Honor

Honor your parents.  God's words.  What does that look like exactly?  I have been thinking on this lately as the loss of my Mom became imminent.  Honor means to speak highly of, to give a place of importance to; to respect. 

My Mom brought me up in the Church - God Bless her.  My brother and I knew that on Sundays Mom took us to church, that's just how it was.  We had healthy food to eat.  Presents for birthdays and Christmas, trips to relatives' homes.   We had pets even when it meant a burden.  We went camping even when staying home would be easier.   We were loved.

Mom, you did a good job. 

My Mom's legacy lives on in my brother who is raising his two sons to know God.  Her impact is seen in my own parenting, our five boys who love God and seek hard after him, even to the ends of the earth.  My Mom started these things rolling by being obedient to the way she was raised. 

Mom, you will be missed by many. 

My beautiful Mom.

Gorgeous even in ear muffs.  

At my wedding.  

On a beach with her dog, Bella.

On the deck watching her birds and enjoying the view.  This was in the early spring.

Prayers are appreciated.  Remember, if your parents are still on this planet, honor them. 

counting

I am doing lots of counting these days. 

Counting the cost.

Counting new friends.

Counting how many people we may be touching.

And of course counting at school as I teach my students to use numbers. 

The cost is high.  Not just financially as we live here with no salary, no financial support, spending our savings.  We have been blessed with some inheritance monies, so don't feel sorry for us.  We have far more than 2/3rds of the world has.  The painful cost is that of not being there.  Not being home for the funeral of a friend.  Not being there to hold my Mom's hand as she lets go and runs to Jesus.  Not being there. 

The blessings are also numerous.  We have many new friends.  People like us, people who don't find what we are doing to be crazy insane.  People who understand that we may be spending our kids' college funds, but we count this experience as far more valuable. 

Daily we touch so many people on this island.  It is amazing how God uses us.  From the boys getting a shouted "hello sir Brian's boys!" as they walk to the beach.  To the trike drivers that know just where to take me in the morning without my saying.  The guys on the beach who know I volunteer to educate their kids.  I often get asked "volunteer? so what's the salary?"  There is no salary.  Often times my trike fare gets paid by grateful islanders.  There are kids on the beach that take part in man's PE program for our boys, kids who don't go to school.  Kids who take a break from selling souvenirs to play for a bit.  Kids who are young, 8, 10 years old.  It is truly rewarding.

Then of course our students.  Starting Monday I pass Math along to my Filipino co-teacher.  I will start teaching English and Science to the 3rd grade students who do not have a volunteer native English speaker right now.  I have enjoyed teaching math.  But I'm thrilled to get out before fractions!!!!

School aged boys who are not in school.  We hope to build a shelter at this site in the next month or so and then we'll have an area we can put up a chalkboard in and have some tutoring going on for kids who are not in school.  

Filling up tummies.  Thanks to some donations from stateside friends and family the meals have been nutritious and large lately!

This tree dragon was at the top of a tree in our yard, right off our rooftop level.  It's about 30 feet down from where he's at.  

Flowers in our yard. 

We bought skimboards for the boys this past week.  At Laguna (the feeding site we serve) there is a young man who makes skimboards; he was delighted to fill an order of boards for us and did a great job.  His name is Gilbert.  

Another momma with her flock.

Thank goodness the driver has a helmet on!

Could use some extra prayers for our family in the states. 

I keep forgetting

Can't believe that I keep forgetting to post about the jack hammer frogs; remember the frogs that persistently lay eggs in our laundry tub? 

Well we brought a bucket of eggs into the house to see if they would grow into frogs.  They did.

friends

We have made lots of friends on the island.  Some friends are here serving with us, others are locals, others are foreigners who now live here permanently.  And some have 4 legs.

Our local friends, W and H, are building a restaurant with living quarters and apartments above it.  They have two dogs that both had puppies.  Plans are to get the two spayed next time the spay/neuter clinic comes to the island.  

Awe - just so cute.  

This is Buddy, our landlord's dog who spends half of his time here.  We make him sleepy.

And there is Ate J.  She is little and loves Bis like crazy sauce.  We think we will hire her to come and cook twice each week and give us lessons on Filipino cooking.   As you can see she is the same size as Bis.   No, Bis has not grown that much since we've been here.

This butterfly was about the size of a poptart.  I really love poptarts...

What's on your beach?

We are all well.  Getting into a new groove for September.  Working on being more intentional in building relationships with a variety of people groups on the island.

Love to all.