Look out above!

Scuttling overhead ... a cockroach

Thursday, February 6
What's that weird scrunching noise as I'm falling asleep? Something is moving and it sounds more like scuttling than the pad-pad of the lizards that roam the house from dusk to dawn. I flip on the IPhone flashlight.

It's a roach. It's fallen on the mosquito netting above my head. I killed 3 roaches the other night, the first I'd seen in weeks. What is going on? W gets up, takes down the netting, flushing the bug in the toilet, and tries to go back to sleep. I'm grossed out and quite awake. So it takes us the a half hour to fall back asleep.

It's been a full day. We've started moving forward toward living elsewhere, meeting a potential landlady in the morning. In the evening, the current landlord texts us: he's sending someone to fix the roof, starting tomorrow. It's the first communication from him since October. He hasn't responded to our questions or pleas. In December, we had to pay the handyman's wages and building supplies to redo the porch ceiling and install gutters. In January, the house inspectors said the entire roof of another wing needs replacement. Patching it up would be a very temporary solution. But the owner is patching it up. W and I agree: we are uninterested in doing this every few months or permanently re-roofing the house for the owner. (By law, he owes us for past repairs and should prorate our lease for the uninhabitable parts of the house to date.)

Friday
Sleep is fitful of course. With the mosquito netting sitting on a chair rather than overhead, will the next cockroach fall on the bed? Hmmm. By 7 it's time to get out of bed.

Supplies for repairs, under the new ceiling and
gutters we paid for in December

The handyman shows us what he'll be doing. The upper roof stays the same, sloping ridge and all. The lower flatter portion is getting sheet metal to help rain and tree debris slide off more easily. And the gutters will be repaired. Yes, it's a half-repair, not a replacement. Yesterday my dad reminded me that trust was built on action not words. Today that's reinforced.

W's helping Dr W and a niece set up her photography equipment. They work away for 2 hours and call me over. I turn off the burners (pasta sauces in progress) and join them for tea and Indonesian goodies. Then it's back to work. Two loaves of bread go into the oven, baking until 4:30pm.

Friends of friends come from Jakarta after lunch. Their kids hang out, read, and play with the few toys we have on hand. They look through this house and flip through photos of the place we're considering. Yes, it is more livable.

They're off to the specialty grocer and a movie store before heading back home. Meanwhile we ready ourselves for company in the evening.

We get a lot of regrets (RSVP). So it's Augustine, Sumathi and us for supper and time together. How we miss class together and relish the time we have. We pray over those we've met, that God would lavish blessings and peace in each heart and family.

Read more:
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Cry out, "Save us, God our Savior; gather us and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, and glory in your praise." Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. 

Then all the people said "Amen" and "Praise the Lord." 1 Chronicles 16:34-36 NIV 

*I know, my God, that you search the heart, and take pleasure in uprightness. 1 Chronicles 29:17 ESV

*Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Matthew 5:8 ESV

Moravian Prayer: Loving God, we are a heart-led people. In your name, we seek to end heartbreak and suffering and live lives of hope, love, compassion, and caring. Help keep our hearts true to your calling. In this we pray. Amen.