Finding Our Rhythm in Palau

Now that we’re back in Palau with no travel plans on the horizon, we decided it was time to settle into a routine—starting with daily walks. Finding places to walk, however, has turned into a bit of an adventure!

Although the roads here are nicely paved, most don’t have shoulders, so walking along them doesn’t feel very safe. On our first day, we explored a small road near our apartment that winds uphill through the trees toward Caroline’s Resort. When we reached the resort, we noticed another gated road and decided to see where it led. After some steady uphill climbing, we came to a large home under construction at the top of the hill. The construction workers kindly invited us in to see the view—and wow! The picture truly doesn’t do it justice.

That walk was lovely, but we wanted to explore other options. Next, we tried walking along the causeway we drive across every day. It has a nice sidewalk, and the ocean breeze is a big plus, keeping things much cooler than other areas. Unfortunately, that same breeze can also be a drawback—it does its best to blow our hats off and makes for a challenging headwind.

Our third attempt was a definite win: a walk along a small beach that gradually turned into more of a nature hike. We enjoyed beautiful flowers, clear water, seashells, and even stumbled upon some war relics—Japanese pillboxes tucked into the landscape.

For our fourth exploration, we returned to the road from our first walk but this time wandered through the resort itself. It’s a quaint place with bungalows and canvas tents and made for a peaceful, scenic walk. Along the way we saw colorful flowers, as well as old Japanese bombs and an anti-aircraft gun. It was a very hilly walk, but absolutely worth it.

Between walks and everyday routines, it’s been satisfying to feel a sense of rhythm returning to our days. One unexpected highlight this week was learning that our article on Operation Christmas Drop is being syndicated by Church headquarters! It’s been fun (and a little surreal) to scroll through Facebook and see my story and videos pop up again and again.

Another win for the week: we found real butter! Since arriving, we’ve only seen margarine—and even that has been hard to come by. One day we happened to be at the store just as butter was being put out. There was a limit of five per customer, which tells you how prized it is. We happily bought our full five.

As many of you know, for more than 30 years we’ve hosted a Christmas party at our home. Since we couldn’t do that this year, we decided to make Christmas goodie plates for the security guards and apartment manager. With 24-hour security, they’re there every time we come and go. We baked mini loaves of bread, cookies, and English toffee, and included a card focusing on Christ as the Bread of Life (John 6:35), wishing them a Merry Christmas. When we delivered the plates, we learned that four of the five are Muslim and don’t celebrate Christmas (oops!), but they were still very appreciative. Baking with Christmas music playing brought the spirit of the season into our home and helped ease my homesick heart.

Earlier we mentioned visiting Toby, the woodcarver, in the northern part of the island. This week we went back to bring him some bread. He took us to his private beach, where we met his wife, who is from Japan. She and J.D. were able to chat in Japanese, and we enjoyed a lovely visit. Life there feels so different—slow, relaxed, and beautifully simple.

We also learned a bit about bananas this week. We hadn’t bought any because the ones in the store didn’t look like the bananas we’re used to—much smaller, very dark green (some almost black), and a slightly different shape. One of the branch members has a banana tree and brought some to a youth Christmas activity. We learned that some bananas are cooking bananas and don’t taste very good, while others are supposedly even better than the bananas we know back home. We brought some home and are patiently waiting for them to ripen before trying them--they are getting close!

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As we prepare for Christmas this week, may we each focus on the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ—the Bread of Life. While it’s hard to imagine spending this precious season away from our family, we’re grateful for the opportunity to serve and think of others. We wish each of you a wonderful Christmas, filled with love and joy.