Thursday, August 16, 2012

This Week In Time

It's Friday and it's Time to capture the past week in words and pictures.


1.  Perhaps you know (or perhaps you don't) that I used to live in Indonesia.  Our family lived in a very remote area on the western half of the island of New Guinea which is an Indonesian province called Papua.  Sometimes those years seem so very far removed from my life today but the experiences and events of that time certainly changed me and shaped the perceptions and lives of my children.  My older daughter found this article written by one of the pilots who flew us in and out of our helicopter only allocation and posted it on her Facebook page.  I loved the comment she wrote and the response from her older brother which I am sharing with their permission.  Scroll down through the comments at the end of the article and read what the passenger in the story had to say as well as others who were 'on the ground' that day.  I'll just state that while I was never in a stalled plane, I certainly experienced my share of scary situations involving sketchy weather.  Mission Aviation Fellowship pilots are indeed some of the best in the world!

Older Daughter: 
Brings back some memories of some tense moments while flying in helicopters and single-prop planes, though I experienced none as dramatic as the one detailed in this article. The missionary pilots in Papua are some of the best pilots in the world. Recently, I was chatting with my parents and remarked on how many people we had known who lost their lives while serving God in flying those skies. My parents told me, "That is one of the most dangerous places in the world to fly. Didn't you know that?" No, as a small child, I was full of trust, in God, in the pilots, in my parents. I did not know that it was dangerous to fly; I always felt perfectly safe. And with people like Uncle John Miller (and so many others - Dave Rask, Paul Bergen, to name a few more) at the controls, I WAS as safe as humanly possible. The Lord did the rest.

Older Son:
I don't think I ever realized how dangerous it was either. The grace of being a wide-eyed child, I guess. Of course, it also helps me handle some of the flying I did in Afghanistan a little better too. The Blackwater Aviation mail plane flying in between the peaks of the Hindu Kush mountains has few thrills compared to flying over the Papuan Jungle in a helicopter with the doors off.




2.  In keeping with the sub-theme of Papua, The Professor and I were 'special guests' of the 1st-4th graders at their after-the-Wednesday-night-church-dinner meeting where we shared what we did when we were living in Papua (linguistics and Bible translation) and showed these very curious kids some fun things like pig arrows, bird arrows, string bags and batik sarongs.


3.  Today is August 17th.  It's Indonesian 'Fourth of July', their Independence Day.  Selamat Hari Kemerdekaan to all my Indonesian friends!


4.  OK, on to other things.  Sunday I went to the Ventura County Fair and spent a few hours spinning and talking with people who stopped at the booth for our local handweavers and spinners guild.  It's always fun to explain that 'No, spinning isn't a dead art.  There are still lots of us who spin and weave.


5.  Finally, I received a text message from Older Son telling us that since he is currently in LA and has evenings free, we can drive down to have dinner with him this evening.  That's where we'll be!  So excited!  So much to talk about!


This has been Willow's Week in just five little faves which barely touch on this lovely week.  Susanne hosts Friday Fave Five and you can join too and share what has blessed you this week. And yes, I know the photos have nothing to do with the topics, but I decided to put them in just because I like them.  All of them were taken at or near Mission San Juan Capistrano.

11 comments:

nikkipolani said...

I'm amazed at the writer's (seeming) nonchalance in retelling the harrowing experience. What an amazing story.

This week, as I drove through Ventura and Camarillo and past signs for CSUCI, I thought of you and waved :-)

Faith said...

wow....that was an amazing story, thanks for sharing....how awesome that you all were missionaries in Indonesia....enjoy your evening out with your son!

roxie said...

Your photos are so evocative! I remember at the Washington County Fair when we were looking at the photos, and you were really LOOKING at them. I don't know what you saw, but wow, you sure got something out of them that I didn't. Now your photos show something I would never have seen otherwise. You're good!

What a life you have had!

ellen b. said...

I'm glad your kids can appreciate the danger looking back and not in the midst of it. Those pilots really are the best! Have fun at dinner tonight!

Jerralea said...

How interesting! I learn so much from reading a lot of FFF blogs: yours, Brenda's, Ellen's, and Suzanne's are so imformative about culture, geography and flora and fauna in different countries and states. I love cyberspace!

Also, love the photos you shared. So colorful.

Tracy said...

Those pilots... what a story, just amazing! And your childrens' responses were heartening to read. So glad you shared this. As well as these wonderful photos. Hope you had a wonderful evening out, Willow. :o) Happy Weekend ((HUGS))

Laura@OutnumberedMom said...

Your San Juan Capistrano pictures are just lovely! I guess I didn't know you lived in Papua New Guinea! My daughter-in-law did a short missions stint over there one summer several years ago and loved it, and Andrew's girlfriend's dad was a MAF pilot in Africa. Enjoyed reading about your week - have a good one coming up!

Gattina said...

I didn't know that you lived there ! It certainly opens your mind when you have lived somewhere else then only in your own country !

Brenda said...

Its funny how nostalgic we can get for those places we used to live so long ago. Often I yearn to return to Paraguay or Peru, but I know this is where I am supposed to be at the moment. And those exciting, faith challenging moments we all lived with our children! Wouldn't trade them for anything! I think it made my kids kind of edgy- but I also know they learned to really trust in God after passing through moments similar to ones described in this post.

Bethany said...

Maybe you should consider writing a book about your adventures... you have such a breadth of knowledge about parts of the world that most of us will never experience! (and God is so good!!!)

Barbara said...

An interesting week and I know you had a great time with your son.