Meanwhile, on the other side of the world ...

Sunday, February 25, 2018
It's brunch time! We host "thinking" brunches for 40 people, a few times a year. It gives those who join us time around the table to relax and talk about a subject of interest. This time it's all about family.

The IES Bandung team - brunch hosts

Vieras' have guests from Singapore, who help arrange flowers for the table. The whole team pitches in to make a pretty setting according to Claudia's imaginative decor.

Dr Hanna tells us about reviving a family tradition: after Chinese New Year was banned, her father decided to be culturally compliant. By the time the celebration was allowed again in Indonesia, her family had a precious grandbaby. They decided that it would be fun to serve traditional foods and enjoy the customs again. Her grandson loves getting his "red envelopes" of money, the response to a polite child who wishes blessings on the elders.

Goofing around

Josh talks about "the friend who sticks closer than a brother." What does it mean to be part of God's family? How can we be good family members to those around us?

Around the tables, we talk about our families, our traditions, and our friendships. And we write our thoughts on the wall, a long strip of positive tributes to those we love and those who love us.

Claudia has asked me to bring hats and a big picture frame, props for some funny photos. She's brought sunglasses, quote bubbles, and other goodies. It's a lively time, great fun all around.

We plan time from 10-11:30, but the last guests are still hanging out at 3pm.

Wrapping up with a prayer

Monday
The study gathers on the porch before a few of us head upstairs for the team meeting.

It's packing day because we're headed to Canada and the USA tomorrow. W and I need sponsors to help us launch a gathering this fall - and our current partners want updates on the past year.

By the time we talk to everyone who will stay at the house, arrange hosting for the meetings that continue in our absence, decide how to pay ongoing expenses, and take care of other details, it's late in the day.

I've been cooking everything in the fridge and avoiding the grocer for a week. I go through what's left and show the helper what she can take home.

Tuesday
We're on the road by 6:30. Traffic to Jakarta is excellent, so by 9:30, we're at our first meeting.

That lasts through lunch - we love the IES staff, who make us feel welcome anytime we drop in. We talk over what's happening with our boss and get his suggestions on a forward trajectory.

Notice anything different about his map of the world, posted in Jakarta?

We're at the hotel by late afternoon. As usual, W walks around the neighborhood to find out what's nearby. And equally predictably, I have a nap. It's going to be a long day tomorrow.

Wednesday
Is this the best trip ever? At 4am, we hop on the free hotel shuttle to the airport. Our flight leaves shortly after 6am, but it's a smooth 7 hours to Tokyo. We put 2-3 miles on our shoes in the international terminal, buying a few treats and some short ballpoint pens for our kids. (I stock up on these stubby little Zebra pens, which tuck easily into a shirt pocket or memo pad, each time through Japan.)

We're on a final flight a few hours later, a mere 9 hours to Seattle. W did well, planning the cheapest way to get back! Whaaaat? We've landed already? It sometimes is a 30+ hour ordeal of 3 long flights, airport layovers, and customs hassles. This time, it feels quick - plus I had 3 naps on the first flight, which helped.

Merlin's at the curb waiting for us, and drops us off at home. (Bonus: he stocked the car for us with salted pretzel chocolates and sparkling orange juice.) How we appreciate the friendships of long years. He and W look like brothers - I'm caught by the comparison each time the guys get together.

The shoe tray becomes a truck playground.

The grandkids attack us with fervor. Oh, how good to feel their thin young arms wrap around us! And our new granddaughter is a pearl. She's oblivious to the racket of her 3 cheerful older siblings, crying only for food, sleep, and poop.

By the time we toddle off to bed in the evening, we make a few phone calls, unpack, plug in the electronics to charge, and are totally wiped out.

Thursday
W's up early, writing emails and grading papers from a class in Singapore. We pick up a friend's car (thanks, Steve and Patti!) and drive to a meeting at the NWMN office. About 30 of our colleagues are discussing various ways to connect God, life, and neighborhoods. I get to hug a few beloved friends and mentors.

We agreed to watch the grandkids weeks ago, before this professional meeting was on our calendar. So W, the only one with a driver's license, heads back before dismissal. I get a ride home with Dan, my former boss and mentor. It's exciting to hear what's happening in his circles - he and his organization partner with us as well.

By the time I get back, it's afternoon. 15 friends come over. They have a monthly Thursday meeting, which we used to attend. Some of them support us, pray for us, and still keep in touch while we're away. How wonderful to see them in person.

They bring snacks and fruit; we make tea and coffee. W and I tell a few stories and the group shares some prayer requests. We are thankful together: one of our friends fell and bruised face and arms but broke no bones. (Such significant mercies deserve prayers of gratitude, right?)

Friday
We're up once at night, but I fall fast asleep again ... until 11:30am. Oh my! Half the day is gone. (Especially because Indonesian days start at 5:30 or 6am.)

New granddaughter - precious Baby Mak

And we head to the DMV to pay $20 for another license. The guy behind the counter is funny - and makes it easy. Like last year, I have again left my driver's license in Indonesia! Ugh. I'm glad to be able to drive, though it's an annoyance to have to fund another card. We'll have to leave a copy here, I guess.

I wrap up a class I taught online. It's good to finish such things. So much is delayed when we lecture: after we study for a few months, we spend a week or two with students in the classroom, grade their papers during the week and the next week, and then we wait for the final papers to come in. It's always a relief to press "send" on the final grades, even though the class has long since come and gone.

This afternoon, I'm sent the final copy of a Bhutanese student's paper that slipped through the cracks at his institution (though he handed it in on time). That class has to wait until we return for their grades: I couldn't wrap up grading until the last paper came in - and now I don't have all the paperwork with me.

Saturday
In the morning, W goes for coffee with his Saturday morning guys. By 9:30, we're off to Canada to visit W's family and mine. His mom has made a delicious chicken noodle soup (ah, traditional European taste, which we are craving!) The lunch table is heaped with side dishes as we sit and talk with his sister and brother-in-law. It's good to catch up on what they and their kids are doing, as well as share our own adventures.

Then W resets his mom's IPad, does a few chores, and give her a bottle of stomach bitters and an Indonesian mumu (remember those bright-colored housedresses from Hawaii in the 70s?) to wear in the summertime. They are cool and loose, easy to wear.

We are at my parent's place for supper, true Canadian pizza from a local shop. DEEElicious - W was crazing N American pizza. We hang around and talk until late. I love that my folks really listen to our stories and pray for our safety and wellbeing.

Throwback to the 1990s

Dad's transferred his Super8 (and other cameras) films on his computer, and W snags a copy for us to enjoy later. I can hardly believe how busy life was with 4 kids: I took them all over the place as homeschoolers, including music lessons and performances. Makes me tired just to look at it. Mom and Dad often took one or two of our kids for a week or two at a time, coming to Seattle for them and returning them afterward.

Who gets to spend so much time with their Grandma and Grandpa?! Hardly anyone, unless a family is dysfunctional and the grandparents have no choice. But I marvel at the energy and love my folks had for us ... and how they invested themselves in our children. Our kids love and appreciate the extended family because of it.

Our youngest with his great-grandma (my dad's mom)

Sunday
My parents are becoming members of a church they've attended for 4 years. They're dressed up and we're proud to be cheering them on.

I see some friends who grew up with us in our teens. We talk to a few of them before the gathering disperses.

My brother's family joins us for lunch - what cute kids! and from our end of the table, they seem very well behaved and polite. Norm's grandbaby is adorable - tiny, 6 weeks old, and cute as a button.

After lunch, Dad drives to the next suburb to show us how my brother and his wife promote their business (digital signage). We get a few more hours with my parents, laughing our way through old family picture albums. Mom was a grama-ratzi, according to one of our boys. Yup, there are about a dozen photo albums. I snap some pictures of the kids with my phone, to pass along later.

We're back in Seattle by dark. I'm glad to be driving again. What a relief to be behind the wheel, which everyone takes for granted here. (W occasionally drives through the traffic madness in Indonesia when the driver is off on weekends or evenings. I drove a few times when we moved to Indonesia. That made W too nervous so I handed the keys over to him. I read on my phone or Kindle if he drives.)

Monday
It's our first day off in a long while. Early in the morning, W drops paper and cardboard at the recycling station while I catch up on email.

Before noon, we drive into Seattle. W grabs a McD burger while I'm at a free "play day" at Daniel Smith Art. DS is one of my go-to places when we get back. Their demos often include the chance to try new art supplies.

Today, we're experimenting with Caran D'Ache colored pencils - oh the pleasure! We have Dicks Burgers on the way home.

My two art pages are so bad I toss them into the garbage when we reach our driveway.

I try to read - but am so sleepy I zone out for a long nap. Then we play with the kids, eat supper, and it's time for some writing before bed.

Read more:

*Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 NIV

*God knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with him. Daniel 2:22

*All these things my hand has made, and so all these things are mine, says the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look, to the humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at my word. Isaiah 66:2

*When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:36

*Jesus said, “I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness.” John 12:46

Moravian Prayer: Great Redeemer, move in our midst today. Bring to life new energy and courage. Empower us to reach beyond ourselves to connect your grace to the needs around us. May we seek new ways for your reconciliation to unfold in our neighborhoods. 

O Lord, grant us a new spirit for work and growth today. May our hearts and minds be centered on the direction your Spirit seeks to guide us. May the work of our hands, our hearts and our minds please you this day. Amen.