Random thoughts on the past week

Well, it looks like rainy season is here. After Ida passed by, it just kept on raining. So the island is green again, colors are muted and saturated at the same time, and the mosquitoes are as thick as … well, mosquitoes.

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As I write this, Peter and Sandi’s Nissan Trooper is up on jack stands, minus all four wheels. Apparently, no one in Honduras sells the right length wheel studs to match the aluminum wheels they sell here. Since the original studs are too short and our friend Mark can’t locate the right length ones, he got different wheels. These wheels have bigger holes so that Mark can use special nuts that will reach inside the hole and grab enough threads to hold the wheel on. They should be done in a few hours, and we will finally have two vehicles for three families again instead of just one. With all the problems that vehicle has had over the past few years, I’m thinking of suggesting to Peter that he name it “Lucky.”

But Travis has a good lead, actually three of them, on possible vehicles. They are all in Tegucigalpa, so he is planning to go there next week. I will probably go along, in part to keep him company, and in part because I’m in the mood for a little get-away. Please pray that we would have safe travels and that one of those vehicles would be just right for them and that he would make the right decision. Also pray that the station would operate smoothly while I’m gone.

Speaking of the Mitten family, little Caroline had her second birthday a few days ago. But she wasn’t feeling good at the time, so mommy and daddy moved the celebration to last night. They invited us and the Avellas to their house for spaghetti, but the power went off here about 10:30 yesterday morning. Since they don’t have a generator, Emily could not bake a cake. Then, as the time approached and the house got darker and darker, they asked if they could have a change of venue. So the party wound up being here at our house and we all had a great time. As you can see from one of the pictures, Caroline didn’t quite know what to do with her ice cream. I didn’t have the camera ready in time to get a shot of her with the candles in the ice cream. Daddy finally had to blow them out for her. I’m sure that, having three older sisters, she’ll be an expert at all that birthday stuff next time her turn comes around. Oh, and the electricity? It finally came back somewhere around 7:30 that night, so at least they had power when they got home.

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Some of you might have noticed that the pod casting isn’t working here for our Audio Updates. I’m working on that and hope to have it ready for next week’s Update. This new theme Jesse set us up with has lots and lots of buttons to push, so I’m having fun experimenting during what little spare time I can find. Now that Travis is more up to speed, I feel a lot less pressure to work long hours every day. Now I just work long hours for special occasions.

In fact, I claimed Tuesday as a mental health day. We had visitors from the cruise ship and, since I didn’t have urgent work to do after they got here, I spent most of the day with them. They asked me so many questions about HRGS and the life and culture here that, at the end of the day, my throat was slightly sore as if I’d just preached. Scott and Kim Greenfield attend an Evangelical Free Church in New Jersey that supports the Priddys and the Prudens who are in our home office in Florida. Scott and Kim were a delight and we soon felt like old friends.

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Well, I don’t think I want to spend our whole day off banging on this keyboard. I think I should take Mildred shopping and get out of the house for a while. Also, her birthday is Saturday, so I need to think about something to help commemorate the day. To say God blessed me with a fantastic wife would be the understatement of the ages. Thanks for your prayers.