March 20-26, 2023

 Monday 3/20: Today was such a beautiful day! Cool and a good breeze. The coconut trees really start to sway with even the slightest breeze. Looks like it wouldn’t take much for them to snap right off. Spent quite abit of time in the courtyard. Layton played hide and seek and ran around with some children he has met here. They played with Daniel’s Nicolee too I think! At one point the guard and his friend were racing on bikes back and forth in the courtyard. It was quite humorous to watch. Jared had clinic this morning. The dr wasn’t able to be there but he still went in case anyone needed more milk or “prescription refills.” As long as their dose hasn’t changed he can give them more without the dr being there. Today was a loud day. They are remodeling several apartments here in our complex. One is right beside us and one right below us. Alot of pounding, hammering etc. After awhile one just kinda tunes it all out! Outback where the new apartment building is supposedly going to go, there’s been a lot of metal grinding, down in the courtyard there’s more hammering and welding where a mistri is making new window frames for the remodel project. Plus overhead the planes and helicopters do not fail to disappoint. This evening we went to Parktown for supper with Elwoods before they head to Rajshahi. Jared and I tried Thai soup. Elwood and Melissa love to eat it with wontons! Tomato soup with cilantro, shrimp, chicken and mushroom. Quite spicy but the flavor was excellent. We got corn soup too… egg drop soup with corn and bits of chicken added to it. Layton enjoys the corn soup. He is getting quite adventurous with the foods he has been trying. He even tried a spring roll… Never thought I would see the day! Had a fun evening just talking and being together. 

Tuesday 3/21: Jared had clinic this morning. An older gentleman came in and wanted financial help for his daughter. Jared told him to bring in his current memos (hospital receipts) and he would decide. He brought in some memos and Miriam took one look at them and said she didn’t think they were any good. So Jared said “bring your daughter with you next time.” He wanted to make sure that there actually was a problem with the daughter. Well then the story was that his daughter was bedridden and couldn’t come. Miriam told Jared that she is pretty sure this man has tried this stunt before to get money. So no taka… (It’s not uncommon when we are stuck in traffic that people will go from car to car with a hospital memo asking for money so they can get treatment. Everything at the hospital has to be prepaid.) Had singing in the evening. One of the patients mothers was wearing a burka. She came and joined our singing group. The other ladies told her to take her burka off that it was ok to not wear it front of Jared. She really hesitated and then finally pulled it down just barely below her nose. She soon left the room. We sang for around 45 minutes which was amazing considering all the coughing that Jared Josna and Sumita did😂 It made for some good laughs. 

Wednesday 3/22: Spent the day doing normal things. The mistris were working in the apartment beside ours and were jackhammering away. The noise was absolutely DEAFENING. I really had to work on my attitude about the racket. Then the fighter jets roared overhead…. Awww…. Dhaka. We had chicken curry at the clinic for lunch today. Josna made fried eggplant. It was so good. The first time she made it I was pretty skeptical because it has a slimy texture but now I really enjoy it. Josna always says that “Duane boss” LOVED eggplant and ate “onek.” 😂 Spent the evening at home. Played games and relaxed. All was peaceful and calm this evening. Went and stood on the back veranda and about all we could hear was the bugs chirping. Was refreshing after the ruckus of the morning and afternoon. Jared got enthused to make banana splits so that tasted amazing! I thought it was cute this afternoon we met our neighbor girl on the street. She told me she had a project for school she needed to do. I asked her what it was and she said “I have to make something called a burger.” 😁 Their school hours are intriguing here. The younger classes are from 1030-1 and then as they move up a grade the days get longer. Our neighbor girl was saying she goes from 1230-4:30. Plus I suppose it depends on the school. Seeing all the different kinds of uniforms has been interesting. The school by the clinic lets out what appears to be all ages at 1. Often when we go there for lunch at 1 the street is packed with kids in their light blue and navy uniforms. Rickshaws and CNGs and Rickshaws pulling little carts are waiting close by to take the children home. Layton wondered if he would go home from school in one of those someday😁 

Thursday 3/23: This morning when we went out to ride bike we observed probably 50 bags of chipped up cement and tile out by the trash barrels. On top perched an old bathtub. Must have been what the ruckus was all about yesterday. Here they fill up old cement bags with trash. Jared took some more papers into the auditors office. That is usually an all morning plus affair so I was quite surprised when he was back in about an hour. For sure since it’s a Thursday. I thought with Ramadan starting tomorrow everyone would be out eating and doing as much as possible. Shurov came for sweet tea and a visit this evening. 

Friday 3/24: Today at church the hot topic was fasting. Ramadan started today for the Muslims. We weren’t sure which day exactly it was supposed to start as they go by the sign of the moon. When Shurov came over yesterday he said that yes it is Friday. It’s a month long period of fasting. Ramadan is a time of spiritual reflection, self-improvement, and heightened devotion and worship. I had to wonder if it is their version of revivals? The mosques are quite full with men saying more prayers in order to be more dedicated. Ladies aren’t typically allowed in mosques. On our way to and from Gulsane this afternoon there where flocks of men heading to the mosques. All with their white caps and long Muslim shirts. Muslims can’t eat or drink from sunup to sundown. Some will even spit out their saliva instead of swallowing it in order to avoid “drinking.” When they break the fast in the evenings they often eat dates and fried foods. Sounds like the ladies cook and cook all afternoon for the evening meal in order to make up for not eating all day. Those that are exempt from fasting are women who are pregnant or menstruating, if you are traveling, acutely or chronically ill or diabetic. Other activities that are banned during the fasting hours are smoking, drinking and romantic behaviors. Shurov tells us that his mother will go behind his fathers back and make him food to eat during the day since he doesn’t partake in the fasting since he is a member but the rest of his family fasts. He told us that people get pretty crabby in the afternoons due to hunger. Also people don’t go out and about as much in the afternoon as they are weak or not feeling well from lack of food and dehydration. Miriam is Catholic and she is doing a time of fasting now too before Easter. While Shurov and Miriam were talking about fasting I sat there and thought how glad I was that Jared and I were going out for American hamburgers and fries for lunch. 🫣 While we were at the clinic Jared had to take care of a few things… get milk for several patients, etc. Went to UniMart for groceries. Did a big haul since we didn’t go last week and with baby getting close we thought we better get extra. I feel like such a glutton when I go to the meat counter and ask for 6 lbs of beef. The meat people say “6 packages?!?!” And I say “yes please.” If my cart is full they really stare. What would they ever think if they saw all the meat we get from Sams at home?! Or the size of Walmart Pickup orders?😂Meat is definitely not a staple in their diet here that is for sure! Came home and crashed for awhile. It was a rainy afternoon so made for lovely napping weather! The rest of the evening we did the usual. Rode bike, read stories, made supper, colored… 

Saturday 3/25: Jared and Layton ran errands for the clinic this morning. I was glad Layton could go with him. He was full of energy this morning and going crazy so a good long walk was just what he needed. Sumita came to clean. It rained in the afternoon so we just stayed home indoors. I looked out the window and noticed the laundry was flapping on the line on the veranda. Did my Kansas soul good to see the wind! I printed off a bunch of school worksheets for Layton to do to keep him busy. I didn’t think he would enjoy them, but he sat down and did them all one after the other and asked for more. We were quite surprised. Since he’s left handed he forgets and starts writing his name at the opposite end of the paper then what he’s supposed to! So we will practice that. He was so enthused about his “papers” that when the neighbor kids went down to play he told them “I can’t play today, I have school work to do.” 😂 

Sunday 3/26: No clinic today since it’s Independence Day here. The painters have really been making progress on the apartments. The staircase and by our doors is all painted glossy creamy yellow. It looks so fresh and clean!!!! The outside of the building is the same as before. Tan/beige color. The neighbor kids were down in the courtyard today since it’s a holiday and they didn’t have school so tried to take Layton down there for at least an hour. They’ve been playing some neat games. I can’t quite figure them out but Layton has fun. Or they all get their bikes and scooters and fly around. I had to laugh because one day Layton was totally horrified. He came up to me and said “mom that girl drinks WATER FROM THE TAP!” We don’t ever drink tap water here just filtered water so to him drinking tap water was about next to a sin. I tried to explain to him that people that have lived here all their lives are used to the tap water so it doesn’t make them sick. But whenever he talks about that girl still hear him saying “that girl that drinks TAP WATER!” Jared did computer work for awhile. In the afternoon we got a CNG and hauled Jared’s big med order from Square Hospital and Maw Pharmacy to the clinic and unpacked them all and put them in the cabinet. There weren’t any patients since it’s a holiday. The sisters where just taking it easy. Friday when we had church we noticed our fruit dokan had probably 60 melons in front of it. Today there were just a few left. Last week we got one of the biggest melons I’ve ever seen. Not quite Esau style but close! We’ve been eating on that thing for days feels like. It’s so good though!! When we got back our neighbor lady came over and brought us two big plates full of food. Mostly fried. We couldn’t tell what it was. Some of it looked like it might have had mashed potato inside it and some looked like eggplant. There was a big pile of big dal with a sauce on it. I didn’t try it but Jared said it was very spicy. It was most likely their Iftar food. The evening meal that breaks their daily fast. 

March 13-19, 2023

 Monday 3/13: I was up most of the night solving world problems as I am prone to do occasionally. Sleeping good at night has never been my strong point. Suppose it’s from working so many late night shifts for so many years. After I got my boys breakfast I went back to bed for awhile. The car mechanic came and got the van and took it to his shop for a service job. He did an amazing job. Fixed a bunch of small things, cleaned out the inside and buffed out the scratches on the door. He brought Jared the papers for the cycle so Jared can drive it if he needs too. Clinic wasn’t as busy today as sometime. Jon stopped in this afternoon to pick up more papers for Trevor and Miss Kalli’s visas. Never mind Miss Kalli leaves in a few months.😂 so it goes… sometimes it’s almost seems easier to fork out the money for their exit visas then to try and get their work visas but we want to be law abiding citizens. We don’t want to be like the one situation we heard of where all of a sudden the police showed up and said they had an hour to get to the airport to leave the country. Jared talked to some people from Missouri last week that are here now working at Lamb Hospital. They found an online language school that would let them come  under their program with student visas for two years. Jared wonders if we should try that route. In order for that to work, some schools would require you to come to class several days a week and some it’s all on line. So ya the visa situation continues… We just submit what they ask for when they ask for it. Sometimes it’s one paper and then the next time it’s an entire 2 inch thick packet. Then all of a sudden finally we will get something that we have been waiting for! Keeps us guessing😁

Tuesday 3/14: Clinic this morning. I got enthused to make a jello poke cake to take to the clinic tonight when we go sing. Thought it’d be fun to have snack with them because they love that sort of thing. I rummaged around until I found a recipe for a white cake from scratch. Betty Crocker and I are BFFs when it comes to cake mixes so I hadn’t ever made a white one from scratch but it turned out ok. More dense than the mix. Then Jared got home from clinic and he said singing got canceled because one of the sisters had a bad cold. Meanwhile, while I was baking and cooking Layton drug out a ladder and spent quite abit of time digging through some of these tall cupboards in this apartment. He dug out old birdcages, old light fixtures, old empty boxes, etc. It kept him entertained for quite awhile… for sure when I told him to put it all back where he found it. (I’m a fun mom that way.) I was quite pleased with myself because while the cake was baking I got supper in the crockpot so I would only have to heat the kitchen up once today, then Jared wanted to go out for supper since there wasn’t singing so now I have supper ready for tomorrow. Blessed are the flexible! Haha! Went to Olive for supper. That’s always so good. Moved Layton into the teacher room  for night since there’s an air conditioner in there. It was a cooker today. Hardly any breeze. Jared says he misses the wind in Kansas. 

Wednesday 3/15: Not long after breakfast it started to thunder a lot. Layton was very nervous and thought it was a Kansas thunderstorm coming. Tried to explain to him that a “thunderstorm” in Dhaka is completely different than a thunderstorm in Kansas. He didn’t believe us one speck.😂 So he hid under a blanket for awhile and wanted me to read Ralph and the Motorcycle. Reading to him seems to be his security. Anytime he’s scared or upset he wants me to read to him. Only rained a small bit but boy the breeze that accompanied the thunder felt amazing. Jared spent the morning at the auditors office getting papers signed. It took him an hour and a half to get home as the traffic was crazy so he missed lunch at the clinic. Josna sent home chicken curry with Layton and I for “boss.” So he quick ate it and we headed to Square Hospital for my apt. The dr was happy that I have made it past when Layton was born. We are too… a sense of relief. Jared and I had a good chuckle at Layton this evening because he put probably 10 smiley face stickers on a piece of paper and gave one to each of us. He said that every time we smile during the day we are supposed to cross one off. So I’m not sure if we’ve been too serious or what for him?!😂 It’s a good reminder though. 

Thursday 3/15: While we blissfully slept, God was busy at the Mission Board meeting placing missionaries. Woke up to the exciting news that Kellys have a replacement for when they go home in August. Neil and Carl weren’t sure if they would have enough names or not so we were all preparing ourselves for no one coming. But we prayed anyway that God could work something out and sure enough He did. Doyle and Krystal Barkman from Nova Scotia. They have a 5 year old, 2 year old and 6 month old so they will be a splendid addition to the family.🥰 I am so thankful that they have a child Layton’s age. However, it was saddening to see the long list of needs with no one’s name beside it. Praying those can get filled in a timely manner. Jared ran a few errands this morning but he was feeling under the weather so stayed close to home. Not sure if he caught the cold bug that Trevor’s and Kelly’s and Sumita have or what it is. Shurov didn’t come for sweet tea as he is ill as well. The guards say people get sick now “because the seasons changing.” This afternoon the air conditioning mistris came and serviced ours and the guesthouse ACs. Jared thought they would bring an air compressor and blow the dust out but they used toothbrushes and paint brushes and got the radiator really clean! Then they dumped buckets of water over it to get the rest of the grime out. They definitely work much better now. The one they couldn’t reach from a veranda they just yanked it out of the wall, hauled it down to the courtyard to wash and then they shoved it back in. This afternoon Layton and I went down to the courtyard and watched the painters mudding the side of the apartment. The drivers, guards and the caretaker were watching too! They had their bucket of mud tied onto one of the bamboo rungs. 

Friday 3/16: We had to cancel church this morning. Was disappointing but with Jared, Shurov and Sumita sick it didn’t make much sense to have it. Jared is feeling better this morning… just fatigue and a nagging cough. It rained during the night and this morning when I took Layton out to ride bike it was so nice and cool. Even an occasional breeze! We skipped our usual grocery shopping run today. Jared needed to rest and regain his wits. Elwoods come Sunday and I told him I’d rather him lay around all day and get better than go go go and not be able to enjoy them while they are here. Because Elwoods are a pile of fun I tell you! You don’t want to miss out when they are around. It’s probably a good thing we were home all day because the painters were in and out of the house working on the verandas. Layton amused himself with shredding up a piece of styrofoam he found. I just looked the other way… 

Saturday 3/17: Found out this morning that Daryl and Brenda Toews from Bloomfield are our new field secretaries. Was exciting since we know Cassie! Neil’s have been on for 9 years. It’s sad though that they will be off but at least Carls will stay on! Annual Meeting is sure eventful when you’re in the mission. Never know what you might find out next. Lucky was able to come cook this morning. I was so glad! Went to buy her the vegetables she needed. The vegetables that are available now are different than the ones a few months ago when we first came so it’s been interesting to try and figure out which ones make a good sobji mixture. I’ve noticed Josna has started adding pumpkin or papaya and long green beans to her mix so that’s what I got for Lucky to use. Limes and Cauliflower are looking pretty rough so will experiment with different veggies! I kinda keep an eye on what Josna puts in hers so I know what to get. Here the ones that are in season are the ones that are available, it’s not like at home where Walmart always has pretty much any sort of fruit and vegetable available whether it’s in season or not. Anyways… seems like I always end up writing about food, but when your a housewife that’s what you deal with! I took Layton outside for awhile to stay out of Sumita and Lucky’s way. He was determined to catch a bird so he got an old birdcage and propped the door open in hopes that a crow would hop in. Then he went into the kitchen and got Lucky to give him the pumpkin seeds from the pumpkin she was cooking for lunch and used those for “bait.” We are still waiting…😂

Sunday 3/18: This morning was cloudy. All of a sudden the sky got dark and it poured rain for quite awhile. Jared was already at clinic so Layton and I went and watched it rain on the veranda. The neighbors were all standing on their verandas waving and smiling at each other. Looked like everyone was happy for the rain. One couple even sat there and drank their cha!  Sumita says every time she comes to clean that it needs to rain so people don’t get sick and the dust settles. This morning was the first time that it just actually let loose and rained. The last two times it’s just been a little tiny bit not even enough to get the whole courtyard yet. The rest of the day was uneventful. Elwoods flew into Dhaka from India and were able to get a 30 day visa so we are glad! They are coming to finish tying up loose ends at their Rajshahi post. Layton and I went up to the roof and he had the time of his life jumping in the huge puddle up there. I kept waiting for a Bengali to holler out their window that he was going to get sick if he got wet but we played uninterrupted! The other day he was trying to wash his bike in the courtyard and the moyla lady saw him scrubbing away to his hearts content. She came over there and grabbed the brush from him and told him to back up he might get dirty. She scrubbed and scrubbed his bike. Finally she gave the brush back to him. We just kinda stood there and didn’t know what to do.🫣 It was kinda funny but we were glad when she went on her way, bless her heart! She is a sweet lady so she probably thought she was saving him from a “chore” and didn’t realize it was something fun for him. 

March 6-12, 2023

Monday 3/6: Jared had clinic this morning.  Saw around 30 patients. He had to set up some guidelines with some that are involved with our work here as they kept asking him for meds for personal use. He told them they could ask once a month for meds just like the patients. He told them we have a budget we have to stick too, so we can’t just give out meds to you every little bit even though you work hard for us and we really appreciate you! Hard to know what to do sometimes. Our employees are our friends, family and colleagues so having to make a new rule is hard. Maybe it’s called “new missionaryitis.” While Jared was gone Layton and I did odd jobs around the house. Cleaned out his bedroom and that sort of thing. Got some popsicles in the freezer… “hot cocoa popsicles.” Basically chocolate pudding and marshmallows layered. Sumita came and cleaned so it was nice having her buzzing around. I think it’s taking her a bit to get used to a little boy that can make some hefty messes. She’s a good sport and laughs and says “moyla moyla!” We try to have him clean his stuff up before she comes. Got the teacher room ready for Miss Kalli when Trevor’s come into Dhaka in a few days and did some laundry. Strawberries are in now. Found it interesting that they are in season the same time as at home! They are so good so we’ve been eating our weight in strawberries and ice cream. They are around 350-400 taka ($3.50-$4.00) for 1 kg. Jared picked me up some more when he went to Farmgate this afternoon. Want to freeze a bunch for smoothies. This afternoon I took Layton out to ride bike like usual and the dokan man flagged me down. A lady from Kulna that Trevor had seen at his clinic had been referred to Islamic Eye Hospital here in Dhaka. She somehow ended up at the guesthouse which is right across the street from his dokan. Not sure how she got there because we never let patients come to our house or the guesthouse. They have to come meet us at the clinic if they are wanting assistance, even if they show up after hours. Anyways I called Jared because the lady was completely clueless as to what she needed. All she had was the referral paper. He ended up taking her to the clinic for the night and then Dr Elizabeth will see her tomorrow morning during clinic and they can make a plan. Usually when they come from Kelly or Trevor’s clinics they know where they are supposed to go or they call Jared ahead of time or family comes with them to help them. But this lady was elderly and showed up all by herself. It seemed like she had no idea what was going on! We were surprised she even made it to Dhaka by herself. Spent the evening at home just being us. 

Tuesday 3/7: Clinic day today! Jared was able to get the elderly lady that I talked about yesterday a ride to Islamic Eye Hospital. Layton and I went through the magazines and books to see what sorts of treasures we could find. Oh, the things that collect in a mission house😂 Found at least 50 or more old hearth and homes clear back from 2002. One of them had our cousin’s Jesse’s birth announcement in it! Jesse is in the youth now. Some said “Sheralyn Nikkel” or “Chelle Johnson “ on the front. I kept them all for now, kinda interesting to read through and find new recipes. Gave Layton all the old magazines to cut pictures out of when he gets bored. He found a hunting magazine and was very impressed. Sang tonight with the sisters then went to Hotel Shuktara for supper. We got there right at dusk so it was fun to sit on the 9th story roof where the restaurant is and watch the lights of Dhaka. It’s a Hindu holiday today…. “Holi” (the Festival of Colours) Holi symbolizes the celebration of spring, friendship, family, and the victory of good over evil. They throw colored powder or water at each other. We didn’t see much of that here in Dhaka but Trevor’s said their neighbor kids in Kulna came and dowsed their children good! Wish we could have seen more of it. Sounds like a holiday that could have the potential of getting pretty rowdy based off of what other missionaries have said. Sometimes there are drugs involved to help elevate the party spirit! It’s so intriguing learning about all these holidays. 

Wednesday 3/8: Jared had business at the clinic to tend to first thing this morning.  Still dealing with the Islamic Eye lady. They ended up telling her to go to a government hospital where it would be much cheaper. Jared didn’t feel like the amount of money he could give her would go very far if she continued to dr at Islamic Eye. It’s a Muslim holiday today so his plans of picking up the audits from the audit office were spoiled. This morning when we were riding bike (Let’s make this clear… Layton rides, I waddle along behind to ensure his safety😂) we noticed some painters had their long bamboo ladder hanging down the side of our building! The 10 bamboo “steps” or “rungs” are maybe 5 feet long and then tied to a rope at evenly spaced intervals maybe 4 feet apart. The ropes are tied to two gigantic sand bags that are up on the roof.  The men were climbing up and down that ladder like a bunch of monkeys. We stood on the veranda for awhile and watched them! Looked like today they were just scraping the outside. Curious to see how they will paint it. Usually they paint the verandas all one color and the rest a contrasting color. Then in our backyard by the mango trees a group of men have a large metal tripod set up with a rope and pulley system. They have a heavy cement block on the rope and then 4 men heave and pull up and down and use the block to pound their pipes down into the ground. We think they are trying to dig a well or something. They’ve been moving the apparatus to different parts of the backyard and repeating the process. They’ve been cleaning up down there the past while… tore down an old building, burned many piles of leaves… so who knows what will end up back there! Went to the clinic for lunch… we were starving! There’s nothing as good as a big plate of chicken curry, rice and sobji that’s topped with dal when your ravenous. Josna’s dal is perfection. Not too thick and not too runny. Layton is doing better with eating the vegetables. I realized he wasn’t eating them because they were “mixed up”🫣 So I told him what type of veggies were in there and then he ate it! Silly boy. The tumeric makes it all look yellow for sure potatoes, cauliflower, papaya, etc so it does look all the same. Josna always gets a big smile on her face when Layton asks for third helpings on the food! Didn’t do much in the afternoon. Trevor’s came to town to drop off their company. After they were done at the airport, we went over to the guesthouse and I helped Lisa and Miss Kalli make strawberry jam. That was a lot of fun! Jared and Trevor went to the new Pizza Hut that’s about a 15 minute walk from our apartment and got pizza and wings for supper. The pizza looked and smelled just like at home. 🥰 Trevor’s and Kelly’s go there a lot when they are here but we hadn’t tried it yet. We stayed late and visited. It feels good to talk about adjustments and emotions with others that are going through them too. We are thankful we are here. 

Thursday 3/8: Jared spent the morning and afternoon running errands… auditors office, bank, buying milk for the clinic, etc. Shurov came for his usual Thursday afternoon talk and sweet tea fix. He always hopes I have “something homemade” on hand too. I don’t always then he has to have boughten cookies with his tea… On a different note… sometimes I wonder if I should be doing more “for the gospels sake.” It feels like I keep house and take care of things just like at home. Seems like Jared is the one that is out and about more amongst the people and runs the clinic. We can’t really go around passing out tracts etc here. Our clinic is our outreach. Carl and Neil encouraged me to just be friendly with the people I do come in contact with and make friends with the other ladies in these apartment buildings. So I’ve been doing my best. Saying the few simple things I know to the moyla lady, the moms at the clinic and the moms I see walking their children back here to our apartment. It’s been giving me a sense of fulfillment for which I am thankful. For so many years I’ve been a nurse and that gave me fulfillment so not doing that now has been more of an adjustment than I thought it would be! I have really enjoyed being able to be more of a present mama since I’m not working. 

Friday 3/9: Church today… stayed for quite awhile afterwards. Layton sat and colored in the kitchen and Josna and Sumita joined him and wanted to color too. They tried to teach him the name of the colors in Bangla. It was fun sitting there and talking to them. Or trying to anyways! Miriam was telling me that she had taken a 3 piece to the tailor to get sewed. She told him she wanted it loose fitting. But when she picked it up it was tight around the waist and flared out at the bottom. She concluded the story with “man has no brains.” 😂 it’s fun to laugh with them! Went to Lola’s and UniMart. After some good naps, Jared went to the clinic to get some things for the two patients that were there. Spent the evening just relaxing. 

Saturday 3/11: As soon as we got up I raced (waddled) around the house and got things tidied up before Sumita came to clean. In the evenings my energy level is comparable to that of a sloth so I just let the mess go after supper. Layton did a great job of helping. Jared went to the clinic for abit to take care of some things and then headed to Computer City to buy a new printer. We were hoping this printer would last awhile yet but it completely gave up the ghost. So he’s been having to go to the printshop to get his papers printed. I think Davey bought this printer so it is a bit aged.😂 When he came home Layton was beside himself with excitement with watching Jared hook the thing up. You know… cords to plug in, buttons that light up, wires to connect… all the things that he loves. 

Sunday 3/12: Clinic day… The painters were busy scraping and washing in front of our apartment this morning so that provided some entertainment. How they don’t fall off their bamboo rope ladder is beyond me. This morning when Layton and I were out for our morning bike ride one of the drivers was all excited. A tiny “meow meow” had climbed up inside his car and fallen out. He thought I should take it to my house, I briefly considered it but it was so small I would have had to give it a bottle or something. Wasn’t sure I should start that up and become the apartment cat caretaker. This afternoon Jared got me 4 kg strawberries when he went to run errands for the clinic. Got them all cleaned and cut up and froze for smoothies. Otherwise a normal rest of the day. 

February 27- March 5, 2023

 This past week we were down with a nasty bug for a few days. I didn’t write anything since taking care of myself and my men was the focus. After the bug passed we had some other unique challenging days (that are funny now) but now we are back to normal life! Just needed time to recover and relax and regain our dignity and our senses. The week has ended better than it started! Anyways I’ve been compiling a list of thankfuls over the past few weeks so thought I’d share them this week. 

🔹 The way the guards wonder where Layton is if he goes a whole day without riding bike in the courtyard. The grin on their faces when they see him makes my heart happy. The days he was sick they asked me at least twice in one day where he was! 

🔹 Layton’s enthusiasm for learning Bangla words.

🔹Seeing the other missionaries when they come into Dhaka. It’s like family has come home! 

🔹Being able to tell the dokane man what I need. 

🔹hanging up laundry on the veranda first thing in the morning and seeing the neighbor lady doing the same then catching her eye and waving at each other.

🔹”The God of the day is still God of the night.” This song came to me one night when I couldn’t sleep and was worrying.

🔹Our members here… they give us such a boost. 

🔹Riding on rickshaws… (as long as they know where they are going.) 

🔹Hearing the morning sounds when we wake up… crows cawing, roosters crowing and doves cooing, the whisk whisk of the ladies sweeping the courtyard. 

🔹the hot pink flowers on this cactus thing that’s on our veranda. 

🔹Sumita coming to mop our tile floors three times a week so our feet aren’t constantly black. 

🔹Layton: “Do you know what I need to do as soon as we get back to Kansas? I need to go to church and school and see if the ice maker lids open and close up and down or if they slide open back and forth like the one at grandpys church.” (🫣) Honestly, this child’s brain leaves me in the dust most days but then again that doesn’t take much.

🔹the way the whole apartment complex smells in the mornings… garlic onion and turmeric cooking. (We won’t mention the awful smoke smell that permeates our apartment in the evenings when they decide to burn leaves behind our flat.🤢) 

🔹On days when there’s struggles and challenges that you only would ever have in a foreign country but knowing that there are a lot of people back home praying for us. Knowing that someday we will look back on the things that stressed us out and how we will laugh because they really do make a good story once the dust settles. 

🔹At church on Fridays, Layton passes the offering basket during the last song and then afterwards picks up the chairs and songbooks. He loves his church tasks and takes them quite seriously! Shurov thinks this is the funniest thing for some reason and just laughs and laughs at “Mr Layton working.”  For some reason a child doing chores here must be unheard of. Layton made a hideous mud mess on both verandas one day and I told Sumita she wasn’t allowed to clean up either veranda because Jared and I don’t want Layton to think that just because we have a housekeeper that he can make a mess and then not clean it up. (Part of the reason he had to clean it himself was because there was disobedience involved in the mud making.) She laughed and laughed and thought it was funny that he had to clean it up himself. So who knows what they think of us trying to make him be responsible but with all his energy it’s not going to hurt him anytime soon to do chores.😂

🔹 Fans! Full speed… it’s been 90* for the past week or so and it’s amazing how much fans can keep things quite comfortable. 

🔹 Our verandas. One has a big water spigot that Layton spends hours playing in and the back veranda has a big tub of potting soil for him to rummage in. It’s one place I can send Layton to play by himself that I don’t have to constantly keep an eye on him or be with him like I do when we go down to the courtyard. 

🔹Seeing the moms and babies at the clinic. Seeing them one day and they have a bad cleft lip and then a few days later after their operation their lip is closed and it makes for the most beautiful smile you have ever seen! 

🔹 the rows and rows of bright colored fruit and veggies at the dokane. No one needs to give these men any class on product presentation.

🔹a freezer full of food for after the baby is born. Simple meals but it was fun to make it all knowing that we would eat it when our baby is here. 🥰

🔹UniMart… a fun place to grocery shop on Fridays. Has pretty much any thing we need for cooking. There’s some random things that aren’t available but it’s been easy to do without! 

🔹NOAH… our van… seems funny to drive such a big rig for the three of us but when we pick up visitors and suitcases it feels up fast! We haven’t broke out the cycle yet but Jared hopes to eventually. Seldom need to drive anywhere here in Dhaka unless it’s to the airport, auditors office or UniMart. 

Have a good week! Our love to you all…🤍