It was our
beautiful son’s first birthday ever in his life without us last week (Sept 7).
This was very sad for us but probably pretty okay for Jubab! His days seem to be very full and he told us
today that he has been tired, tired, tired!! But he looks good whenever we see
him over video calls and he is enjoying his bible school studies.
During our trip to
Australia from Aug 4-Sept 9, we were able to do everything we hoped we would be
able to and even more. God hugely blessed our visit there and we had many
special times with family: joyful times and some painful times mixed together.
It was so good to see Paul’s Mum
again and to see her looking good in spite of a very painful time she’s been
going through as she waits for knee replacement surgery.
We spent
time with Paul’s little sis and her family and my little brother and his family
and got to see nieces and nephews which we loved!
My Mom had
been going through some tough times with the aftermath of Dad’s battle with
cancer and because of her exhaustion after caring for him so bravely and
tirelessly to the end…… she was over exhausted to the point she couldn’t sleep well
and her heart was playing up. It was so good to be with her on the trip back
home to Brisbane after she’d away for 3 weeks with my brother and his family in
Perth. It meant we could go with her to her doctor and monitor how she improved
with the medications he gave her, and we were able to go visit Dad’s grave,
help Mom choose a headstone and help Mom sort through some of Dad’s things. It
made me miss Dad so much more to be back at Mom and Dad’s home, seeing his
toothbrush and comb and shaver in the bathroom and all of his things……we even
ate the last of the groceries that he had bought during his last shopping trip
with Mom, even some potatoes and onions were still left. So as you can imagine,
there were many moments when the tears felt very, very close and often spilled
over. I don’t know if God told Dad that
we planted lavender and azaleas on his grave that day, where his earthly body
lies waiting for the resurrection, and if Dad would have thought it was good use of our remaining time here
on earth if he did know, but that thought made me smile and get teary at the
same time. It made us feel a bit better anyway, that his grave looked a bit
more cared for while we wait for the dirt to settle and the headstone to be
made.
It was
another painful time to say goodbye to Mom and leave her knowing there is still
so much to do and she is still very weary and dealing with a lot of the
aftermath of stress, but we hope we can visit her again before too many months
go by and we know God is caring for her and providing for her and that she will
get through this.
We got back
to the Philippines the day before yesterday and Paul came down with a stomach
bug of some sort – not too bad but keeping him feeling a bit miserable.
Yesterday we took the day to re-group, buy some groceries and rest a bit….. but
today (HURRAY!!!!) we are back into the translation work with the team in Lapoc
and we are hoping to have the Gospel of John totally finished by next week!!
Matthew chapter 2 is being drafted as well.
It was our 33rd wedding
anniversary while we were away – we were actually on a plane flying to
Australia that day but we count ourselves hugely blessed to have been married
for 33 years and to have spent all of those years in missions!!!
Today is
Sept 13, 2017……. The rest of this week holds a lot more challenges, daily
chores and daily choices and decisions, a lot to get done on the translation
but with the promise of our Lord Jesus that He will be with us always………..
(It’s sort of a quirky anniversary photo but we thought we’d share it with you anyway!)
