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.