(this pic is what steel wool looks like when it's on fire and you spin it... my son had a BLAST doing this... don't attempt in places lacking tropical rains.. it's not a fire hazard here there's too much water)
well it was raining all day... and we were concerned because we had plans.
Some friends of ours host the annual 4th of July party.... we were really looking forward to it. All of the Americans (and any other nationality are invited) come together to potluck and socialize and then when it gets dark, come up with any and all fireworks we can.
Calvin and I had tested out a few ideas to launch our air rockets (made out of paper).
if it rained, no one would go outside for the fireworks...
but, the party was starting over at the WA centre at 5pm and the rain stopped, and the ground was dry enough.
We grilled burgers and after a bit my son and I began launching the rockets we had made out of paper and duct tape, which went well over 100 feet up.
The kids were really excited by it, the high schoolers, even the adults... everyone was rather impressed by our rocket invention we had made out of pvc, a sprinkler valve, and an air pump.
Eventually the sun started to set.
1 rocket landed on the roof, and the other 2 eventually blew to smithereens (65psi AIR launcher can do that to paper) We only got about 6 successful launches with the rockets.
SO... then we started launching glow sticks. Those big thick ones.
We wadded the rocket tube with styrofoam, and then dropped the glow stick down in,
By this time the crowd was cheering '3 .. 2...1...FIRE!!!' and the glow stick went flying up into the air aboud 70 feet or so, spinning as it went.
Then, they started up the fire pit for steel wool.
Kendal and I broke out the glow stick bracelets for the younger kids who didn't get to play with steel wool. It is our way of playing Aunt and Uncle when we can't be around our true nieces and nephews. It gives us that feeling of family we miss. Soon the whole place was swarming with around 50 glowing kids running around outside on the 4th of July... like it should be.
Families here for the first time, away from home, got to see how we do the 4th of July here in PNG, and they were amazed. They didn't know you could do that with steel wool, or how close a community this could be. The 4th for us is bigger than it would be back in the U.S. because it's the one chance a year we get to celebrate loudly, being from the U.S.A.
The steel wool looked SO cool.
But that wasn't all.
a friend nudged me, pulled out a few packets of pen flares... and we went over and started firing them 2 , 3 ,4 at a time.. big RED glowing flares with smoke trails launching into the air in arcs and making big BANGS! when being fired. Nothing is more exciting then the smell of black powder and a ringing in your ears!!!
We sang the national anthem, we ate red, white and blue cupcakes. And since it was an American get together we invited people from all nations.
It was a lot of fun... a LOT of fun.
God created man with the need to celebrate.... in fact early on in the Bible HE commands us to celebrate and makes laws about feasts and celebrations.
It felt really good to be able to be a part of it, and launch our rockets, and share our glow sticks... which over here you can imagine are really appreciated since they are really hard to come by.
Calvin got to fire a pen flare, and spin steel wool for the first time.
Sydney got to run around with a sparkler.
I think it was Calvin's best 4th EVER... because of that.
Our family has been reading through the Bible and recently we were in Exodus where God lines out the importance of a day of rest, and the importance of certain celebration feasts. I think from time to time, we work so hard we forget that our soul has a mandated need for celebration and rest.
Celebrating together. Looking around at all the young kids, and the young parents, here for the first time, thinking 'wow... here I am in PNG, forgetting my homesickness for a moment, appreciating a wonderful part of the culture of living here, making new friends and neighbors, feeling part of a community with one common purpose... to see the Word of God, change lives.'
That's the kind of moment that fuels people to keep on... keeping on.
