First Month in Papua

Hi friends! We have been in Papua (an island in the western part of Indonesia) for over a month now.

Here are photos of some of the highlights of our time here:

I took this photo in the Singapore airport when Daniel and Zoe slept during a layover. While traveling for 2 days was hard, we felt blessed to get some sleep (we slept for a day in Jakarta in the airport hotel before our overnight flight to Sentani, Papua) and we were happy that Zoe did well.

Daniel and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary on August 1st at the restaurant at a new hotel in Sentani. It was very nice! We were very thankful to have friends here who let Zoe eat dinner with them while we were out. :) In this photo we are drinking some very strong ginger tea.

Daniel has been loving flying here in Papua! This is a photo he took when he rode along for a MAF flight to see how things work here. I try not to be jealous that he gets to see little villages, beautiful mountains, and all sorts of interesting people.

Daniel went kayaking on the lake near where we live. Fun! Zoe and I slept while he did this. :)

And Daniel also has been bike riding with some Indonesian guys who work at MAF and their friends. I usually sleep when he's out doing this too. Funny how many of his activities are early in the morning...

Zoe is loving getting into cabinets and pulling herself up on things. She can also stand up without pulling up. No walking yet!

She likes crawling into the cabinets too.

Zoe loves swinging. There is a playground right by our apartment here!

And of course playing with Daddy!

We have visited two beaches! This photo is from a pebble beach that had really good snorkeling.

Here we are on our way to a sandy beach.

Zoe liked "swimming"

But she especially liked playing in the sand! I think she ate quite a bit of it!

We visited the beach with our friends the Lundholms. You can see their blog post about it by here. Other people came by from time to time wanting to take pictures with the cute kids.

These blue starfish are really big and I think they're amazing! We enjoyed snorkeling at this beach too!

While Daniel is flying or working in the the hanger each day I spend most of my time taking care of Zoe, doing laundry and other household tasks, hanging out with other wives and kids on the MAF base, cooking, etc. So it's really exciting for me when we take trips to the beach or just get off of base to do other things. Yesterday was our first time going to an Indonesian church (we've been going to a very nice English service at the nearby school). I really liked going to the Indonesian church and hope to go there often! There's still a lot that I don't understand, but I need the language and cultural practice!

I hope you enjoyed these photos! I think we are adjusting well to daily life here.

Lots of love to all of you who are reading this,

Joy

Trip to Cascade

On Tuesday evening Daniel, Zoe, and I packed ourselves and our stuff into an MAF Cessna-206 and Daniel flew us to Cascade, ID. Daniel had two mornings of very exciting training there (i.e. he did 11 spins and other adrenaline-pumping stuff). Zoe and I had nice quiet mornings, and we did some hiking as a family Wednesday afternoon. Here is our trip in photos:

View from the airplane as we got close to Cascade

Zoe trying to see out the window

Daniel is recording something right after landing

Lupines blooming at the Ashley Inn

Inside our hotel room

Zoe's first apple. I guess I don't need to make applesauce any more!

Zoe "eating" lunch

We drove from Cascade to McCall

and hiked in the state park there. Next time we will bring a better stroller!

I admired the wildflowers.

Zoe loved the view of the lake in McCall.

This is what Zoe really does on Daddy's shoulders.

Thursday morning I walked with Zoe to the lake at Cascade.

She was sleepy!

She slept on the way home in the airplane.

On the ground in Nampa!

I am so grateful for this fun little vacation with Daniel and Zoe! I enjoyed the rest and the beauty of the mountains, trees, and lakes.

reflections during naptime

The longer it has been since I've written a blog entry, the harder it is to write one! It's funny how that works! I've been encouraged by reading friends' blogs lately, and desire to update this blog more frequently.

We have one week remaining of our 3 month visit to the US. Next Tuesday we'll start approximately 2.5 days of travel to get from Nampa, Idaho to Sentani, Papua, Indonesia.

Zoe has gotten to see all of her grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, great-grandparents, and many great uncles, great aunts, and other family members and friends in New England and Ohio. She was introduced at 5 of our supporting churches. We have enjoyed seeing people and places we'd missed and going hiking, eating yummy food, playing games, picking berries. Driving on the "right" side of the road has become normal again.

My family after hiking Mt. Monadnock

Daniel's family, including Zoe's 4 cousins and great grandparents

I think that Zoe may like berries as much as I do!

Of course there are dear friends who I didn't get to see, churches we didn't visit, fun activities we didn't get to...but all in all I think that this time has gone well. Daniel has been doing training here in Nampa, Idaho at Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) headquarters for the past month. Zoe has settled into regular naptimes, better sleeping at night, and of course lots of playing.

Daniel gets to see beautiful mountains and trees and practice landing on little air strips

Now I'm trying to prepare my heart to leave again. We're going back to a different part of Indonesia from where we previously were. I don't know what my life will look like. I am struggling with my desire to control something--to make a life for myself that is familiar or seems important or at least not too scary.

I am stepping out, one step at a time, and I don't know where I am going. I don't know if I will like it. I may be lonely. I may be ineffective. I may not have everything that I need.

But I know someone who has promised to always be with me. He promises to produce fruit in me if I abide in him. He sees my heart. He knows me. I don't have to worry about what others think of me or how they value or undervalue me. And he promises to give me everything that I need. Actually, I already have so much more than I could ever need...loving family, friends, people who pray for me, stuff--furniture, clothes, dishes, decorations, etc., money to buy more stuff and to give away, good food, health, eternal hope in Jesus.

And as I step out, even off of cliffs, he gives me what my heart desires--closeness with others and with him. Partnership. True community.

How could I expect a life of faith to be something that I can control and contain? That goes against what faith really is: trusting God completely with myself and everything, dancing with him as I follow his lead. I want to love people like he does. I want to live for something bigger than myself.

Right now I am grateful for God's generosity, for his patience with me as he redirects my heart from worry to trust, and for Zoe's long naps. Today I am encouraged by these words:

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:15-18)

I hope that these thoughts are encouraging to you too!

Transition and Adventure

In 5 days it will be one year since I arrived in Indonesia. One year since I left family, friends, snow, sugar houses, and a language and culture that made sense to me and moved to the other side of the world.

eating french toast and pancakes at a sugar shack in Deerfield, MA one year ago

recent photo with Zoe

In just a few weeks (okay, about 6) I will finish language school and be done living in the town of Salatiga on the island of Java, Indonesia. Daniel, Zoe, and I will be serving with Mission Aviation Fellowship on the island of Papua. To be honest, part of me does not want to leave. Why not? Because I really like it here! This place, that almost a year ago was strange, new, and hot has become familiar and temperate. I am able to speak and understand enough of the Indonesian language to start to make friends with local people. There are so many people--both Indonesians and ex-pats--who I will dearly miss!

Also there is the thought "we've learned how to live here and soon it will all change" that keeps coming to my mind unbidden. I have been lying awake at night thinking about Transitions.

Upcoming Transitions:
I will finish language school April 13th.
On April 14th we will leave here and start our 5-flight journey back to the US for a mini-furlough. The purpose of this time is for Daniel to finish some training that was snowed out in December 2010 and for us to get to see family, friends, and supporters.
While in the US we plan to be in the New England area, Ohio, and Idaho. I hope Zoe travels well!
In late June we are flying from Idaho to Papua, Indonesia (via lots of cities of course).
Then we plan to live in Sentani, Papua for 6 months to 1 year for more training.
After that we will move somewhere else in Papua, but we don't know where yet.

I think the hardest thing for me is that I do not even know where I will eventually live. It is hard to plan for an unknown future.

But really, does any person know what will happen in the future?

I want to change my perspective and look at my Transitions as an Adventure. Instead of worrying about the many transitions and how my baby will adjust I can be thankful to be on a great adventure with my husband and baby and with my Trustworthy God.

"...And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Mt. 28:20b)

Nourishment

This is a post that I have been meaning to write for some time.  It is kind of about nursing my baby.  Only kind of....please if you are male and reading my blog and nervous about things like mommies feeding babies don't worry.  No details or pictures on this subject, I promise. :)

When I had Zoe and started nursing her I found that sometimes she was hungry but would get her little hands into her mouth instead of eating.  I would try to gently move them out of her mouth and help her to latch on so that she could get the nourishment that she needed.  Sometimes she would sneak her hands back into her mouth and then get frustrated because sucking on her hands did not fill her stomach.  I thought:

Oh little girl, don't you know that milk tastes better than fingers?  My silly sweetheart, don't you see that you can't have both food and your hands in your mouth at the same time?  Don't you know what is good for you?

Then I heard God's gentle reminder speaking into my soul.  What are you trying to satisfy yourself with, my daughter?  Let me feed you with the food that you really need...

Psalm 81:10 says "I am the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt.  Open wide your mouth and I will fill it."

The love of a parent

Since having a baby I have changed.  "How?" you may ask.  Is it that I have adapted to never sleeping more than 5 hours at a time?  Or that I have become more patient, learned to slow down when I need to nurse or wait to go out until after Zoe's nap time, gotten used to body function sounds, and grown to feel more grace in my heart towards parents with misbehaving children?  Those things are true, but not what I am thinking about.

I have always liked children.  I started babysitting at a young age, loved the nanny job that I had my first year out of college, and I intentionally sit beside children who are traveling alone on airplanes (really!).  But now my liking children has somehow morphed into a crazy love for my own baby and fascination with every little thing she does.  I am delighted and entertained when she makes a new clicking sound, when her first tooth starts to show up in her little gummy mouth, and when she stops nursing to grin at her daddy who has just burped loudly from the other side of the living room.  There is no sound in the world that is more lovely than her laughter. 

Having Zoe makes me more interested in other peoples' kids too.  I used to think that babies were a little boring and prefer kids who can talk.  Now I see that babies communicate in lots of ways!  And every friends' baby is a potential friend for little Zoe as she grows up.  :)

Yes, being a mommy is hard work.  There are times when I am very tired but Zoe will not sleep.  Sometimes I can't figure out how to comfort her.  There are many things that I used to be able to do but cannot do now.  But somehow even sleep deprivation and baby cries cannot take away the deep well of love and admiration that I feel towards my little Zoe.  I am so amazingly blessed to have her in my life.  She is so beautiful and so fun!  I love watching her interact with people, herself, and her world.

I have been thinking about my fascination with Zoe and my love for her, and am reminded that God interacts with us as our parent.  He has adopted us as His precious children.  Is He as excited about my "baby steps" and development as I am about Zoe's?  Does He really have a deep well of unconditional love for me and for each of us?  I know in my head that the answers are yes and yes!  But somehow this seems very significant and like something that I need to think more about.

How has being a parent changed your understanding of God's love?

A New Normal

I hardly know where to begin.  There are so many things that seemed very weird (or you could say "foreign") just a few months ago, but are "normal" now.  This is all part of adapting to living in a different culture and a different place.  I will share a few of these things with you, and pasti (definitely) write about more in a future blog entry.  :)

Transportation
Almost everyone drives a motorcycle or scooter here and the rules are:

1. Drive wherever you want (yes, officially you are supposed to drive on the left side of the road, but you can drive anywhere as long as you don't hit another vehicle, person, chicken, etc.).

2.  Transport as many people and as much stuff as possible.

3.  Bigger vehicles have the right-of-way (in other words, if you want to stay alive then don't get in the way of a bus!).

transporting goldfish

Babies/Children
Children and babies are universally loved and admired here.  I now expect almost every person I see to want to touch and/or talk about Zoe.  If I take her out of her carrier or stroller shopkeepers will hold her for me while I shop, people I just met will pass her around when I am visiting someone who had a family member die, neighbors and complete strangers offer to babysit her.  I love how Zoe breaks the ice for conversations.  I practice some very simple Indonesian:

"Tidur?" "Ya, dia tidur." "Dia mengantuk tetapi dia belum tidur." "Dia bangun."
(translation: "Is she sleeping?" "Yes, she's asleep." "She's tired but not yet sleeping." "She's awake.")

"Berapa bulan?" "Hampir enam." "Sudah besar, ya!"
("How many months old?" "Almost 6." "She's already big!" Saying that a baby or child is big, and even fat, is a compliment here.)

Zoe visiting with our neighbors

Children are so highly valued here that as soon as a couple gets married they start trying to have their first child.  After having one child it is normal to wait for a while (5 years or so) before having another.  And the government here strongly encourages families to only have two children (because of overpopulation).  Some people have more than two children, but they have to pay additional money to put their "extra" children through school.  There are billboards and signs on cars that say "Dua Anak Cukup" (Two Children Enough) and there is a picture of a person holding up two fingers, one that looks like a boy and one that looks like a girl.  My Indonesian friends ask why Americans often wait so long before having children.  Also, why do Americans have their children so close together?  And why such large families?  I realized that I am getting used to the culture here because I was not surprised when one of my teachers who got married in August got pregnant right away.  I understood that she was very happy and that I didn't need to feel sorry for her to have such a short amount of time to get to know her husband before having a child.  That is just not how people think about things here.  This is a hard culture to struggle with infertility in.  On the other hand, it is easy to figure out how long most people have been married...just add about a year to the age of their oldest child.

I think that I will write about more of my "new normal" another day.  I read recently that it is important to write often when you have a blog.  I have not been very good at this!  Language school started back up today so tonight I am writing as I procrastinate from doing my homework.

Blessings to all of you who are reading this. I hope it is interesting to you!  Please let me know if there are things about my experiences here in Indonesia that you would like me to share about.  :)

With love,
Joy