Prices for everyday things in Greenland.

I went to the store today and was looking around and decided to share some of our everyday prices of different items here. Some of these items are on sale, some of them are regular price. The prices you see are in Danish Kroner, and our exchange rate right now is 5.5 DKK to one dollar. When we first came here I kept looking at the prices as US dollars, and it was quite a shock! We see packs of hamburger meat for 100 Kroner and not as $100 now! That can kinda get the heart pumping for you.  :)     

These boot are on sale and are $60

Princess shirt-$25

Pillow-$80! This pillow better be awesome! :)

60 diapers-almost $35

Princess shoes-around $32

This little jewel is around $120!!

Legos around-$26!

Dolls around- $26

Frying pan-$30

This pan is on sale for $70

Microwave-$120, it was the only kind they have!

TRESemme' on sale this week-2 for $20

 

For my girls...

My little chefs!

She’s walking in my footsteps

That’s very plain to see-

She says that when she’s grown up

She wants to be just like me.

But it’s a scary feeling,

Though one that brings me pride,

And it makes me pause and ponder

My heart, and what’s inside.

Do I really want her

To be just like me all the time?

Could I be proud to tell folks

That she’s a child of mine?

Am I the kind of lady

That I want my girls to be?

Would it make me happy

If they DID turn out like me?

Or would it bring me heartbreak

If those wishes did come true-

“Mommy when I’m grown up

I want to be just like you”?

Would I have to shed some tears

And bow my head in shame

If what I am today

Is what my daughters soon become?

Dear Lord, I’m begging that You will

Remind me everyday

That little girls are watching

Everything I do and say

Lord, make me into the kind of lady

Whose light the world can see

So I can be glad if my little girls

Grow up to be just like me.

~Cathy Corle~

Mission Motherhood

My little jewels!

This poem speaks for itself! This is my prayer that I can be the lady that I would want my girls to be. If you don’t have a copy of Mission Motherhood, by Mrs. Cathy Corle, it would be an excellent addition to your library. It would also be a great baby shower gift for new mommies!   

Pray for the homes of Greenland...

It is heartbreaking seeing the conditions of the homes here in Greenland. Marty and I both agree that some of the parents here care more for their dogs than they do their own children! What I mean by this is they spend more time training their dogs than they do training their children. They are more concerned that their dogs are healthy than that their children get the proper nutrition. In the summer last year we saw on many different occasions, small children, still in diapers, wandering the streets in small groups of 4 or 5 kids under 5 years old. Many of the kids here are left to fend for themselves. I understand that there are cultural differences, and we are not here to make them into Americans but Christians.  It’s just heartbreaking seeing what goes on here in the homes. We are challenged to keep our home in line with the Scriptures so that we can be an example. Our home is far from perfect but hopefully we, as a family, can be a light for Christ.

Some of Eli's friends

Maryanna and her friends playing Strawberry Shortcake last summer.

Teen pregnancy is outrageous here! And by teenagers I mean, 14 and above! Marriage here is rare. Most of the couples here just live together. There have been some years where the abortion rate has outnumbered the birth rate. The other missionaries, in Illulissat, Greenlands third largest town, have said that the hospital shuts down every Thursday just to perform abortions.

Playing at the park

A couple cuties!

The kids here are taught sex education in elementary school. Nudity is the norm. I haven’t taken our kids to the library here because the children’s books have nudity in them.  Greenlanders here are heavily influenced by Denmark. Whenever we were in Denmark we went to the mall there and went into the bookstore. We were looking at the children’s books and had to leave because of the nudity in the books and on the covers of the other books around us.    

Please pray for the homes of Greenland, without Christ they have no hope! I have a real burden for the young mothers and the children here. Please pray that our family can be a light in this land of spiritual and physical darkness.      

    

Have you read any good books lately?

 There are probably some of you that say, “I don’t have time to read.”  Here are some statistics that I found on reading.

• People ages 15-24 spend 2 hours a day watching TV and only 7 minutes of leisure reading! (a 2007 statistic)

• An average American college graduate reads only 5 books in his life after graduation.

• The average person reads less than 1 book per year!   

My parents made sure that I read when I was growing up. I love to read and want to pass on a passion for reading to my kids.

 Last summer I read To the Golden Shore, the life of Adoniram Judson, missionary to Burma.   It has become one of my favorite books.  It’s a 505 page book, but worth reading every page!  It is a very challenging book to me. It helps me not complain about things that I face on the mission field.  Some of the things that the wives of Adoniram faced are unbelievable to me. I couldn’t imagine not seeing my husband for several months not knowing if he was dead or alive. They buried several children on the field. Ann saw her husband suffer in a prison, not knowing from day to day if he would survive. 

Another book that I am going to pick back up soon is, Lives of the Three Mrs. Judson’s, by Arabella W. Stuart.  I have read in this book but haven’t finished it yet.

If you have access to iTunes you can download a lot of really good books, for free.  Marty just downloaded a free copy of the Complete Works of John Bunyan.  And there is always your local library.

So, what book are you reading?

Snow Bunnies!

As you have probably already guessed, we gets a lot of snow! We are not too sure how much we get, they don't keep a record of snowfall. There are some places of snow that come up to Marty's knees! 

This is my kitchen window!

Lots of fresh snow!

Our kids love the snow, so I thought I would share some of our fun with you!

Eli throwing some snow. 

Sissy being silly!

Snow angels!

Me and our tiny tot!

You need to come apart, before you come apart!

 This little saying has a lot meaning to it. As a family serving the Lord on a foreign mission field, this saying means a lot to me!  I can easily get wrapped up in the everyday cares of life and forget the most important people in my life, my family.  If I’m not careful I can get busy cleaning, cooking, and laundry. And all the other duties that come with being a housewife, mommy, teacher, doctor-mom, executive chief, Sunday school teacher, and lots more.  Sometimes it feels like I’m “coming apart” at the seams. I then need to stop and take time to enjoy the people that the Lord has placed in my life.

In the summer we would go on a picnic outside of town. It is so peaceful outside of town. One of our favorite places is by a stream, which is near the foot of the mountains. Some of my favorite memories happened on our picnics. I can’t wait until the snow melts and it warms up, so we can go on long walks and do our picnics. 

Our picnic

              

The view during our picnic

The stream

 Another way we as a family like to “come apart” is, every Friday night is movie night.  This is one of our favorite days of the week. The kids look forward to Sunday church services and Friday movie night, those two days are the highlights of their week. We do special snacks and we get the projector out and watch a movie on the wall. Sometimes we do a game night. Eryn likes to play UNO, because she’s really good at it and usually skunks all of us!  

Africa Screams...one of our favorites

. The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 6:17a “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord.” There are a million different things in this world that pull at us emotionally, spiritually, and physically.Therefore, we all should have a time we spend with the Lord so we don't come apart in our daily lives in the world.  You need to come apart, before you come apart, in your spiritual walk with the Lord.  

A little about me...

    My brother,Jason, and I were adopted by Mary and Jim O'Neill when I was 5 and my brother was 3.  Shortly after our adoption we moved to Corinth, MS.  I lived there until I got married in 2002 to my awesome husband Marty.  We moved to Benton, AR shortly before our one year anniversary. There my husband attended Blessed Hope Baptist College, and graduated with a missions degree in 2005. I am very proud of my husband, he worked full time and also went to school full time.
    In 2004 we took our first survey trip to Greenland. We went to the little village of Kulusuk, which has a whopping population of less than 300!  That trip was memorable in more than one way! See, I was 7 months pregnant with our first child. We had a mile an a half walk from the airport to the hostel. So, if you can imagine a hugely pregnant lady, waddling her way down a dirt road, and then sitting on a rock just to cry, that was me! I can honestly say I don't think there has ever been a place I wanted to leave as bad as I did Kulusuk. But a strange thing happened when we left, I had left a piece of my heart in Greenland.
   When we returned from our trip, we started deputation. In 2005, during a revival at Victory Baptist Church of Benton, AR, I put my trust in Jesus Christ as my Saviour.  After many miles and 5 1/2 years we made it!  During our time on deputation we watched the Lord do many wonderful things on our lives. We met and made many dear friends, and made memories that will last a lifetime.
    We have now been in Greenland for almost a year now.  We have seen The Lord provide when we could see absolutely no way that it could be done.  We are excited to see what The Lord has in store for us in the years to come.  My purpose here is to share my thoughts on different events in my life as a missionaries wife, mommy of three, and our misadventures in the Arctic. And so begins Masey's thoughts.