Some of this and that - and Happy Birthday, Rebekah!

Sunday, November 8, 2025

Since, W is speaking in Bogor, I'm on my own at IES Bandung. There's a great team in place and enough volunteers to pray, sing, and read together. Titik has worked her magic on the flower arrangement.

On the book table is a novel with a bookmark from one of our favourite destinations when we first moved to Bandung. Bookseller Helen has since expatriated to Australia and Reading Lights is no more - but many of us remember it fondly.

This morning is about lions - Daniel 6 (Daniel in the Lion's Den) is a great example of doing good and being hated for it. Jealousy, ambush, stalking, danger ... it's all in Daniel's story.

Kirsten and I eat *Pinetta* pizza leftovers for lunch and spicy Szechwanese *HomeGround* leftovers for supper. Between, we sit on the Porch and talk about stuff. Parcels arrive via motorcycle courier, accompanied by the shrill ring of the gate bell and barking dogs.

The air is warm, the light rain lasts for less than an hour, and the breezes are coming up the mountainsides. It's a perfect day.  W returns home in the evening.

Monday

We drop some window coverings at the project as we start our walk. The dogs LOVE the big yard, chasing birds and cats to wear off the edge of their energy. That's good for us - the three are not pulling as much on one leash. It's a sunny, breezy, and calm morning. The swish swish of brooms pushing fallen leaves hisses across the pavement, inside and outside the yard.

After a few online meetings, K and I head for Ciwalk outdoor mall. W cancels his study and joins us. We find a few niceties and a few necessities. Lunch is late because we have "things to do." It's good though: Bakmi GM, a noodle place with consistent flavors. 

We watch a strange movie in early evening - aliens landing in Bollywood? Too much for me though parts are entertaining. Every once in a while we watch a movie to see if it's good for movie night. Nah, not this one.

Tuesday

After a few walks back and forth to measure, bring tools, and confirm tasks at the project, we head for  OBC, a student food court. We meet our friends John and Grace at the Korean Language Center and around the lunch table.

They are teaching Indonesians to cook genuine Korean food to provide work.

The food is fresh and delicious.

The guys are both techies: John is developing a water purification system for Indonesians to build and sell.

We have a team meeting before dropping by the project to hang the last of the upstairs curtains. W caps off the electrical conduit with finials. The old-fashioned wallpaper matches the white sheets hung in this bedroom.

Kirsten's been a big help with decor decisions. She stands against the grey wallpaper, her red blouse helping us decide on coloured accessories for that room.

Wednesday

Irises bloom along the street where we walk the dogs. Construction on the Padma Hotel is coming along. Each morning we pass the tower crane swinging overhead. Dozens and dozens of construction workers line up beneath, ready to enter the hotel grounds for their shift.

No water entered into the Project from the street, despite a hard rain yesterday afternoon. Looks like the drainage ditch is doing its job. Garbage and leaves stack against the grate in the ditch; they've washed over from the street.

Indonesians drop plastic cups, plates, wrappers, and other trash wherever they are. It washes downhill in the rain and someone cleans after them. Each household is responsible to sweep and remove the garbage that lands in front of their place. Why not just teach people to throw things away in designated areas? We don't know. It's a cultural thing: a stunningly beautiful landscape cluttered by trash in the city, field, and forest.

The air is perfumed by a jasmine shrub. Yet our garden looks decidedly barren with dozens of plants removed. Many pots of cuttings are still her: Turkish figs, flowers, and vines. The flowerbed we created along the Porch can return to grass. The biggest trees we planted - avocados, lemons, mangos, and others - will be left for the next occupants. Those trees bring privacy; the yard cannot be overlooked by neighbours, a true luxury for occupants in this crowded city.

The new gardens are coming along, area by area. Much of the project is under tall pines and most tropical plants cannot thrive in deep shade.

In a green bathroom, I hang another set of tablecloth curtains. The room can go any shade of green and blue with blue hems on the curtains. It would be natural to put a palm or other green plant in the corner in temperate climates. Here, within weeks ants would enter the window cracks to nest in the soil and make an utter mess. No houseplants allowed!

We drive to lunch, watching an ambulance van squeeze between two lanes of traffic on a 2-lane road (no shoulders). They pass with inches to spare. How do they manage that?

Lunch is excellent - every dish is spicy. We order way too much and take it home.

We are content and happy when we've eaten. 

Outside our car window, many moms are driving their kids - school pickups? See her sweatsuit and this little guy with a warm animal cap? You'd think they'd sweat to death in 80o/25C but nope. That apparel is normal.

I completely zone on an important appointment in the evening. When I wake hours later and open my phone for the scripture reading, I spot the note from my spiritual director. Sigh. This is an hour I treasure each month. We reschedule for December.

Thursday

It's our daughter-in-love's bday, a special time to remember and pray for her. Our daughter leaves tonight for the next part of her adventurous travels. (What a joy to visit with her.)

Everything has its time and season. Talking to Mom, she says she's content and ready to die. She is slowly relinquishing her energy.

W and I miss walking in the forest if we miss a week. Our hiking friend leaves next week for 2 months. Our neighborhood walk is 5000 steps with happy dogs. A plant with fuzzy seed pods catches my eye. Nature offers one surprise after another.

For breakfast I try a new method of cooking: I wrap a frozen sausage in a wet paper towel and microwave it for a minute. I get back to it within minutes; it's hot and perfectly cooked. Who knew?

Today Christmas baking begins. We are several thousand cookies away from the goal ... good smells will be coming from the kitchen in no time. K and I sit on the Porch for a while. We chat while the birds sing and Anton plays fetch. W has written Sunday's talk so we do an initial reading and make our edits.

Read more:

*For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth. Job 19:25

* So be careful, lest you forget the covenant that the Lord your God made with you and make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you. Deuteronomy 4:23

* Ever since God created the world, his invisible qualities, both his eternal power and his divine nature, have been clearly seen; they are perceived in the things that God has made. Romans 1:20

Moravian Prayer: Precious Lord, too many times we reject your ways and seek comfort elsewhere. Help us remember that you are the source of everything we need. May our eyes see, and lips tell of all the great and wonderful things you have made! Amen.

Two outstanding eateries: Mediterranean and Chinese

Thursday, November 6, 2025

We pass on the hike since K is here, but in the early morning, we walk the dogs for the same number of steps in our neighborhood. No one is as strict as I am with the dogs so they've become lax in obeying basics like "sit" or "come." When they cooperate before the walk, I take a photo. The big guys walk on a single leash, which prevents Anton from bolting after every cat we pass.

Breakfast is on the Porch while cleanup is underway after movie night. We try to stay out of the way. The helpers restore the house by afternoon.

The robot vacuum we brought years ago from the States is still chugging along. While we do errands at home, it runs in the project. Whew, it's full of dust when we pick it up after a few hours. It comes home to charge up for the next round.

Then it's off to the Adventist grocer for some basics. Lunch is nearby @MikePizza.asia, without a doubt the best wood-fired pizza in the city. We eat under a canopy of grapevines that remind me of my dad's vines in our hometown.

The decor is a bit over the top but the abundance of plants tones it down.

Back home, the sky is overcast and the rooms are dark. Tea and a comfort cookie with a scripture label offer a spot of self-indulgence. Thanks, Keelee! at #QuietWatersBakery. It reminds me of how grateful we are for time at this current place = 11 years of sharing our home with travelers, new arrivals, those who serve, and friends.

Friday

After a walk, W puts up more rods and I add curtains as he goes. Mom's 1970s twin sheets come in handy and look fresh and current.

The rose apple tree is blooming and fruiting on our street.

Our jackfruit tree by the driveway is on its second round of fruit.

Masseuse Ibu Siti comes to unkink us one more time before Kirsten goes home next week. Our relaxing lunch on the Porch is fishcakes wrapped in banana leaves. Miki and F are foodies who attend movie night - they brought "favorites" for us to sample; there is enough for the whole household plus some left for tomorrow. Yum.

W's speaking elsewhere so I'm on my own on Sunday. Time to review the PPT and the talk, which is about ravaging lions, resistance and courage, and the story of a man named Daniel.

Later, I sit in the big library chair and consider how much I will miss this home, a gift from God. No staging needed - it's always ready for drop-ins.

Saturday 

The walk is cool and refreshing in the shade of the old trees. Remember the muddy gutter in front of the project?

This week, it's been cleared of rocks, garbage, and mud. A new concrete swill was poured, and the hole replaced with a hinged gate - which has rusted overnight! W sends a note to the contractor about a product that changes rust into primer for paint.

By mid-morning, the workers have paved in the grate and are starting to paint.

We pop in to see if I still like the curtain at the end of the hall. The first attempt was 8" short, beige-y, and looked silly. This is better. 

What about the orange bedroom? Weren't those 70s sheets pink? The retro orange wallpaper brings out the orange in the colorway. We run the robot vacuum in the bedrooms and continue the walk.

The dogs have settled down after running around the big yard. Exercisers, workers (see the man balancing snacks on his shoulders?), and tourists walk the loop today.

Breakfast is an old favorite from childhood = how Mom used up leftover spaghetti: bacon, spaghetti, an egg cracked on top, a tablespoon of water. It cooks with the lid on until the egg is ready. No additional spices  needed.

Creativity is low but Sunday is coming. Flower Wiz Titik is seriously gifted. Since she's gone this weekend, I flip the spent gladiolas and one dried-out mum from last week's gorgeous bouquet.

In the ruins of our garden, I find a few false-bird-of-paradise flowers and ferns. There are few blooms left in the yard. Most have been transplanted to the new place. We go from this - 

to this

to this. Good enough. PakG takes it to the hall.

I walk a second time to the project to get measurements and lose a key. Halfway home, I feel my pocket for it but it's gone. I walk back and check each space I've visited but ... nada. W walks over to see if he can find it but has no luck. We figure out it probably adhered to the magnet holder on the phone - and sure enough, we search the grass near where I pulled out my phone and there it is.

Lunch is at Homeground, one of Kirsten's new favorites. The spicy flavors of Szechwan hit the spot.

Atop the renovation at the neighbor, the workers perch on the roof, knock through the brick, and run a pipe. Typically for repairs, they do their work in an hour or two, slathering on a coat of mortar and painting the patch to match. When I check, the hole has already disappeared.

Read more:

* Let us test and examine our ways and return to the Lord. Lamentations 3:40

* Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.

Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?

You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.

You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet:

all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.

Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! Psalm 8

* This is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what really matters, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless. Philippians 1:9-10

Moravian Prayer: Merciful God, you have always made us feel worthy, even when we examine ourselves and know that we do not measure up to your expectations. We pray for knowledge of what truly matters in our lives so that we may release the trivial. Amen.

Starting the endings

Monday, November 3, 2025

Does it feel like November to you? Somehow the end of the year has snuck upon us. I make some calls and schedule the week. Movie night is Wednesday, a monthly highlight that eats up the entire week.

I edit W's latest article and he sends it to the publisher. In this way we are of great help to each other, spotting repetitions, inconsistencies, and gaps in each other's writings.

W sends the invitation for movie night as usual, around 11:30 AM Monday. We can only take the first 70 to sign up. But within an hour, 100 people sign in on the waiting list. W heads downtown to the wholesalers for cooking ingredients after the study ends.

Friends come to talk with Barbara and Paul on the Porch.

I'm reading a fascinating book on how emotions develop and are sustained - in healthy and other ways.

Tuesday

It's a morning without meetings. W and I check out progress of the drainage ditch; he gives clear instructions on the dirt and gravel that needs to be moved - and removed - to make the project useable. (Below, the carport and driveway in a downpour.)

This is how it's done. The slabs are lifted, dirt is loosened with hoes, shoveled into bags, and moved via wheelbarrow. A neighbor is using it to level up his own yard nearby.

The guys dig out the dirt clogging the 2'/60cm-deep drain under the driveway. No wonder no water could flow away - it was filled to the top. They build up a concrete swill at the street to assist in carrying the water past the project.

The yardman removes orchids and huge ferns that we planted on the green wall. He ties them to eight big trees in the new yard. These plants thrive in their native climate but they surely didn't last long when we tried to pamper them in Seattle.

The special durian trees left by our Turkish friend are dead; they got planted in shade rather than leaving them in their sunny pots. Sigh. What a disappointment. We planned to transplant them to the project. Little by little, the garden is shaping up. When it grows in, it will have the cheerful clutter of English borders around a grass-like center. (Or that's the plan.)

Wednesday

It's the most efficient preparation ever for movie night: only 3 hours of cooking in the early morning. Kirsten and I enjoy breakfast on the Porch. While W sets up the house and tech, I clip and pleat more curtains. At lunch in Nara, K gets the bento box; W has a burger; I order my favorite dish. The other food arrives promptly but my pizza is delayed until they're finished. We have the servers box it up for later.

W finds an interesting bug under the picnic table on the Porch.

This lizard is happily hanging out by the back door.

But this snake? It coils in a corner of the new property, not moving. We don't know if it's poisonous or not. It probably caught a frog and is working it off. We let it be.

I nap and read in the afternoon, chat with K, and then our guests start to arrive. Every table fills up.

The Porch is crammed, too.

There's plenty of food. The young adults are effusive about being together, eating, laughing, and meeting new friends. 

One asks, "Where do you find all these people?" But it's not us. We feel utterly privileged to be part of their lives and pray over their success and happiness. Somehow God brings them in; they love being part of dinner-and-a-movie. For some who are missing their own families, this becomes a second home they look forward to every month.

We tell them this is probably (but not definitely) the last movie night in this house. "Depends on when we move," we say.

Some have come for years. They protest, "No, this is our home away from home! Will you be have us over again in the next place?"

Of course. Though I'll have to cook a few times to find a new rhythm in another space. The last group leaves about 10:30 PM. After a shower and reading for a bit, it's time to sleep.

Read more:

* Jesus said, “For the son of man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10

* Many nations shall join themselves to the Lord on that day and shall be my people. Zechariah 2:11

* God will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and be their God. Revelation 21:3

Moravian Prayer: God, you are our truest Friend. You have made and chosen us to be your people. You dwell among us and within us. We sing our praises to you that you are always with us! Amen.