Summer in December

Monday, December 7

We're having a hard time believing it's December. It's still summer here. Love it love it love it.

Traffic alternatives in Jakarta

After the morning study, we're off to Jakarta. We miss a baby shower and have to give the gift the next day.

Tuesday

We leave at 9 to get to the IES staff meeting. Once again, the liturgy read around the table refreshes our souls.

IES staff meeting

Lunch with staff and then it's off to dessert with friends from NU in Seattle. We're talking about internships, courses abroad, and other educational / community development matters.

For supper we stop by a goat saté restaurant. The staff fans the coals on a small burner outside. Then the food comes to us. Oh yum.

Goat sate

Wednesday

We head downtown to meet friends and shop for 2 hours at the local wholesale market. Time flies by with Kristi - who is our Indonesian negotiator. Thanks! for the time, though she is pregnant and feels tired and under the weather.

We have a late lunch with her parents and a few others.

Grandpa duty - fanning the sleeping child

Supper is with credential holders of a local organization. All 4-500 of us. We meet new friends and get reacquainted with old ones.

At 9:30pm we're on the road to home. It's a blazingly fast trip: we are home before midnight. I unpack and crawl into bed with a grateful heart.

Thursday

Our helper is distressed by family matters. We pray together before I leave at 8:30am.

I walk just about 4 miles all around the hills of our neighborhood. Angela knows trails I've never encountered. Fascinating, good exercise, and good conversation. We can't believe how good Gypsy is: where's the wild thing he used to be? (thankfully MIA today)

Good boy, Gypsy

House upon house in the valley across from us

Good friends and walkers

I make a few phone calls but find myself drifting into sleep. When I put the phone down, I doze off immediately and sleep for a half hour.

We're off to the study at Bamboo Shack - what a precious time together. W joins his hash friends for supper and evening, while K and I head home.

Read more:

*Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. Psalm 102:25 ESV

*The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is the Lord’s alone. Proverbs 16:33 ESV

*Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by your Father. Matthew 10:29 ESV

*Worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water. Revelation 14:7 ESV

Moravian Prayer: From microorganisms to the majestic mountains, from molten minerals to frozen tundra, nothing exists except by your will, O Creator God. We worship you with humble awe and with thanksgiving for all that you provide today and always.

Nothing we decide to say or do escapes you, ever-vigilant Spirit. All our choices are detected as you move among us, seeking to guide us from self-indulgence and self-centeredness toward sacrificial love. We welcome your presence as we prepare our hearts for the coming Christ. Amen.