hoppers" and also, this is a blog which means I get to say whatever I want without worrying about if it makes sense or should be edited out or whatever.

This blog has 168 posts that range from serious to ludicrous, from LOTS of text to LOTS of pictures. It's been fun. I hope I'm getting better at it.

We'll see what happens in the next four years...

The Fear

To read the full story click HERE

Jackie most certainly did NOT want to give up Fardus, especially when she knew he'd end up right back in the bouncy seat. But it was his mom, for goodness sake, so she did. She smiled and carefully lifted the small body to his mother's arms.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if Jesus healed Fardus?

Jackie's thoughts wandered to an earlier conversation with Liya as they walked to the neighborhood that afternoon.

"You know the story," said Jackie. "Jesus and his disciples are in a boat and out of nowhere comes a huge storm. The boat is getting flooded with water and the disciples are starting to panic. They realize that Jesus is taking a nap in the bottom of the boat. How can one sleep at a time like this? They wake him up and in their fear they say, 'We are going to die!' and what does Jesus do?"

"He calms the storm," replied Liya.

"Yes, He calms the storm. But even before he does that, he turns to his disciples and says, 'You of little faith, why are you so afraid?' Then, when he calmed the storm, his disciples are so amazed. What sort of man is this that even the winds and waves obey him? We serve a mighty God, Liya."

"Yes."

"He has power over everything."

"Yes, He does."

Jackie stopped walking and looked at her friend, "I know He can do a miracle for this family. And He's asking me, 'Jackie, why are you so afraid?'"

"And what do you say?"

"I say, yes, why am I so afraid? Am I afraid to pray for healing and it not happen? Am I afraid to share Jesus and watch Him get rejected? Am I afraid I will put Jesus' Name on the line? And if that is the case, am I afraid Jesus is not big enough to defend His own Name? What am I afraid of? And why?"

#H54F: High 5 for Friday

I got this idea from my fellow blogger and friend who will laugh with me, Tracey. We had a great afternoon together LAST week and I've been visiting her blog lately because she's got great stuff on there :)

So it's Friday! For those of us in Asia anyway. You folks in that other hemisphere will have to wait a few more hours unless you wake up REALLY early. Here are the highlights from my week:

>> 1 Kris traveled AGAIN. But not to worry, we are all 5 at home for the following few weeks. Woohoo! So here's to the end of a busy travel season.

>> 2 I went to Georgetown with a couple of friends to check out a business we heard was run by believers. We got to encourage them and also eat some yummy food in the process. More reasons to love Georgetown.

>> 3 Rain in the afternoons. I love it. The cool breeze, the dark clouds, the fresh smell, the pitter patter. After so many years in the desert, I just don't know if I'll ever get tired of rain.

>> 4 I was disappointed not to make a visit I'd been looking forward to this week. My visiting buddy had something else she needed to do. But I quickly saw God's hand in it as I was able to make connections with some other moms in town and that was good.

>> 5 My car battery died today. Like: it D-I-E-D. Today. In front of a coffee shop (the latte was yummy and would be #6 if this was High 6 For Friday, which it's not). But thanks to some HELPFUL friends, we got a new battery and I was on my way in about an hour. High five for friends who dropped everything to come rescue me.

What was your week like?

The Baby

To read the full story, click HERE.

For two weeks, all Jackie could think about was that baby boy. That sweet baby boy with the cleft lip. Why didn't the mom hold him? Why was he always in the bouncy seat? Was he just too hard to hold? His little body twisted and turned and didn't ever relax.

When visiting day arrived, Jackie was unprepared. She'd hoped to have a Bible story ready to share, or some game for the kids. Nothing. Sorry, Lord. I just am not prepared. Can You work through me anyway? This time I'm not going to be concerned with practicing language. I'm going to love on that baby and maybe another kid or two while I'm at it. Love. That's what we're doing today.

And that was the theme, even if that's not exactly what Liya and Jackie would have liked. They would have liked to tell more Bible stories. They would have liked a big response from the family..."We all believe in Jesus!" But Jackie knew they still didn't quite "get" it. Did the family even comprehend the gospel message?

It doesn't matter. Love them. That's what we're doing.

Jackie noticed the family always bounced the baby boy in a bouncy seat. They bounced him vigorously. No wonder he doesn't cry, he's trying not to puke. Jackie wondered if his little brain was getting jostled. But as soon as the mother stopped for a few minutes to get something in another room, the little baby started to whine. Jackie took the chance to scootch across the floor to the bouncy set.

"Hi there little guy!" Jackie bounced the seat softly. The little baby gazed in her eyes. His hand flew up and she held her finger against his palm. His tiny fingers closed into a hold on her finger. His back twisted and her looked at her upside-down. His leg flew up. He cooed. A tube was taped to his lip, to be used for feeding at some point. He sucked at it. Lord, please be with this precious little baby. When he gets older, help him learn about You.

Jackie looked up a Rohiza who was watching and smiling. "What is his name?"

"Fardus."

"How old is he?"

"One year and three months."

Jackie tried to hide her surprise. Little Fardus looked like a skinny six-month old.

"May I hold him?"

"Yes."

Jackie carefully supported Fardus's head and lifted his little body. She cradled him close to her and sang softly. Before she was ready, the mother returned to take him.

Fardus. I know your name now. I'll be praying for you by name.

The Tear

To read this story from the beginning, click HERE.

The next time Liya and Jackie went to visit Rohiza's family, there was no bad smell. They sat on the floor against the opposite wall from the last visit, the wall by the door. The room seemed brighter and a breeze brushed against Jackie. She noticed a ceiling fan and that the television was actually on a proper television stand. Jackie saw pictures on the wall. Had they been there before? There were the swirly designs of Arabic and a large framed picture of a bride and groom. On this day Jackie saw familiar faces and they were so excited to see the two ladies. Why had she thought the room looked so dirty before? It really wasn't so bad. In reality, nothing had changed but Jackie's perspective.

"Where were you last week?" Intan asked.

"We gathered together and waited for you but you didn't come!" Rohiza exclaimed.

Rohiza and Intan still had insane teeth, but Jackie didn't notice them so much. She still couldn't understand a word Rohiza said, but Jackie could see a bit of her heart. On this day Liya and Jackie learned more names and met more people. Rohiza served lukewarm chocolate milk and over-fried blobs of banana pieces dipped in batter. Jackie knew the family couldn't afford to spare this, there were so many mouths to feed.

Jackie looked around the room. There are 16 of people sitting on the floor and a few more in one of the rooms. The floor...it didn't seem all that dirty after all. The TV incessantly played a scratchy soap opera, the girls in the bedroom listened to loud music. A dad, another son of Rohiza, reclined on the floor with no shirt on and was yelling at his baby son. Kids came in and out, alternately playing and watching the visitors. Yep, it was still a lot of craziness all in one little house.

Liya and Jackie tried to converse with Rohiza and Intan. Of course, Jackie mused, they were the two ladies who were the hardest to understand.

Then the blind man entered. He quickly joined the conversation and he seemed very happy that the visitors were back. Liya told the story of Noah. They listened and when she was done, she asked them, "What was the most interesting thing about the story?"

This made for lively conversation. As people came and went, Jackie and Liya visited with different adults. They met a family friend, the great grandmother, and several husbands. At one point one of the young moms left on a motorcycle with one of the men.

"Where are they going?" Liya asked.

"That's her husband. They are going to the hospital to visit her father-in-law. He was in an accident. He broke his jaw...and shoulder...and leg...and foot..."

Jackie lost count of the places he'd been injured as the comments went on.

Rohiza's husband had been killed in a vehicle accident. The blind man had injured his eyes as a result of a vehicle accident. Jackie wondered who else in the family had been in accidents, but she didn't really want to know, afraid of what the answer might be. Bad luck seemed to follow this family around.

At some point in the visit, Jackie asked the shirtless man about his children. He was half-watching his two little ones and half-watching the television. In fact, to keep from having to chase after his toddler, he put a pair of squeeky shoes on the little guy so he could hear how far off the front porch the little one was venturing without actually having to get up. The little boy was two years old and the little girl was a year old. Rudy and Rani were their names. The father said he wasn't working because of migraines.

"I'm stressed," he said.

"Why are you stressed?" Liya asked.

"Because of having to watch these kids," he said. "It's very hard."

"Yes, life is hard. What do you do to ease your stress? Does God help you?"

"I have to pray and do good."

"Is that what you do to go to heaven too?"

"Yes."

"What if you are very good, but sometimes you do bad?"

"You have to try to do more good."

"Did you know that you can be sure of going to heaven? God made a way so that we don't have to worry or be stressed about that. There is a way. Have you heard of Jesus?"

"No, I have not heard."

No one here has heard of Jesus. And He is the One they need the most. 

Jackie felt a strange emotion come over her. A little bit of fear...a sad fear.

What if they don't get it, Lord? What if they keep hearing it, but they don't get it? I am already starting to love this family and the thought that they could reject You is already gripping me. If they reject You, it's going to break my heart. Oh Lord, I guess Your heart is already broken over them. I'm just now growing to love them and You are already there. I don't really want to get to know them any more, Lord, because I can't bear to know them and then know what it will be like for them if they do not choose You. 

A tear. Not a physical one. Not a wet drop. But a tear nonetheless. A figurative one. It rolled down Jackie's cheek. And figuratively, she took another step forward. She knew it was dangerous. But it was already too late anyway. This family was growing on her and God was giving her love for them.

It's going to hurt, isn't it Lord? OK. I'm going to open my heart. I'm going to love them. I'm going to trust You with what comes next.

The Tarp: Part 2

continued from The Tarp

This has to come from You, Lord, because there is nothing in me that can deal with this.

Liya began to chat with Rohiza while Jackie concentrated on understanding the slurred speech coming from Rohiza's toothy (or was it toothless?) mouth. Children sporadically entered the open front door and sat, then hopped up and ran back outside to play. The teen moms came and went. One of them stayed in the room, bouncing the baby with the cleft lip in an old baby bouncer chair.

Suddenly, the back door darkened as a new figure filled the space. The lady eyed Jackie and Liya curiously as she removed her headscarf and entered the room.

"Hello. I'm Liya and this is my friend Jackie."

"I'm Intan," said the lady. She was the sister of Rohiza and, Jackie mused, had definitely inherited the same tooth problems as her older sibling.

Intan shared more about the family. Death and sickness and misfortune seemed to be the running theme, though Intan shared in a matter-of-fact tone, as if talking about the weather.

Conversation fluctuated from family woes to life in general.

"Life can be so difficult. Were you here during the tsunami?" asked Liya.

"We were in a different house back then," replied Intan. "It was a terrible time. We all thought it was the end of the world."

"Yes," Liya said. "Many people did. But, as terrible as it was, it wasn't really the end. The end hasn't come yet."

"Yes, Judgement day hasn't come yet."

"Hey, what do you think? Will you be ready on that day? Do you think you'll go to heaven?"

"If God wills."

"So, how do you know if He wills it? Are you doing things now to make sure?"

"Yes, I try to do good things."

"Oh, like helping people or being kind?"

"Yes. By telling the truth and being good."

"Oh, I see. It's hard though. It's hard to always do the right thing."

Intan laughed knowingly. "Yes, it's hard. Especially when life is hard. My husband died in an accident on his way home from work a few years ago. Now I have to help my mother and my kids and we have no way to make money. We have relatives, but they don't help us."

Rohiza returned from the kitchen. She'd quietly slipped away and now brought two small cups of rose syrup juice.

"Oh Rohiza, we didn't mean to cause you any trouble," Liya said, "And now you've brought us drinks like we are special guests, when we are the ones who asked if we could come in!"

"It's no trouble," Rohiza replied. "You are like a blessing that has come to us today."

"You know," said Liya, "we talked about the tsunami, when so many of us thought it was the end of the world. Do you know about the beginning of the world?"

"Not really," said Intan.

"Well, back when God created the world, it was beautiful and there was nothing bad and no problems..." Liya launched into the story of Adam and Eve.

Jackie listened and prayed for Rohiza and Intan. Intan was delighted to hear the story and so Liya kept going with more stories. A movement caught Jackie's eye. Behind Liya she saw the blind man's head move. He turned toward Intan so he could hear.

Oh Lord, help this man hear the stories.

Liya continued right on to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. The TV droned on, the teen moms came and went, children toddled by, even Rohiza fussed about the house. But Intan and the blind man continued to listen. Shower time came. Naked children running about, one of the moms walking by in a bath towel, water splashing in the background, a random man arriving home from work (perhaps one of the husbands?): Life and Bible Stories, all rolled into one.

That's how it should be Lord, shouldn't it? The Gospel is not to be secretly whispered at a set time of day and it doesn't necessarily have to be printed nice and neatly on a piece of paper and presented in a perfect way. The Bible doesn't have to be preached from the pulpit only. The Gospel can be shared with the blind, the toothless, the poor, the discouraged. It can be talked about over the crackle of the television, the yells of children, the splash of bath water, the gurgles of a baby. The stories can be told on a dirty floor to people who have never heard them. Because the Gospel is for people and that's the life of people. We are dirty, we are smelly, we are poor, we are sick, we are the very ones that You sent Your Son to die for.

"We have to go," said Liya.

"Will you come again?" asked Intan.

"You were a blessing," Rohiza said.

"Thank you for your kindess," Jackie offered.

Then Liya and Jackie stepped out of the dark house and into the sunshine of the road outside: out from under the tarp.

Thank You Lord for giving us the words to say. They heard the Truth. I wonder if they really will let us come back?

The Tarp

"May we chat with you?" Liya asked the ladies standing in the doorway. "My friend would like to practice her language." Liya motioned toward her white-skinned friend standing on the side of the road beside the small house.

"Yes," answered the mother, "come in."

Liya and Jackie slipped off their sandals at the door and entered the room. There was not a stitch of furniture in the room except for a wooden table that held an old TV. Purple and pink contact paper covered the floor and the faded pink walls were smudged with dirt. Jackie smelled a combination of urine, body odor, and dirt. She quickly decided to breathe through her mouth and not her nose. Three daughters who were in their teens or early twenties stood in the room and watched quietly as Liya, Jackie, and the mother sat on the plastic floor. Behind the mother sat a young man. He did not turn his head to greet them and the mother did not introduce him. Jackie looked at the man. He stared straight ahead, was he catatonic?

"Who is that?" asked Liya.

"That's my son," said the mother.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He was in an accident. He lost his sight."

Jackie looked from the mother to the young man. That couldn't be all that was wrong with him. He continued to stare straight ahead, ignoring the conversation about him.

The mother introduced herself as Rohiza. She and Liya began to talk, but Jackie struggled to understand them. Rohiza spoke in words slurred by her lack of teeth. The TV beside them blared a scratchy sounding soap opera that enthralled one of the teenage daughters.

Distracted, Jackie gazed around the room. At the far end was a kitchen area and there were what appeared to be two bedrooms with stacks of mattresses. Jackie guessed that Rohiza and her children brought the mattresses to the living room when it was time to sleep. But Rohiza was not only a mother to these girls. She was a grandmother.

Jackie watched as one of the teenage girls brought in a baby. The tiny boy had a cleft lip.

Liya looked up from her conversation with the Rohiza. "Is the baby alright?" she asked.

"Oh yes," said Rohiza, "he is just small. When he is bigger he can have an operation to fix his lip."

Jackie doubted that a cleft lip was all that was wrong with the baby boy. She noticed that as the young mother held him, his back stiffened and his head fell back. He could not hold himself at all. Something else was wrong with him.

Jackie looked at the teen-aged girls, Rohiza's daughters. Rohiza said they were all married and already had several kids each. The young moms were nice and watched quietly, but did not seem to really engage in the conversation. Jackie looked at the strange man sitting staring straight ahead. She listened to the crackling television and the warbled words of the toothless Rohiza. Jackie smelled the stench of the house and absently rubbed her fingers across the dirty plastic paper used as flooring. And she sensed something...something spiritual. Like a tarp. Yes, it felt like a spiritual tarp.

"I'm overwhelmed, Lord. These people are totally without You Lord! I can't even think right now. Help me know what to do..."

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