Good-bye Stephensons

 

We should have made this post last month, but with two kids, two jobs, and a dissertation, time just flies by . . .

At the end of February, we were sorry to see our friends Morgan and Danielle Stephenson and their kids Theron and Lula return to the United States.  However, we were happy for them, since they were leaving to take up dream jobs at a Christian summer camp in Colorado Springs.  They were only in PNG for about a year – Danielle taught at the missionary kids school at Kudjip Nazarene hospital and Morgan did maintenance work – but they became our steadfast gaming buddies.  Being able to play a complicated boardgame with four children underfoot is quite the undertaking (Danielle: “Theron, mommy will help you once she’s finished building her space ship!”).  Danielle grew up on the mission field – first in Fiji then in Kudjip, where her father works as the coordinator of Nazarene missions in the South Pacific – and so had a wise and unflappable perspective on missionary life and many great recipes.  We especially appreciated that they reached out to us, inviting Rebecca to women’s luncheons and Bible studies at Kudjip.  Anastasia commented today: “Mommy, I miss Theron.”

This gives us all the more reason to visit Colorado next time we are in the States, given that we now have seven friends, one brother, and a cousin living near the mile-high city.

Lula: “Tabitha, why are you upside down?”