“Mommy, I want to go and sleep at Aunt Keren’s.” Shane spoke with the boldness of a four-year-old who was certain he had found a great idea. He did not know that Keren had been praying that someone could come to sleep at her house every night for two weeks while Orion was away.

After vespers that night, Keren and Mommy talked while Shane played with his friends. “Can you sleep at my house starting tomorrow night?” Keren asked Shane’s mommy, Opa (the local way of pronouncing Orpah). “Orion is going to town, and my house is far from every other house. If I am alone and something happened to me, no one would know.”

The next night, Shane and his mommy arrived at Keren’s house. It was lots of fun.
“Aunt Keren, I want to eat noodles!” Shane said.

“Sure, I have some!” replied Aunt Keren.

“Please, let me break up the noodles!” Shane said. He loves to help Aunt Keren cook. “Can we also have some of your yummy cinnamon rolls like you took to church?”

“Absolutely,” Aunt Keren said.

The next day, Shane arrived back at Aunt Keren’s house. “Aunt Keren, I’m here!” he announced proudly.

“Welcome, Shane! Aunt Keren exclaimed. “Please come to the kitchen and wash your hands.”

“I want noodles!” Shane announced.

“Yes, we will cook noodles, but first, we need to assemble your cinnamon rolls,” Aunt Keren explained.

Shane helped flatten the bread dough before Aunt Keren had him spread sugar and cinnamon all over it. Looking at all the delicious food items on the counter, he asked, “Can we put some of that in it?” pointing to some oatmeal.

“Sure!” Aunt Keren replied as she handed Shane some oatmeal to spread. I have never had oatmeal in cinnamon rolls, she thought to herself, But it sounds good!

As the cinnamon rolls were baking, the whole house smelled delicious!

After supper, everyone took turns showering. Opa and Shane were delighted; most people bathe in the river. (Aunt Keren and Uncle Orion have a rainwater tank, though, and when we turned the handle, the water came down just like rain.)

After the showers, Shane and his mommy sat by the bed while Aunt Keren told stories from her picture book. Shane was pretty sure that Aunt Keren knew all of the stories in the whole book. He loves Bible stories, but his favorite—whether at Sabbath school or just being with his friend, Aunt Keren—is always the one about a little boy named Samuel whose mommy went to the temple to pray, and God gave her a baby!

One morning, when Shane and his mommy were walking with Aunt Keren, they saw a big pig. Another evening, there was a rat in the house. Shane used a plastic pipe to chase it out.

Shane was really glad that he and his mommy were there to keep Aunt Keren safe.

A note from Keren: I was so happy when Opa told me that she and Shane could come every night to stay with me.

One day at the market, I got some greens called ibica. Although they have a strong flavor and become slimy when boiled, there are delicious ways to prepare them. While chopping them up for dinner one evening, Shane walked into the kitchen.

“Aunt Keren, mi les,” Shane whined in typical four-year-old fashion. Mi les is Tok Pisin for “I am not interested [in that],” and it is currently Shane’s favorite phrase. I am teaching him that it is okay not to be interested in something, but you cannot whine about it. He is paying attention, and his whining has dropped by more than half.

“That’s okay, Shane,” I replied, “Just wait. You might like it once I am done.”

He gave me a very skeptical look about the ibica before offering to help me cook noodles for supper.

I supervised my young assistant while he opened the plastic packages and waited impatiently for the water to boil. I added all of the ingredients for muffins to my slimy dish of slightly boiled ibica leaves. In the past, I have made muffins using okra instead of eggs, and I predicted that ibica would be just as effective.

“I might like that,” Shane commented as he saw me put the muffins in the oven.

Once baked, we began to eat them, and Shane assured me that this was his most favorite way to eat ibica.

It is such a joy to spend time with Shane. I pray that he has experienced God’s love, along with the fun of eating noodles for supper and sleeping on a soft bed for two weeks straight.

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