February 18, 2011

• Cyclone season has started in earnest, so it seems. So it seems by the evident absence of Josh from our household now every day ALL day (ie. very early in the mornings until after normal dinner time hour)! And his higher stress levels. And the fact that we’re stuck inside most of the day most days because of the incessant rains… and the subsequent higher moldy smell in our house. When i check email in the mornings after breakfast the cyclone/weather websites are still open, giving evidence of Josh’s awareness of what’s coming up on the horizon. We’ll keep the news to ourselves this time though, the sharing of cyclone warnings to our gardener last week just seemed to cause him more stress than the bliss of ignorance. Unfortunately for most Malagasy with rice fields still in the ground, the inclement weather isnt great for harvesting.
  (photo: pierrot men, sahakevo. 2009).

  I can confess that mostly i dont like the distracted air Josh has most of the time during this season of the year, the constant phone ringing with people calling to make plans or change them, plans tossed about at the whim of the weather. I dont either like to hear him declare as we sit down to a rare breakfast together as a family that “today is going to be a very stressful day!” But i am also encouraging him to share more verbally, so i guess i’ll take the bad with the good He told me last night that i should write a blog entry about the sacrifice i make in being a MAF pilot’s wife during this time of year. I think he was feeling guilty about his long days and never seeing his family. Truth be told, however, i’ve learned to expect this sort of thing by now during these months of the year. It’s the reason why we’ll never furlough in February until early spring (can you imagine being only one pilot left in the program at this time of year!? gah! …incidentally, there is only one pilot in the program right now at Helimission. Ack! poor guy… poor his-family! ) I know that it’s the intense time and that a lot is going on. I know we (MAF) benefit from the flight hours and the people need the aid. I have faith in Josh’s flying skills and his wisdom in knowing when things are too hairy and the risks are too high. And i also have faith in the Almighty God to carry the plane in the palm of his hand, and in the prayers of the Saints who uphold Josh and the other pilots during this time of high winds, high stress, high need.

  Judah is still on school holidays, in case you’ve forgotten. That’s probably why i havent been blogging. I’m enjoying the sleeping in and the relaxed hanging out at our house these days. Solo is hard at work on the Secret Fort, which i will post photos of in the near future.  My friend Tanja told me of a very funny story of Judah and his friend – and her son – Fanilo who were playing together at his house this last week: they were reportedly fighting over a stick or something when Fanilo shouted at Judah something to the effect of “dont you know the Bible says….” and proceeded to throw scripture at Judah to, i assume, get him to hand it over, when Judah responded, “but the Bible also says….” and shouted back some other verse supporting his position. Haha. What missionary kids! I’m certain they were reciting Boys Club verses at each other because i cant see where they would have the knowledge to quote with authority anything else (although Judah can very easily now tell the general overview of the Old Testament from Genesis to Kings due to Josh’s reading to him of the Bible every day and a weekly review of what’s happened).

  Asher is getting to be a big turkey recently. argh! his eating has also just dropped off dramatically in the last 2 days… i’m hoping he’s not sick, but i’m at a loss as to his teething habits, since he hasnt popped any since October-ish and it always seems like he’s exhibiting teething symptoms. bah. He’s growing into the capabilities of being able to REALLY frustrate Judah (he just ran crying upstairs and i can hear him yell out his irritation in his room because of Asher’s pestering [actually, now it comes out that Asher has 'porridge hands' and Judah doesnt like being touched by them. haha] ) and his parents, truth be told.

  • 12:11 am
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