Saturdays

What does a Saturday usually hold for your family?

Nate explains to some visitors about what it is we do in Pal.

Our day here in Pal usually includes any number of activities – pancakes for breakfast J, extra laundry and house-cleaning chores, fix-it jobs, maybe a family hike.  And, here in Pal, Saturday is almost always a day for visiting with our Pal friends and neighbors.  It is normal for us to have between 4 and 40 people stop by in the day, looking forward to sitting down and visiting for a while with Nate and I.  When we first moved to Pal, Saturday was almost always the hardest day of the week for me…I KNEW it was a day that I should set aside for prime time in ministry, yet I quietly resented the intrusion into time I had mentally set aside for rest and projects.

Over the months, the faces of our visitors have become not just acquaintances but friends.  The questions and shared language and laughter have become deeper.  And I’ve found that every weekend the small, hidden resentment of our Saturday visitors is less and less.

A friend readies himself for the commissioning of his house.

Right now Nate is returning from a village 2 hours away.  A special ‘house opening’ ceremony was scheduled for Monday, but we heard last night from a passing friend that it had been changed to today, Saturday.  Since we’ve never seen this cultural event, it was pretty important for at least Nate to go.  He invited Noah, our oldest, to come with him…a manly “endurance” hike J for father and son.  Noah was delighted and has radioed me several times since on our walkie-talkies to give me the ‘latest’ update.   He’s doing great.

Tim, Elias and I walked to the closest village to see if the ladies would be playing basketball today (they won’t – the men took the ball to another village to play soccer with (!!) and haven’t returned it yet.)  We laughed and visited for a while – one of my friends has a baby getting over a fever, another’s husband has recently recovered from a major illness.  All the ladies agreed with me in my reasoning for why I wasn’t going with them to watch some other men play soccer (with a rugby ball, this time J) – my husband isn’t here, so it wouldn’t be culturally appropriate!  Tim and Elias and I have enjoyed the afternoon together and look forward to seeing our intrepid hikers return and hearing what they learned through their Saturday stint.

Noah eats some yam soup –a good way to strengthen the body for our two and a half hour return trip

Thank you for praying for us during these days of learning and adjustments.  We pray daily for balance in what “rest time” looks like (of course we know we need to rest and we need space as a family at times…this last week Nate took a half-day off on Friday afternoon to be with the family and work on needed projects at home) and how to weigh the various needs around us.  Who do these weekend days belong to?  To the Lord?  Yes, of course.  Really?  It has been good to make the sacrifice of “my” time in my deepest heart of hearts. 

To find a balance, to feel like our kids are doing well with care and attention and crucial family time, our marriage is thriving, and our relationships here in Pal are flourishing – THIS is the work of the Lord, and for this all to happen we need you to continue to pray for us.    Please also pray this week for:

-An older man who cut his foot badly with an axe while cutting a tree.  We are concerned the tendon might have been cut.

-Progress and encouragement as we study language and culture.  This week I learned how to say “We stayed for a long time, more than a month.” – “Sigiyabas,” lit. “old standing” or “I grew old standing there in that place!”

-wisdom and strength for Nate and I as we parent our own small “tribe” of boys who daily need our discipleship, love and teaching.

Thank you.  We couldn’t be here without you.

Elizabeth for the C’s

We receive email over a satellite connection, please help us limit our costs by deleting our original email before replying. Thanks, The Claasens

Posted via email from PNG Time