Monday, October 15, 2012

critters in endless supply

We always seem to have something in a tub.  Snake, hermit crab, snails, lizards....

A tiny, baby snake that Seth found out in the rain one night.  Despite Seth's best efforts it did not survive.  I thought it was a worm, I was wrong.


Rosy the very large hermit crab.  She will eat your dead skin off your feet, or remove extra appendages.  


One of the two rescue kittens.  The J girls worked really hard to keep the kitties alive, but today one of the kittens died suddenly.  


A giant stick bug.  

This morning as I headed off to work this little guy was in the road, he followed me a bit, then someone else, then someone else.  I asked Man to send down the boys to bring the little guy home if he was still in the road; they could not find him.  This afternoon EQ and I walked down to see if the Sisters had fried bananas and there was the puppy again.  Eating poop.  Like many places around the world that lack toilet facilities, some folks here do their big jobs in a plastic baggy and toss it.  This little fellow had found a bag....it was really gross.  EQ and I bought him a hotdog and took him home.  We are calling him Gizmo.  I don't know what we'll do with him, but for now he's sorta cleaned up, and fed.  He is a very silly looking dog.  I am hoping he will sleep quietly with the boys and I won't have to do much with him. 

Saturday, October 6, 2012

raining cats and dogs

Today, well Saturday in the States, Sunday here, was my Mom's memorial service.  Through the efforts of numerous people we were able to Face Time the service and be part of it from thousands of miles away.  The service was lovely, my Mom would have found it so beautiful.

On our little island we've had lots of rain this past week.  It quite literally rained cats!  In about 24 hours we had 2 to 3 inches of rain.  When I arrived at school after the rains one morning it was to distressed mewing, from a kitten we were sure.  I found the kitten sort of stuck in the corner of the building, but could then hear more mewing.  I found kitten number two up on the hillside behind the school, soaking wet, shivering, crying out.  The Muslim village is behind the school so I carried the kittens up the hill and asked around a bit for a momma cat- nobody was willing to confess to the loss of two kittens, or to owning a momma cat. 

As soon as the J family twin 13 year old girls heard the news of babies in need of mommas they were all over these little guys.  The two kittens made it through the first night, and the second.  We kitten sat this weekend to give the Js a break from feeding.  We think the kittens are about 3-4 weeks old.  Thanks to my Aunt S for sending good eye droppers to us we are able to feed the little things.



 Our newest dog.  We have not seen Cherry for weeks, but then we have not seen her British owner either so perhaps they are on holiday.  But about 4 weeks ago this little, skinny black dog began to show up at night.  Very timid, she would not come near us.  Seth dubbed her Shadow.  Day after day she found courage, enough to begin coming in the door and eating the egg over rice I would set out for her.  She lets some of the boys pet her, she is very afraid of me.  I wanted to call her Bat Girl.





The boys go out scouting for hermit crabs at night.  One night they found this huge guy.  The orange thing he is using as a shell is a plastic drinking cup.  He's about the size of a big potato!



At cat at Laguna. 


Our boys and the J boy made this awesome sand tank one day.


These leaves had me looking for dinosaurs.  


A leaf moth.  Good name right!


Honey Bee swarm outside of church.  Our church has no windows.  One Sunday these honey bees swarmed in on a branch just outside where we were sitting.

We are off to the beach.  It is Sunday, we try to rest, appreciate God's glory, and play with the local kids.

Love to all.


Thursday, October 4, 2012

things change

Every day brings changes.  On this little island there is joy and struggle, just like every place else.  What helps the struggle and multiplies the joy is community.

A teacher in S. Korea found my blog, contacted me prior to coming to Boracay with her friends, and brought us Kraft Macaroni and Cheese - all the way from South Korea, all as a result of technology.    While here they came to our church, played volleyball with us on the beach, went sailing, and L even came to school one day to meet my kids.  Just knowing that people all around the world are learning about our needs, connecting to us, even visiting us is so comforting - like God is truly orchestrating each step, every blog search, the good and the bad are all in His control.  Comforting isn't it?

While I don't always know if I'm doing the right things, I trust that my God can turn my mistakes into good.  I chose to stay here rather than travel home for my Mom's memorial service.  Looking at the dollars and knowing that a plane ticket to the States costs more than the annual salary of most people on our island....well it does make a difference when choosing how to spend our finances for His Glory. 

Just like in our deciding if we stay a full two years or use the money we would spend doing that to help in other ways.  Shelters are needed, surgery is needed for a few kids here.  One boy at our site has a cleft palate, he is at least 3 years old already and has had no surgery.  We could pay for his family to take him to Manila, he could have a life changing surgery there....Or another little boy who's mother tried to abort him herself and he ended up surviving but with terrible disfigurement - a doctor has been found in Manila who will do the surgery, it just takes money.



Yep - naked.  We see lots of naked here.  



Hi name is Dozer.  Each morning he is taken out for his walkies.  It usually goes like this: 2 steps forward, lay down, 2 steps forward, lay down. You get the idea. 

I had more to share but we need to head out the door for an evening with our community group. 

Counting joy