I love my doctor. Despite trying to talk me out of applying for a position in PNG (in front of the boys - slight cringe moment), I still think he's pretty cool. He's been to PNG, so we had an understanding. He was fantastic, and when he heard we were taking a volunteer position, he charged us for one person, instead of 4! Such kindness.
The x-rays were simple. Expensive but an easy process.
The blood tests were...fine. And by fine I mean, why did I get the grumpy one?
It dawned on me at the end of this process that the one person you would really want in a good mood is the phlebotomist. I had a gruff one. I'm sure it's not the most fun job in the world, but then neither is bagging up chicken manure and yet I've done that with a cheerful face.
We decided to take the boys in with us while our blood was taken, just to show how brave we were. We concluded they will have to have jabs at some point too, so we just wanted to show that it pricks, but it's not really sore. And I go and get a grumpy lady doing mine. We divided to conquer, Marcus had Sebby and not only did I have the grumpy phlebotomist, I had the effervescent child with me - not a good combination. We survived, with only a little blood shed, and it was all mine.
Forms, forms and more forms, blood, signatures, x-rays, photocopies, medications, verification, stamped by Justice of the Peace.
And now we wait.
Sunday, 18 August 2013
Thursday, 15 August 2013
Imagination Travel Journal by Seb
Date 5015, the 56 month of the year.
I was climbing the famous Almond Mountains in Russia, it was quite misty as it had been raining beforehand. I was very high now, so I turned around to look at the view and I saw a big kangaroo chasing me. I started sprinting hard out but he was gaining on me fast.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw the famous stolen banana dirt bike and it had petrol in it. I couldn't resist to try it. Then I remembered the kangaroo. It was so close now I could hear it bounding after me, so I jumped on the dirt bike as I had ran towards it when I had first seen it. I revved it and took off. Leaving the kangaroo coughing in my dust.
I was keeping a good lookout for World War I and II trenches that hadn't been filled in , silly people. Further on I came driving through a little group of Hotels in the middle of nowhere. I was puzzled as I was wondering if anyone lived here. Out came some partly naked people, only a bit of hippo skin covered them. They were dark skinned and quite tall. They started talking to me in Maori, which I know, so I started talking back (I did quite well at my languages at school). They said they came from New Zealand by boat to help with the fighting (which they are good at). They made Hotels themselves, which I think is awesome. They said they would give me hospitality and they would clean up the dirt bike which was quite dirty from all the riding.
I went into one of the hotels in quite good shape. I went up the stairs as a tired man. I went into the bedroom and flopped onto the bed. It had been a tiring day. I lay awake for as long as I could remember, thinking about the day that had passed. Probably the most epic day anyone has ever had. Chased by a kangaroo, found the famous banana dirt bike, found Maori living in Hotels in the middle of nowhere. I finally felt my eyes dropping from dowsiness and went to sleep thinking Russia is a strange and puzzling place.
I was climbing the famous Almond Mountains in Russia, it was quite misty as it had been raining beforehand. I was very high now, so I turned around to look at the view and I saw a big kangaroo chasing me. I started sprinting hard out but he was gaining on me fast.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw the famous stolen banana dirt bike and it had petrol in it. I couldn't resist to try it. Then I remembered the kangaroo. It was so close now I could hear it bounding after me, so I jumped on the dirt bike as I had ran towards it when I had first seen it. I revved it and took off. Leaving the kangaroo coughing in my dust.
I was keeping a good lookout for World War I and II trenches that hadn't been filled in , silly people. Further on I came driving through a little group of Hotels in the middle of nowhere. I was puzzled as I was wondering if anyone lived here. Out came some partly naked people, only a bit of hippo skin covered them. They were dark skinned and quite tall. They started talking to me in Maori, which I know, so I started talking back (I did quite well at my languages at school). They said they came from New Zealand by boat to help with the fighting (which they are good at). They made Hotels themselves, which I think is awesome. They said they would give me hospitality and they would clean up the dirt bike which was quite dirty from all the riding.
I went into one of the hotels in quite good shape. I went up the stairs as a tired man. I went into the bedroom and flopped onto the bed. It had been a tiring day. I lay awake for as long as I could remember, thinking about the day that had passed. Probably the most epic day anyone has ever had. Chased by a kangaroo, found the famous banana dirt bike, found Maori living in Hotels in the middle of nowhere. I finally felt my eyes dropping from dowsiness and went to sleep thinking Russia is a strange and puzzling place.
Wednesday, 14 August 2013
Sugar in Peanut Butter? Really?
Yesterday we went to visit Pic's Really Good Peanut Butter factory with our local home school group. I admit, I was looking forward to this as much as the boys were. I really love Pic's peanut butter, it truly is 'really good'.
I learnt a lot from the tour. The most amusing was that these folks started roasting their peanuts in a brand new hand concrete mixer. Now they roast 2 tonnes of peanuts per day, so clearly have more appropriate facilities. What was recent news to me was that Pic started making his own peanut butter because the peanut butter we buy on our super market shelves had sugar in.
Sugar in peanut butter? Really? We have two different peanut butters, Pic's, which the bigger people in the family like and another supermarket brand, which the smaller people in the family like. I read the ingredients with shock. Sugar was listed. Sugar in peanut butter! Why?
Why must we need sugar in everything? I blame the fall.
Craig our tour guide told us we could make peanut butter at home. Why not try it too.
Take some raw peanuts, roast them in your oven, then put them in a blender with a pinch of salt, and blend for a few minutes until the peanut dust becomes a ball of peanut butter.
The boys in the factory after the tour and taste test,
surrounded by packaged Really Good Peanut Butter.
I learnt a lot from the tour. The most amusing was that these folks started roasting their peanuts in a brand new hand concrete mixer. Now they roast 2 tonnes of peanuts per day, so clearly have more appropriate facilities. What was recent news to me was that Pic started making his own peanut butter because the peanut butter we buy on our super market shelves had sugar in.
Sugar in peanut butter? Really? We have two different peanut butters, Pic's, which the bigger people in the family like and another supermarket brand, which the smaller people in the family like. I read the ingredients with shock. Sugar was listed. Sugar in peanut butter! Why?
Why must we need sugar in everything? I blame the fall.
Craig our tour guide told us we could make peanut butter at home. Why not try it too.
Take some raw peanuts, roast them in your oven, then put them in a blender with a pinch of salt, and blend for a few minutes until the peanut dust becomes a ball of peanut butter.
Monday, 12 August 2013
We Wait
For many the call to the mission field is a call to sacrifice, isolation, hardship, blessing, faith, and patience. Some I know have prepared and waited years and years to go after they were called. Some wait for Government departments or visas for months, in our case for a pitiful 5 months and it feels like torture. December 2012, we were called. January 2013, we visited. February 2013, we were invited and said yes, and now we wait.
We live in a state of limbo. Drawn to a place we want to be, a place we believe God wants us to be, yet still having to live our lives in the country we call home. And still we wait. Our mission agency policy isn’t to pay bribes, they feel called to be counter cultural to the corruption that exist within this developing country. And I agree, in theory, but in practise, I just want to get there. I don’t want them to pay bribes either, but this waiting is hard.
As we started this year, we were so full of excitement at what this year would hold, and after months of not hearing anything, and knowing this tick we are wanting from the government is only the first of many, the excitement is waning. Our expectations went from 8 weeks to get there, to months and months of excruciating waiting. Our friends who have been there, smile and tell us this is good training for life in a developing country, learning patience, understanding corruption, knowing nothing happens in a hurry. This is our training ground.
With our call still fresh and our excitement waning, I searched in my concordance to seek what the Word of God said about the word ‘wait’. What I unearthed was food for a hungry soul and hydration for drying lips.
Psalm 27:14 Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!
Psalm 37:7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!
Psalm 38:15 But for you, O LORD, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
Psalm 62:5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.
Isaiah 40:31 but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Habakkuk 2:3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end--it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.
Our call is to obedience, and as the Word says, we wait for the appointed time, we can trust as the LORD is the author of time. Just because we are to ‘fret not’, be patient and hope in Him, doesn’t make it easy, it only makes it do-able.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)