In April we returned to Kathmandu. Then, in the summer of 1974, after 3 ½ years in Nepal with no break, we left for the States. In May we visited my mom and her husband in Santa Barbara. Our dear friends the Bobgans, who still live in Santa Barbara, not only loaned us their station wagon to use but gave us a gas credit card for travel. It was a special blessing to visit with them again just last February in our trip to California. The photos with them are from then and now.
Next we traveled down to be with Bill’s parents in Santa Ana and see other loved friends. My journal says, “Yesterday we went to Disneyland with the Lynips. It was a really nice time though Jon was scared of most of the rides.” Can you imagine if you had spent most of your life in one slow paced, simple, quiet culture and country and were then suddenly transported to a world of Disney’s creation? Way too overwhelming.
Later my sister took us to a Toys-R-Us store--that also was way beyond their imagining. In Nepal, there had been only one choice for a tooth brush ... or kind of toy or most anything we needed. Here there were hundreds of kinds of toys to choose from and choices were difficult. Jonathan was hyper-excited and Jenny was wide-eyed!
From California we went to SIL in Norman, Oklahoma, for the rest of the summer. Bill taught grammar courses to new recruits while I was engrossed in literacy courses that were helping me plan the Tharu primers to teach our people to read and write their own language.
It was during this summer that adventuresome Jonathan ran up a flight of stairs in our dorm, tripped and bit his tongue, as I recorded in my Journal:He tore his tongue open, needing about 12 stitches from an oral surgeon. He’s been a hurting boy all day. I know Jon is precious to Jesus and He is doing perfect things for Jon. Help him, Lord, and bless him in Your love, even as you do us.
The next two days were rough as Jon’s mouth was so swollen he couldn’t talk and wasn’t drinking even water. They were ready to put him on IV fluids when he finally began to drink (Jonathan has always hated the thought of any kind of needles). We then witnessed his steady healing, with much gratefulness.
So here’s another interesting Jonathan story. Every night when we prayed for the children before bed, we anointed them with oil on their foreheads, in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. One night we forgot.
Half an hour later, Jon went came trotting into our room with, "You forgot to put the Holy Spirit on me." We smiled as we prayed and anointed him and his sister.Our time in Norman was more than we dared hope for, and more than we could have imagined as preparation for our future lives. Here we attended a fellowship led by Dow and Lois Robinson, another Wycliffe couple who were completing a New Testament translation for the Aztec people in Mexico.
Our times of fellowship in this home church cleansed and encouraged our hearts more than any words could express. Week by week we gathered and shared together around God’s Word. We were greatly assured of God’s deep love for us and our children, that they were cherished. Our marriage was also strengthened as I learned to trust Bill as my head, and the one who loved me dearly.
Before we left the States we took a train to visit my dad in Chicago. My mom came out to visit us and also went with us. It was the last time I was to ever see him. He was 84 with diabitus and very frail. But he let me pray for him and the left me with hope and joy. You can see us all in the photo below.
Here’s a poem I wrote that summer:
A Tale of Love that Has No Fear
Listen my child and you shall hear
Of a tale of love that has no fear.
It first began when God planted His love
In a heart so cold it was tight as a glove.
It grew as He watered and tended it with care.
It flourished and it blossomed without a tare.
But then one day when it looked away,
The sun was hidden….it could not stay.
The flower had begun of its own accord,
To revel in its glory, and it soon grew bored.
Then sin crept in as it sought from another;
It began to wither and in the wind to smother.
But God is faithful and He changes never.
A heart in Him is precious forever.
His righteousness cannot be abolished at all.
But only exalted through a wayward fall.
And so as He watered and He pruned and He cut,
Dredging all the ugliness, every bit of smut.
Then the flower took the look of its Maker and Lord,
The glory was His and He was adored.
But the end of this tale as not been written,
For the joy of the Lord never can smitten.
It only spreads from flower to flower,
As He perfects all creation to exalt His great power.
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