Literacy is priceless -- E.

I used to wonder whether it's a good idea to introduce books and letters to cultures that don't use them now. Why should an oral/aural society need to change? As anybody who has seen The Gods Must Be Crazy knows, Westernization is a bad thing. If unwanted and uninvited, literacy could be like that bad, bad Coca-Cola bottle.

I think I'm over that now. In the real world, I am learning, just about everybody does, in fact, want to read. Just like everybody who knows what Coca-Cola is wants it. And communities that see their own languages put down in writing, with books published in them and everything, often experience what they would call a much better life as a consequence. (Again, it's all very much like Coca-Cola.)

Here's my son demonstrating the value of literacy. He has recently learned to read out loud, and the quality of his life has skyrocketed.

His sister, valuing her own skills in literacy, does not yet appreciate his.

By the way, I'd like you all to notice the Follow By Email box in the right-hand sidebar. Just as the title suggests, you may enter your email there, and you'll get a notice via email every time something new happens on this blog. I think it's a good idea, anyway. (Thanks very much to my friend Chris for bringing this feature to my attention!)

Family -- E.

June 2006

I have just returned to the U.S. after my second REACH term in The Gambia. I intend to study linguistics in hopes that I can apply it internationally someday. Whatever group I end up with, I am excited at the prospects. In addition to the chance to serve in the Kingdom of God, I'll have the added perks of travel and adventure. Can't wait.
(And if Queena will marry me, maybe she'll come too!)

June 2011
Five years later.

It always feels a little weird to have things go the way I want them to. Queena did consent to marry me, and since 07-07-07 we have already had a fair portion of adventure as well as travel (Texas, man!). We may head out overseas as soon as next spring. How did we get so lucky?
I'll say this, though. Do you notice those two young humans in the picture with Queena and me? Those are our children. I am slowly beginning to realize how much of a difference these people make in my feelings about moving across the world. It is a lot more difficult than last time, frankly. Five years ago, if I heard about the personal sacrifice involved in overseas service, I could respond with a casual shrug. But not now. I am beginning to understand that I am asking a lot of my children. Queena and I will be separating them by thousands of miles from their many grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
This is all a part of our pursuit of Christ, and we are not bitter at the things He may ask us to leave behind. Still, it used to look a lot easier.

Bedtime -- Q.

Bedtime tends to be long at the Mast house. The routine is fairly simple and follows a predictable pattern: PJs --> Potty/Diapers --> teeth brushed --> Bible story --> two songs --> prayer --> a kid's cassette tape --> nightlight --> goodnight kiss. Of course, Dorie has become the master staller. "I'm thirsty, I want the kitty jammies, not the Minnie Mouse ones, I want a different tape, I want another kiss," and (as the door closes, a whisper from the bed) "Daddy, pray that I have good dreams, not bad ones." Sometimes--many times--I long for the days when bedtime won't take an unpredictable 45 minutes.
Lately I've been noticing the way James gets all giggly, goofy, and cuddly in the evening and the way Dorie will flop around in my arms as we sing and the way she takes my cheeks in her small hands when she asks for one more story.
What I really want, more than the ability to say "go to bed" and they are gone, just like that, is to bottle their bedtime into a time capsule and open it up in 10 or 15 years so that I can experience these 45 minutes all over again, exactly the way I do now, every night.
Great is my joy.

James and Dorie, June 2010

Miscellanous Pictures from the Past Four Weeks --Q.

On our last blog Ethan wrote about our trip--where we have been and what we took with us. I'm going to share in a much more random fashion (characteristically). Here are a few pictures from our collection from the past four weeks.

These smiling people have just had an amazing meal compliments of my Thai language consultant, Phii Am (Amy Hangtagool, second from the right). My SLACA (Second language and culture aquistion) class were invited for a farewell feast one day before we moved. Ethan and I now love to cook Thai food, even though it's looking like Malaysian food will probably be our default cuisine for the next few years.

I think saying goodbye to this family was about the hardest. While in Dallas I became friends with a dear woman from Jordan; Dorie and James loved to play with her four children. I miss sitting in her kitchen, drinking tea and practicing English, while the children played outside on the swing-set.

After two days in the car (broken up by a lovely stop at Uncle Paul and Aunt Julia's) we were ready to spend some time eating around a table instead of chowing in the van! Chris and Alicia made us feel so at home, and we even got to see Ethan's brother Jesse who goes to the same college.

We were at Ethan's homeplace for three weeks. While there we spent half a day in Buffalo with the Ramadan family. We became friends with this family while in a tutoring program at Houghton. We had such a blast with all six children--age 8 to 21. Here James is hanging out with their youngest.

Ethan's Oma lives in Cleveland and she had us over for the night. I love this picture of Oma and her great-grandchildren--I was impressed by how fast and how far we walked that evening!

The problem with just choosing a few snapshots of our recent visits with people are all the good times I failed to represent--bocci ball and games with my in-laws, warm hugs and wet cheeks when saying goodbye to Sara and also Katie, Indian food and games of Dominion with Steve, beef and ice cream with Heather Hill, and Easter with my family. Its been the best of times...and those good times are somehow still here.

Moving on -- E.

Well, we knew it would be tough packing everything up for the move back to Delaware, because everything had to fit somewhere in this picture:

We had used different vehicles and had more cargo space on the way in to Texas. In order to gauge space available on our U-Haul trailer, I marked off a 4-foot by 8-foot space in a corner of our house with two desks. This made it a little easier to decide how much stuff to keep and what to leave behind.

We moved out on Tuesday, April 19. Here's our route. We stopped overnight at Aunt Julia and Uncle Paul's place in Mississippi, then spent several days in Columbia with Chris and Alicia. Saturday we took the last leg up to Delaware.

(Thanks for the map, Google!)

Now, after a two-week stay in New York State (another story for another time), we are movin' in at the new place. Today we unpacked these boxes you see here.
I would be okay if we had no more major moves for a while. But this next year will probably see us moving around quite a lot! It's all good.