Monday, September 29, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Notice
we are giving you fair warning that our blog site will have to be changed come spring time 2009. copelandfive.blogspot.com will no longer suffice seeing as how we will be adding another child to the mix come may!!!! we are excited to say that copeland baby #4 is well on it's way. Hazel is certain it is a "pink" baby. Paul wants to name it Sally. Gavin likes Luke. whatever the sex...this kid is definately a copeland at heart. it doesn't care for sweets! how am i going to make it nine months with noooo sweets??? and my cravings are all AMERICAN so far...so sweet Hazel is my little waitress and she takes down what i would like and we dream of eating great things from a far off land :D. it's nice to do that kind of thing since i am sick 24/7 anyway...and most of what i eat...comes right back up...BUT i think the worst is done...i hope...but we could really use your prayers to make it the rest of the way! and we have some big decisions to make on where to have the baby. not one situation is easier over another. but we are grateful that we have a Father who knows just what we need and sees our lives and all the details it takes to run it. we trust Him completely. thanks for celebrating with us!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Foliage
take a look at these vines growing on this palm tree...
and this grasshopper hidden in the grass
Beans, Beans, the musical fruit...
While we spent some time up at the retreat center, the kids found the ground was covered with all sorts of beans...so of course they began collecting them. (Gavin was intrigued because they are taking about planting trees and garden stuff and he thought he could use these to start NEW ones :D)
they spent a good hour one morning doing this...until they found a momma cat carrying a lizard to her baby kittens...then all focus was on the baby kitties
But before we saw the cat...we had to count all the beans...in all we counted 530 beans...this was after we had collected brown ones AND red ones...
Jr.-Sr High Retreat - Salib Putih
Last Thursday-Saturday we spent on a retreat with 117 students from Mountainview. We went 10 minutes up the mountain to this GREAT retreat center. Good view of the mountains, Salatiga, and all the area surrounding. The focus of the weekend was on community...so it was good to focus on that whole idea through hanging out, eating snacks, listening to a speaker, having worship time together, bible studies, playing 3 legged soccer, and swimming together. unfortunately i didn't have my camera out at all these activities...but here are a few shots (the only ones i got!) of the weekend...we all went away a little more encouraged and more rooted in our community and a little more aware of "names and faces" for me...cuz i don't get to hang out with the H.S. as much as we did the first time we were here...so sad :(
Some of the teachers brought their younger kids...it was pretty cool to see how the students really wanted to love on our kids and haul them around. we barely saw them the whole time from all the help we had there! they had a great time worshipping too...
the dining area...some of the kids...this was breakfast...most looked pretty tired...so i didn't think i should take more shots...
Hazel and Daniella
The beloved swimming pool. the big pool is an infinity pool that looks over to this great view. during one of the sessions greg came up and took the kids swimming instead of them "listening" to the speaker :D what he doesn't sacrifice for his kids...
local village soccer
Greg and his team played a local village last sunday night. these shots were taken before all the rain came. the field became a pool and most of them said "this was the best game i have played in a long time!" i think the mud and water added to that great experience :D
Beena Anna
Hazel is starting to come out of her little girl words starting to say the "right" sounds for the words...but my favorite that is leaving is her word for BANANA...which she has about 3 a day! she calls it a "BEENA ANNA"...but the last couple of days i have started to hear "BANANA" and i say "oh...i like the Hazel word for it better" :D but i guess we all have to keep moving and growing
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
do we understand? can we understand?
yesterday and today we are experiencing a difficulty to really understand the poor here. our helper here in the house, Ibu Yanti, (we are down to one helper because i am not going to school full time anymore and we don't need the accountability that two held with watching kids...)...but yesterday this is our conversation: of course i will translate into english for you!
Yanti: Good morning ibu. i hope you are strong and healthy today.
Me: yeah... we are good except for each person is just a little sick today.
Yanti: Oh Ibu! what is wrong?
Me: blah blah blah...i went on to explain our tiny little pains and then i ask "how are you?"
Yanti: yeah, God keeps me strong and healthy.
an hour passes and i go in to tell her about the laundry i was just doing with Greg's socccer clothes cuz they had played in the rain the day before and all was MUD...then she began to tell me the story of HER day.
her and her husband, their two kids (3 and 1) and his mother moved into a tiny little house in the inner city of Salatiga so that they would be close to everything without having to walk too far. this was earlier this spring. they didn't know that when rainy season would come...which is starting just now...that their entire house would be wet on the inside. so much so they have to sweep out the water. so much so that all the mattresses are soaked and they don't have a dry place to rest their bodies. and her baby is already sick on top of this. some bronchitis thing that he has to take meds for like 6 months...the electricity went out all over town this particular night and the kids were scared, the food was ruined from the rain, and they had no place to sleep. her telephone was out of pulsa so she wasn't able to call anyone. her neighbor invited them stay at her house but her daughter wouldn't sleep there cuz it was so dark and dirty and smelly. she began to cry like a little girl but her mother-in-law told her to stop. so she did and she began to pray that God would keep her family strong and healthy. that night they all went to bed with hungry stomaches and she sat up and held her kids so they could sleep.
i felt soooo foolish for having complained of our little sicknesses to her. i feel so bad for her and this whole situation. the owner will not help fix the roof and they still have a contract with the house. they can not afford to move again! nor can they just leave this spot with so much money already paid. now that ramadan season has started...there is a lot of theft that goes on because people are trying to "pay back" debt they owe...so they steal in order to pay back. it's an awkward thing, and their house has already been broken into 3 times. she feels unsafe as well.
what can we do? i say lets build a big house in our back yard and let people live there...we know this family and one other that would go nicely there. wouldn't that be the easy thing to do? just save them? shouldn't we let them sleep in our house? she won't do it. i already told her to just come...it's a fine line here of helping and handing out...but i can't help but think out loud on this blog to all of you and wonder what to do? i know you don't understand all the cultural ins and outs of this matter and why we can't just jump on getting her into a new spot...but what i am wondering now...'would it be so bad if we overlooked culture right now?' couldn't it be said that it's "ok"? i am finding out that MOST people here have leaky houses when it rains...even foreigners...but not to the extent that Indonesians live with. what to do? can i really say to her "i'm so sorry, i will be praying for you and i hope you can find a better place to live."? and call that good? i don't think so! so please be with us in prayer over this and many matters of culture here. we just can't even begin to understand the miles they have walked in their shoes.
Yanti: Good morning ibu. i hope you are strong and healthy today.
Me: yeah... we are good except for each person is just a little sick today.
Yanti: Oh Ibu! what is wrong?
Me: blah blah blah...i went on to explain our tiny little pains and then i ask "how are you?"
Yanti: yeah, God keeps me strong and healthy.
an hour passes and i go in to tell her about the laundry i was just doing with Greg's socccer clothes cuz they had played in the rain the day before and all was MUD...then she began to tell me the story of HER day.
her and her husband, their two kids (3 and 1) and his mother moved into a tiny little house in the inner city of Salatiga so that they would be close to everything without having to walk too far. this was earlier this spring. they didn't know that when rainy season would come...which is starting just now...that their entire house would be wet on the inside. so much so they have to sweep out the water. so much so that all the mattresses are soaked and they don't have a dry place to rest their bodies. and her baby is already sick on top of this. some bronchitis thing that he has to take meds for like 6 months...the electricity went out all over town this particular night and the kids were scared, the food was ruined from the rain, and they had no place to sleep. her telephone was out of pulsa so she wasn't able to call anyone. her neighbor invited them stay at her house but her daughter wouldn't sleep there cuz it was so dark and dirty and smelly. she began to cry like a little girl but her mother-in-law told her to stop. so she did and she began to pray that God would keep her family strong and healthy. that night they all went to bed with hungry stomaches and she sat up and held her kids so they could sleep.
i felt soooo foolish for having complained of our little sicknesses to her. i feel so bad for her and this whole situation. the owner will not help fix the roof and they still have a contract with the house. they can not afford to move again! nor can they just leave this spot with so much money already paid. now that ramadan season has started...there is a lot of theft that goes on because people are trying to "pay back" debt they owe...so they steal in order to pay back. it's an awkward thing, and their house has already been broken into 3 times. she feels unsafe as well.
what can we do? i say lets build a big house in our back yard and let people live there...we know this family and one other that would go nicely there. wouldn't that be the easy thing to do? just save them? shouldn't we let them sleep in our house? she won't do it. i already told her to just come...it's a fine line here of helping and handing out...but i can't help but think out loud on this blog to all of you and wonder what to do? i know you don't understand all the cultural ins and outs of this matter and why we can't just jump on getting her into a new spot...but what i am wondering now...'would it be so bad if we overlooked culture right now?' couldn't it be said that it's "ok"? i am finding out that MOST people here have leaky houses when it rains...even foreigners...but not to the extent that Indonesians live with. what to do? can i really say to her "i'm so sorry, i will be praying for you and i hope you can find a better place to live."? and call that good? i don't think so! so please be with us in prayer over this and many matters of culture here. we just can't even begin to understand the miles they have walked in their shoes.
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