Sifting

I decided not to write to you about our clogged up sink and leaking toilet (I think they have been trying to fix that for a year…) or the fact that we have no internet at the house and leaks in our ceiling, and a rat in the rafters (or some other creature that keeps banging around at night)- instead I thought I would show you what we have been doing to ignore that stuff and enjoy this Christmas season.  We told the kids that our focus this year would not be on getting presents.  I wanted us all to focus instead on how we could bless others.  What we could give away.  So we made poppy seed bread, pumpkin muffins, homemade caramels, cocoa mixes, cookies, pies, cards etc. and made delivery after delivery to EVERYONE, well, almost everyone.  IT was a lot of work, but it was a great family lesson.

Present time was very different this year than years past.  I remember always counting the gifts to make sure that everyone had the same amount and making sure that the pile looked BIG.  This year the kids only opened a few things-mostly stuff they could enjoy together:  a basketball to share, drawing pads with paints and markers, and a few other things my family sent.  It was beautiful!  We took turns reading the Christmas story from Matthew and Luke.  The kids all wrote a letter to God that was their gift to Him, we talked about the true meaning of Christmas…I felt like I have been missing out in years past by getting caught up in the hype of having to make each Christmas bigger and better and the gifts as well.  It reminded me of when I am baking here and I have to sift my flour to get all the weevils and worms out.  It is a pain to do but in the end I get out all  the stuff that shouldn’t be there, and end up with only what I need.  That is what we did this year with our Christmas.  We sifted out all the stuff that didn’t need to be there, and just loved what was left.

Here’s to sifting.

Rachel

Christmas Time in Indonesia

We decided as a family to go to a Messiah sing.  It was very formal and proper and extremely crowded.  As you can imagine our kids were soon bored.  (Cale dressed up as a Wise Man-not exactly sure why but he wanted to.  It was cute).  Even though they were bored, they said later that they enjoyed the music.  The next day the kids made a special dinner for us-(What a treat!).  Then of course there were sugar cookies to decorate.  I LOVE doing that.

What would Christmas be without some “Reindeer Games”?  So we played some relay games like “Fill the stocking”, “Guess Who?” and “Stuff the Santa.”  Garth was Santa, naturally.  It was hilarious.

We have been having a great time of family togetherness – A real Holly Jolly Christmas.

Season’s Greetings!

Love

Rachel

So Long Dengue Fever

I have been waiting to write until I had good news to tell.  So here it is:  I feel like a new person.  The Dengue fever is finally leaving my body.  I am telling you-what a difference!!!!  Yahoo!!!!  I am gaining my energy back, and the headaches and body aches and all that other stuff is going away.  Thank you for all your prayers.  I know that is the reason for such improvement.  I appreciate all of you that have cared so much about me.  Just in time for me to celebrate and have a jolly Christmas with my family.  Hallelujah-Praise the Lord!

The dorm kids all left on Friday for a month holiday with their families.  We had a good-bye feast with them and some of the parents.  We have a great group in the Hostel this year, and really enjoy being with the kids.  Please pray for the right family to take our place in the Hostel next year.  The family that was lined up will not be able to come.  So unless someone steps up, the Hostel will be have to close.  God is in control and we trust He has amazing things planned for this group of kids.

Thanks for your part in helping us have a happy, holly Christmas.  We are looking forward to a month to ourselves-no schedules, and no sharing of our time.  It will be a wonderful chance to reconnect as a family.

Love you all

Rachel

Christmas Season

The Christmas season is so very different for us here than it would be if we were home, but we are still finding ways to enjoy it as much as we can.  On Sunday we went to a Christmas party for MAF in celebration of our two new Kodiak airplanes and to celebrate Christmas with all of our Indonesian workers.  Most of the service was in Indonesian, however, one man did sing “Santa Claus is coming to Town” in English.  After the message, the kids all got a goodie bag and then we all ate rice together.

The hostel has a plastic Christmas tree that we put up every year.  I let the dorm kids and our kids all decorate it.  They went a bit crazy with the tinsel, but I must say it is quite festive.  Wyatt jumped on Ben’s back to hang the star.

Christmas is such an amazing time of year.  Even if we are in a hot, tropical jungle full of sweat instead of shivers -where there are fireworks and bamboo cannons going off around us, day and night, and huts called pondok Natals blasting a variety of music at all hours.  There are no carolers, or lines for Santa, no snow or warming up by the fireplace, no trips to visit family or Christmas cards to hang up…Yet, it is Christmas.  I have realized being here, that I have had to readjust my idea of what Christmas is.  I have decided that Christmas is what we bring into it, where we put our focus.  It is the traditions we teach our children, it is the way we reach out to others, it is the celebration of Christ’s birth.  And you can do that anywhere.  I told the kids that this year we are not buying them a bunch of presents.  I want our focus to be on what we can give to others.  What can we do to make the holiday season better for those around us?  That is what we will be trying to do this year. Enjoy all the reminders of Christmas that you have around you, but don’t get caught up in the craziness.  Christmas is so much more than what you see.

Love

Rachel

Calluses

It is very common here to have gross feet.  Most people spend a good part of their days barefoot and the ground is always dirty.  You can often look at people’s feet and tell how long they have been living in Indonesia.  Kids that grew up here have feet that don’t even look like American feet.  They are a lot wider and the ankles and toes are thicker.  I am sure this sounds very weird, but there is a reason I am telling you this.  I decided that my feet were going to stay American looking even though I am barefoot all day every day. So a few days ago, I spent some time scrubbing them with a pumice stone getting all the rough edges off and rubbing them with cream to make them smooth.  It worked great when I was sitting down, but as soon as I got up to walk on our tile floor, I was slipping all over the place.  It was quite comical, but not very practical.

I need those calluses.  I need those rough spots.  They help me get a grip-literally.  It is the same thing with life.  The mistakes we make, the lessons learned are like calluses on the “sole” of our life.  Illnesses, trials, financial struggles, infertility, stress, joblessness, betrayals…those are the things that make a rough spot, or callus, over where we were tender.  Yet, if we didn’t have those spots, it would be so easy to slide our way into a self-centered life of ease.  “Look at me!  Look at how great I am!”  The rough spots take the spotlight off of us, and help us to focus on God.  We realize that we can’t get through life without Him.

Think about that the next time you notice a callus on your hands or feet.  Thank God for the “rough spots” He has put in your life.  They are there for a reason!

Love you-

Rachel

(Speaking of rough spots, continue to pray for me and this dengue fever.  It is still hanging on, more than I thought it would at this point.  October 20^th was when I first got malaria and shortly after that I contracted dengue.  It has been almost 7 weeks.  I still have a problem with head and body aches, an incredible amount of fatigue, low energy, nausea, eye pain, joint weakness, and it is still messing with my brain, speech, and thought processing.  I know it is for a reason, and I don’t want to rush through this time of healing without trying to learn all the lessons I can in the process.  Pray that I don’t get discouraged.  Thanks!)

God Letters

Have you seen the movie “Letters To God?”  It is a beautiful, touching movie about a boy with cancer who journals by writing letters to God.  We watched it together as a family last week and afterwards the kids talked about wanting to do the same thing.  So we constructed a box in which to “mail” letters to God. 
What would you say in a letter to God?  Would it be simple to write?  I think about when I write letters to a good friend, I have no problem thinking of questions to ask and fun things to say.  Why?  Because I am close to them-the words come easy.  But when I write a letter to someone that I don’t know very well, I have to think long and hard to come up with enough things to put down on paper.  Sophie’s heart is very close to God.  She thinks about Him, talks to Him, and reads about Him all the time.  She let me read one of her letters.  This is what it said:

Dear God,

How many stars are there?  Please forgive all my sins.  Help them to be washed away.  I love you.  How is it up in Heaven?  Fun?  Great?  Fantastic?  Well, my guess is all those together.  I wish I was up with you, but thanks for making me on Earth for a purpose.  I’m glad to have what I do have:  a Mom, a Dad, two brothers, a cat, and one sister who is great.  Thanks for reading this.

Sophie Joy Erickson

If you have time this week, try it.  Write God a letter-straight from your heart to His.  I know that He will read it.

Love you

Rachel

Garth’s Birthday

Today is Garth’s birthday!!!  Do you know how old (or young) he is?  Fifty!  I can hardly believe it.  For a few months he is in the same decade as my parents.  That blows me away!  He is not letting the number determine his actions (Now, that could be a good thing or a bad thing!)  But in this case it is a good thing.  We are all very blessed to have him.  He loves life, loves people, and loves to laugh.  What a blessing from God!

I decided to try and throw him a surprise birthday party at MAF.  Up until about 20 minutes before we were to be there he had no idea.  Then he started to figure it out.  I had asked everyone, “If you are older than Garth wear black.  Younger than him wear white.”  So Garth saw the kids and I all in white and saw that I laid him out a black shirt to wear and he started wondering what was going on.  But it was still a lot of fun!

How funny-there was only one other person in black!

Garth, and Cale and I took a beautiful motorcycle ride out to the cross this morning and then we had a dorm party for him tonight.  I hung up a bunch of older pictures of Garth for all to see.  There were still a bunch of cakes left from Saturday’s party so all I did was make him an apple pie.  Some of the dorm kids got him diapers…a friend of ours got him a beautiful handcrafted Indonesian man in a boat.  One of my gifts he will get to do tomorrow-a flight in MAF’s latest new airplane-the Kodiak!  That will be so much fun!  I am sure he will take pictures for you to see.

Whether you are fifty, or fifteen or any number below or above-enjoy your minutes.  They go by quickly!

Love you

Rachel

Boat Ride

We have so many things to be thankful for don’t we?  We truly enjoyed every minute of the kids break from school this week.  It was so very nice.  On Wednesday we went with some friends on a boat ride on Lake Sentani.  We timed it so we could watch the sunset from the water.  It was beautiful!

After the boat ride we went into town and bought Nasi Bunkus.  There is a wonderful lady that sells the best yellow rice with chicken and noodles for a dollar a package.  Can’t beat that can you?

This week went way too fast.  But I am thankful that it didn’t just pass us by.  We grabbed on to it and enjoyed the ride.

Love you all

Rachel