The Great Wind Storm of 2013

It was a fairly normal Tuesday afternoon.  I was at home, on the sofa, feeding Miles and Jordan was at maintenance as usual.  It was about 3:00 pm when it began to rain...typical rainy season weather.  Then things began to get bizarre!!  We live in a valley and rarely get anything more than a light breeze, but the wind started to really pick up.  Our sofa faces our large front window, so I had a front row view of trees bending and swaying, while small loose branches fell out of our front tree.  Suddenly a HUGE branch, probably 8 feet long and the thickness of my arm fell out of the tree and stuck straight into the ground.  And there it stood, like someone had just planted it there.  The wind died down and the rain stopped a few minutes later.  I, of course, began to rehearse in my head how I was going to tell everyone this GREAT story about the GIANT branch falling right in front of my eyes!!   Feeling that the story may not be phone-call worthy, I decided to wander around outside to see if I could "bump into" anyone who might be willing to hear my sweet story.  To my surprise, I found this:

That would be the under-side of our neighbor's tree...here it is from another angle:

Now my "fantastic" branch story seemed...well...much less fantastic.  As I continued down the road this is what I saw:

Turned out that over 25 trees had blown over during that wind storm.  We are praising the Lord for his hand of protection.  Miraculously, only one house was directly hit, all the other trees fell away from their surrounding buildings.  The missionaries inside the house that was hit were protected by a ceiling beam that had just been installed a couple months earlier.  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Thankful!

If you heard us speak last time we were back in the States, you know that one of the reasons I was hesitant to return to PNG was the lack of epidurals in the country!  I was convinced that the only way I was going to survive childbirth was with the aid of an epidural.  Also, after looking at our budget, I figured we could never afford to have a child here either.  Baby things (well, actually everything) are much more expensive here in PNG...diapers, wipes, etc....while other baby necessities are just nonexistent.  So, when we found out we were expecting a baby, worry and nervousness accompanied my joy and excitement.

BUT God was SO faithful!!  As the time came closer to having this baby, we began to receive boxes and boxes of baby clothes, diapers, wipes, pacifiers...pretty much everything we would ever need!  Hallelujah!!
After my water broke (and before any labor pains began) another wave to fear swept over me.  I prayed that my labor would be fast...and God answered my prayer.  Yes, it was painful, but it all happened very quickly and before I knew it I was holding healthy baby Miles!  I want to cry just remembering it.  Who am I that the God of the universe would hear my fearful whispered prayer?  My worry is proof that my faith was so small, and yet God was faithful and took care of us.  I can't praise Him enough!!

Many who are reading this were a part of God's plan to supply our needs...thank you!!  To everyone who sent a box (many of you we haven't even met yet), to everyone who prayed, to everyone who gave money...thank you!  From the bottom of our hearts...THANK YOU!!  God used your giving and generosity to bless us in ways we could never have imagined!  Thank you!

"PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!"

The Giant Snail

Snails are a pretty common thing to find hanging out in our gardens or yards, so when Caleb asked if we wanted to see the snail he had found we really just thought we were humoring him.  Little did we know he was bringing over the BIGGEST snail we'd ever seen.  I'm pretty sure this snail was the "Jabba the Hutt" of his community.

Side Note: As a result of writing this blog...I learned the is it "JABBA the hutt" not "JAVA the hutt" as I previously had thought!  All this time I was thinking he shared his name with a programming language -OR- coffee shop!  Thank goodness I learned before I REALLY embarrassed myself.  :)

The "Roads"

We've had quite a bit of rain lately, which is never good for our roads here in PNG. My mom took some pictures so you would have an idea of what our travels to town look like.  Good thing the Land Cruiser has a snorkel! 

Handing out hats at the hospital

Carol Yost, a family friend, crochets hats to give to newborns at her local hospital.  When she found out my mom was coming to visit she made about 80 hats to send.  Twice we've been to the hospital to hand them out on the maternity ward.  All the mamas were very appreciative!!

Dr. Erin

How many of you can say that your doctor left their birthday party because your water broke, slept on your couch while you were beginning labor, delivered your baby on their birthday, and then came over the next day to clean your floor and vacuum your rug??  I CAN!!



Erin Meier is a family practice doctor who works here at the hospital AND she is a huge blessing in our lives, especially Miles's.  In fact, she was the second person to know about Miles's existence...yep, after I took a pregnancy test just for fun (I'd never taken one before and was curious), and then took another one because the first one looked pretty positive...I ran over to Erin's house (in disbelief) to ask her just how accurate these flimsy little pregnancy tests were (she assurred me they were pretty accurate). After that, Jordan, Erin, and I made a couple top secret night trips to the hospital to do some ultrasounds, to take a look at the little nugget, before we could share the news with everyone.  Erin was also the first to recognize that Miles was a boy!

It's truly our privilege and pleasure (except when she beats us mercilessly at Settlers of Catan) to serve with Erin here in Kudjip, Papua New Guinea!  She has taught us a lot about what it means to selflessly and generously serve others in the name of Jesus!

Miles James Thompson

Introducing the latest addition to our little family...

Miles James Thompson made his grand enterance into the world at 8:35am on December 30th, 2012.  He weighed 7lb 10oz and was 21in long.  The little spud is healthy and his parents are SO in love!!