February: when the worst turned out to be the BEST

As a hopeless, helpless romantic, February is usually my favorite month because of Valentine's day and Steve's Birthday. This year? Uhmmm no.... I had to think like Betsy Tenn Boom from the "Hiding Place" and find a way to be grateful for the fleas.... (Betsy and her sister Corrie were sent to a concentration camp for hiding Jews in their home. Even with all the horrors around them, they always said grateful prayers despite losing parents, lack of food, mistreatment and even for the fleas that bit them all night, because the fleas kept the guards from coming in and molesting them.)

So remembering those 2 sisters, I learned to say grateful prayers for all that we thought went wrong in February....

Even though it is dry season, we have had torrential rains this year. And after the rains, fierce winds (not our gentle Trade winds) have whipped us around. One morning after I took the kids to school, I hear this awful crash (different that the previous 2 crash sounds I heard, which were the shelves ripping out of the wall). This time the crash was the wind knocking the basketball hoop onto our car.

It dented the hood and left scrapes all down the front end and bent the antenna
And insult to injury, underneath the hoop: 5 nasty Guam toads that came at me for moving their home
But I learned to say thank you to Heavenly Father, because the falling basketball hoop didn't break the windshield, and those toads ate the Boonie Bees that attacked me when I was trimming the shrubbery.

One of my favorite foods in Salmon. You would think being in the Pacific, I could get good Pacific Salmon. But no, out here at restaurants you get the pasty white, bland Atlantic Salmon.... so after being deprived for months of the fish I wanted and need for my health, I grumpily tried something new and went for the Ahi Tuna smothered in Pesto at Proa restaurant for Steve's b-day. I was looking at the concoction the waiter set in front of me like "Sam I Am" turning his nose up at "Green Eggs and Ham." But do you know, when I finally surrendered, and tasted it, I realized it was the best thing I have ever eaten! Steve, not a big fish fan after getting sick on seafood as a kid, took a taste test and had to agree that it was AWESOME!

And they gave us this Italian wanna be gelato (ice cream) with violet infused olive oil on the side to dip the ice cream in, and I thought 'this is going to end bad'... with me vomiting at the table with the chef watching. But I had to repent and send a thanks heavenward for giving me a small taste of Italy when I have been so homesick for Italian food.

Then, Steve announces we are going to a "Sweet 16" party in Asan at a Village Community Center for his secretaries daughter. The idea of sitting for a couple hours outside with people we don't know in the sweltering heat had everyone complaining.
The kids tried a myriad of ways to get out of it...they had homework, they wanted to go with friends to movies, they needed to go out with the missionaries to do splits, they needed to finish merit badges--yah right.
Well the party they dreaded surprised them: the 'knock off' sodas were better than name brands; the roast pig and homemade tamales were amazing; the dj played great music, the guest gifts from the Philippines a nice surprise and the feisty winds made the evening pleasantly cool as we watched a cultural night of kids riding carabao and a young Chamorro girl glide into the shoes of a young woman according to Spanish tradition.

Then there was Trevor's birthday party. Ever year the sad truth is, we plan a party for his b-day and it rains and spoils everything.

Trevor was sitting by the pool looking at the dark clouds blowing in and thinking out loud: "Yep, it's gonna rain for my birthday"
And a few drops did fall... but then the wind picked up and pushed the clouds away,
and a rainbow came out over our houseand then Trevor got the best gift that heaven can summon -- a golden sunset for his 18th b-dayand that night a full moon out his bedroom widow that glowed despite the heavy clouds that moved in.

And though Trevor was troubled that not all his friends could make the party because of unforeseen events that conspired,
it left Trevor enough German chocolate cake, ice cream and pizza to gorge on before he had to get his wisdom teeth yanked out and couldn't eat anything for 2 weeks.

And the best thing for this incurable romantic, was 3 red roses and a funny endearing poem to remind me that I am loved and to be grateful for all the "fleas" that actually are gifts from heaven.
Ok, February is still my favorite month, calamine lotion and all...