I Thank You LORD....

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 

Give thanks to the God of gods, 

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Give thanks to the Lord of lords, 

For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 

Psalm 136:1-3 

Thanksgiving is not a holiday celebrated in Vanuatu, but my son and family will celebrate it this year with the other missionary family on Tanna island. It won't be with Turkey and dressing I'm sure. This will be their last celebration together because Ken and Mendy have finished their translation work and they are coming home next year. My kids will miss them. 

Last year my family was on furlough for the holidays, that makes it bittersweet this year. We really had a good time on the holidays, and I miss them, but God says its good to give thanks so I will give Thanks to God with all my heart; I will sing praises to Him. Ps. 138:1,2

• I thank you LORD for the relationships the missionaries have together, and their love for you. 
• I thank you LORD, for my children's commitment to You and the Ni Vanuatu.  
• I thank you LORD for each one of my precious grandchildren. 
• I thank you LORD that though I'm a long distance grandmother I have a good relationship with them. 
• I thank you LORD for the health of my family, You have protected and healed them this year. 
• I thank you LORD for their house and the 4 wheeler they now have.  
• I thank you LORD for the e-mail communication with the grandchildren. It is so fun to hear from them.
• I thank you LORD for the small refrigerator they now have.
• I thank you LORD for the memories of furlough, and the relationships we deepened with the kids. 
• I thank you LORD for the Ni Vanuatu, the beauty of the islands,and their culture. 
• I thank you LORD for the village translators, especially Nettie who is working so hard. Bless her. 
• I thank you LORD for the translation process, and the work that has been accomplished. 
• I thank you LORD that your Holy Spirit can open the eyes of the Ni Vanuatu to see wonderful things from your law. Ps. 119:18 I pray many will come to know You. 
• I thank you LORD for Your mercy and faithfulness to us. 
• I thank you LORD for our postal system and theirs. Its a blessing to send a package.
• I thank you LORD for the random text messages I've received from Erik. They have blessed me.  
• I thank you LORD for the grief I have often felt this year because it has caused me to seek you out. 
• I thank you LORD that Erik and Michele choose daily to continue the work You have called them too, please give them endurance and strength.
• I thank you LORD that you are Worthy, for You were slain and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. I look forward to the day that all of us together will stand before Your throne saying, 'TO HIM WHO SITS ON THE THRONE , AND TO THE LAMB, BE BLESSING AND HONOR AND GLORY AND DOMINION FOREVER AND EVER."  Revelation 5:9,13.  but for today LORD I will thank You.    

What's That Smell?

giving thanks today for: 159. traveling mercies .... my husband is home from his trip safely...

160. weather is warming up, and I'm warming up....

162. my washer and dryer....

My grand daughter ended her e-mail yesterday, "it is raining here, our clothes won't dry."

That one statement brought back a flood of memories.

The laundry not drying is the hardest thing for me to handle when I go to visit.

All laundry is done by hand in the village, and every woman does it her own way.

I remember the first time I saw Mama Ellen she was sitting behind her bamboo hut on a slab of concrete. She was protected from the sun with a small brown tarp held up with two tree limbs. She had two tubs of water in front of her. One had clothes soaking in a soapy solution, and one filled with clean water.

Up and down she would dip a pair of blue cotton shorts in the soapy solution. Mamma Ellen smacked the dripping shorts on the ground in front of her, and began to scrub the light weight material on a rock. Her scrubbing was meant to get the dirt out. I watched with anxiety and wondered if the seams on the shorts I made her son would hold together.

She rinsed the pants in cold water and wrung them tightly. Her daughter hung the clean clothes on the lines beside the house.

My daughter in law does laundry every day rain or shine.

Her process is very similar to Mamma Ellen's only she doesn't use a rock instead she scrubs using a heavy bar of blue soap and a brush.

No matter how much scrubbing is done the mud never completely gets out of the clothes, but each mamma in the village knows that regardless of appearance their families clothes are clean.

The wet hanging clothes were at the mercy of the weather. If warm and sunny the laundry dried quickly. If wet and rainy the clothes could be on the lines for days. We would go out every hour and flip the wet laundry.

Sometimes if there was a break in the rain then flipping helped the drying process, but

after hours of hanging on the lines, the clothes got stinky and the dampness never went away.

One day while playing Scrabble I said, "John Mark, your shirt stinks. Why don't you take it off and put on a clean one."

He smelled his sleeve and said, " It's okay Grandma this is the way all our clothes smell."

I smelled my own sleeve and he was right. Smelling like mildew is part of living in the village.

SMILE....

164. my clean fresh smelling shirt

Getting close to 200