December 1. Praise the Lord for .7” rain all together yesterday afternoon and evening. Only a small amount of rain so far today.
Laundry day. There was lots of wash since we didn’t do laundry on Saturday. While clothes were washing, I prepared uxai, broccoli, and onions for dinner. Also got ingredients ready for cheese biscuits to put the rest of the chicken gravy on.
Daddy continued teaching on the family, starting with the man’s role in the marriage and home. Javin took charge of the singing and prayer time. He had Erovi pray today at the beginning of the meeting. There weren’t very many there today at all — 18 all together, counting a number of children. Some families are off planting their gardens. Erik and family are down planting peanuts.
Manila did better in math class today and finished his speed drill too.
Daddy announced at dinner time that he looked at the fuel supply for the generator and that there is not enough after all to go even three weeks as he thought — only enough for laundry days and some evenings of printing. That made me start feeling a bit down. Then I thought about the cruse of oil. Maybe the Lord will keep the fuel supply replenished as long as we need it. Then this evening, Javin checked it, and he said there is still plenty there.
“14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 15He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. 16With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.” Psalm 91:14-16
December 2. Only .2” rain last night. No rain today — so far.
Three or four men went up and worked on the dam today, but they couldn’t do much as they needed more men to be able to move the dam. There is some water coming through the pipes here this evening.
We finished school a bit early today as Bible class was short. I had finished the lesson yesterday so reviewed today and had him color a picture. I had wanted to teach a new song, but did not get time to make a visual yesterday. Worked on some Bible study notes this afternoon to get things off my mind and into written form
Devit and family got back safely this afternoon from Aivonti.
This evening after supper, I spent an extra hour or so in the kitchen, making a stew for the next few days’ dinners. We had to cook up the meat since we won’t be able to use the generator every day. Had three little packs of topside mince left. Added some onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots, napa cabbage, lentils, tomatoes, and seasonings.
Dear reader, you need not try other forms of life in order to see whether they are better than the Christian's: if you roam the world around, you will see no sights like a sight of the Saviour's face; if you could have all the comforts of life, if you lost your Saviour, you would be wretched; but if you win Christ, then should you rot in a dungeon, you would find it a paradise; should you live in obscurity, or die with famine, you will yet be satisfied with favour and full of the goodness of the Lord. —Morning and Evening
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“1A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: 2To show forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, 3Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound. 4For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands. 5O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. 6A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.” Psalm 92:1-6
December 3. No rain last night, but raining this evening. The water has been running through the pipes most of the time since last night. Sometimes the pressure has even been quite strong. Praise the Lord for the blessing of water.
Another extra special blessing today was that Elma brought us some bananas.
I was having a good rest last night, but was awakened about 4:30 this morning by the sound of plastic. A rat was chewing on the trash bag. I got up and scared him away and tied up the trash. Was getting back to sleep when I heard chewing noises. He was enjoying the pumpkin that we hadn’t put in the cupboard because there wasn’t room. Got up twice and scared him away from that. But that was the end of my good night’s rest. Ever since that one rat escaped from the glue trap, the rats will not go near the glue traps, even with rat poison and peanuts on them. The mystery is, how do these rats communicate?
We enjoyed our stew dinner today. Topside mince really makes a nice stew. Daddy added some of the Ritz crackers we had bought in town. After he opened the packet, he noticed that they were Ritz cracker sandwiches with cheese in the middle. They really tasted good in his stew, he said, and they tasted pretty good by themselves too. I guess we didn’t even read the label carefully when we bought them.
Wan and Gibson and three of their children put kunai on the woodshed roof today. The job was almost complete when they ran out of kunai.
Daddy took out one of his stitches today (from his biopsy), but he couldn’t get the other one out. It was really in there tight. Janet and Lucy took turns working on the other one, until they finally got it out. Daddy is glad to have those out.
Janet said that Kelly was in an accident yesterday on his way back to Goroka from Kainantu. He had been in Kainantu for a course on malaria. On the way back, some rascals shot one of the tires on the bus he was on. The bus rolled down a cliff, killing the driver and some others, and injuring other passengers. Kelly was sitting next to the driver, and he got banged up quite badly, but not as badly as most of the others.
This afternoon, I finally got the other bilum unpacked from our trip to town. Then I sorted out the baby clothes — girls' things in one box, and boys' in another. After snack, I went outside in the fresh air for a little while and picked some flowers. It is a delight to see colors in the flower garden again now that the rains are falling. There were roses too, but I did not pick any of them because of the thorns. I’ll just let them grace the outdoors. Did not stay out long because of the wind. Am just getting over this problem with sore throat and earaches and would not care for it to come back. Am having a problem now with very sore gums. I wonder if it is because we hadn’t had greens for a long time, and I didn’t remember to use the seaweed. There was more seaweed in town this time, for which I am thankful. Also I need more of the greens supplement to keep my gums healthy, but have not had enough of that to keep up with it every day.
“1The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved. 2Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting. 3The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. 4The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea. 5Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever.” Psalm 93