Waiting

There is a big part of me that hates waiting for things. My parents inform me that I've been this way since I was a little tyke... constantly asking "how many more days until...?" Probably most of my impatience then had to do with stuff like my birthday and Christmas (I confess, I was a greedy child at times). Nowadays, I find myself getting impatient over very different issues.

I'm 41 weeks pregnant... and it sometimes feels like our baby is never going to come. It's just over 3 more months until we head to Papua New Guinea... and I feel so anxious to be there already.

My sister-in-law wrote a really good blog post on this issue a few weeks ago (http://beautyinweakness.blogspot.ca/2015/03/dinner-tables-jaeger-and-waiting.html). I feel like God has been using it and other encouraging passages from His Word to teach me a lot about the importance of waiting patiently for His timing. It really does me no good to be impatient. The baby isn't going to come any faster because I want it to. The 3 months before going overseas isn't going to fly by overnight just because I'm excited about it. And if I focus on those things, I am going to miss the precious opportunities I have in front of me.

Right now...
I have time to just hang out one-on-one with my husband
I am able to spend time with family
I have the convenience of Skype and phones so I can call friends and family
I can still go places without having to think "Baby" all the time

And there are so many other things. When I stop to think on the blessings God has given, it gives me a chance to be thankful for waiting, even though it is difficult at times. 

I am excited for these big events coming up very soon in our lives, but I am also grateful for all that God is teaching us through the waiting process.

PNG Fact of the Day (6) - Wildlife

Just so everyone knows, there are no monkeys, elephants, tigers, kangaroos, or any other type of interesting jungle animals in Papua New Guinea. How boring, I know. I always hoped my kids would be able to have a little baby monkey for a pet, but no such luck in PNG.

Pretty much the only exotic wildlife in PNG is the tree kangaroo, which is kind of a cross between a kangaroo and a koala. I've heard they make good pets, so maybe we'll have one someday.

Tree kangaroo

There are also lots of wild pigs (which many of the tribal groups hunt for meat), large fruit bats, massive snakes, and flying squirrels. There's also some flightless birds called cassowaries, which kind of look like little emus.

A pretty big snake

And of course, there are loads of beautiful birds... although they don't really look so beautiful early in the morning when they start making noise right outside your window. Some of them are pretty loud!