Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ,
Greetings! Well, I noticed that it was about time for another update and since it doesn’t seem like anybody has much time…. I thought I would write for a change! Let me introduce myself… I am the family lizard that lives in the living room window. Yes, that’s right I live in-between the metal and wood frame of the window. And come out as I please…. I hope you enjoy my ramblings.
As I observe the happenings around me, they seem to be numerous and at times hectic! The youngsters of this household have very little respect for peace and quiet… except for the few hours in the afternoon when they nap! You should have heard the loud avalanche as the blocks were dumped out at 6am in the morning! Whew, I nearly jumped out of my skin! Or the delighted screaming and screeching outside as they discover and chase a toad! I’m glad I’m a lizard because I’m much faster than toads and can get away from all the stick poking and rock throwing that the poor toads have to put up with. Not to mentioned that their eardrums almost pop! And of course, the children have no respect for cleanliness…. They come in the house with mud, sand, rocks, sticks, or else dripping wet! You should have seen the look on the mother’s face the time the little fellow, Chace, came inside with a handful of stones and climbed up on his Mommy’s lap and dumped his load inside the front of her dress! We all had a good laugh over that one! J The little girl, Elayna, is quite the informer and she repeats any information that she hears or knows…. She loves to know what is going on and where everybody is at. She asks many questions and is trying to learn all she can. Chace is starting to talk more and repeat words and phrases… like, “I want more chicken” or “Want ‘gango’” [meaning mango] or “Don’t dwink [drink] all” His speech isn’t as clear as his sister’s was at his age but you can definitely tell what his is saying. He is still as daring as ever and doesn’t give up even if he falls…. The other day I saw him walking on the concrete porch railing, which is about 8” wide and 3 ft off the ground with the concrete porch on the other side! He can climb up there all by himself! One of their more quiet and safe past times is looking at books and pictures…. It can get repetitious sometimes to hear the same book several times a day!
The Mother of the house hasn’t been doing a lot lately… I heard them say something about morning sickness, so I guess that means she is pregnant! She does a few things here and there and reads books to the children…. But mainly tries to keep her stomach settled. I think she said something like hopefully the worse is over!
The Auntie, as the children call her, is doing better. She had an ulcer on her ankle…. And at first we didn’t know what it was and were trying to treat it like a boil and it wasn’t getting better. Then she went to the hospital…. And got an antibiotic and a spray powder that is helping it heal up nicely. She is still doing a good bit of the work, like laundry, meals, cleaning, and babysitting! If she wasn’t here I don’t know how this household would manage! J
The Father of the house is a very busy man! He’s work load includes a variety of things…. Helping with laundry, changing diapers, keeping the garden up, ‘mowing’ the grass [uses a machete and whacks it down], running to town or market, and even cooking at times! My eyes almost popped out of my head when I saw him making bankou…. Yes, that’s right he was making bankou! He said he was so hungry for it and his wife didn’t think she could stand the smell to help him. So he did it himself and it turned out rather good! He is also quite handy at giving the children baths… the soap smell is difficult for the mother to handle! I’m sure he will be glad to hand some of these responsibilities back to his wife once she feels better…. But for now my observation is that he is doing an excellent job!
I must tell you of the awful storm we had on Sunday! The family was just about to leave for Church on their bikes and it started to rain…. So they waited for awhile. It soon stopped and they thought maybe they should make a run for it before it started again! But it started up again before they got left…. And it seemed like it could stay awhile! Not long after that they got a call from the Pastor and said let’s wait for service until the rain stops. The electric kept going off and on….. and it was beginning to get really dark! The rain started coming harder and harder…. And the wind was blowing quite furiously! The rain started coming in the closed window panes and under the door making big puddles on the floor. Chad mopped up several gallons of water from the floors! It got sooooo cold that some of the folks put socks on! And even decided to drink cappuccino! The storm lasted for about 3 hours…. Then it subsided to a gentle rain for most of the afternoon. The garden was a pitiful site! Their sweet corn that was in full tassel and had nice ears on it was flat on the ground! And the tomatoes, beans, soybeans, okra, and peppers all took a beating too! In fact, a lot of people’s corn was down…. And there were even some trees uprooted!
A bit more information that has been happening around here is Language study. In fact it takes up a good part of the parent’s day. They study in the morning using a Ewe language course that has an mp3…. They listen to the lesson twice and then study from the handbook what the lesson is saying in English. They go over the same lesson for almost a week. Then they have a young Ewe teacher who is on school break right now, come in the afternoon and go over the same lesson they did in the morning in greater detail! They seem to really like their new teacher, because he explains things very well and makes lots of examples in which sentences can be used. He is also a good culture teacher… he explains that in Ewe there are adult talk and child talk. Some things you say only to children and not to an adult…. And other things are only for adults and most children won’t understand what you are saying! An interesting thing they are learning in Ewe is that ‘most Ewe words change meaning depending on context’, so you have to know the context of the sentence being spoken to determine the meaning of a word(s)! Difficult! Do continue to pray for them as they try to do their best!
Well, now….ho hum…. I’m getting a bit tired…. And it’s already past my bedtime! So I guess I’ll let you go….. oh yes, I forgot to mentioned that after the storm we have been having nice sunny weather and the corn is actually standing partially up again! So hopefully they may still get some sweet corn after all! And they have been getting a ton of green beans… they froze like 8 quarts already! Yawn… now I for sure should get some sleep….
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all! Amen” II Thess. 3:18
From the lizard that lives in the Martin home!
