Woohoo for movie night!

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Menu on the fridge - their work and mine ... and a new word below

We go shopping. It's not my favorite thing @ 7-10:30am. We drive across the city to the food wholesaler, making a call to a friend on the way. 

Just a little dream of how nice it would be to have big serving dishes

We come home with a car full of groceries for movie night tomorrow. There's an afternoon of prep, peeling potatoes, washing vegetables, and ... well, it is busy.

Enjoying a little break in my office -
the perfect tea mug from Jojo and Kristi. Thanks, guys!

Wednesday

We look forward to this gathering all month, our monthly movie night. W and I walk the neighborhood at 6. Before 8, I start cooking and am mostly done by 11:30. I'm getting more efficient. The menu is ambitious today - but there's time for an afternoon nap.

One...

Two ...

Three: the turkey roaster is full of 60 curried sausage

 The helpers come at 3pm to make nasi (cooked rice) and wash dishes (the few I don't wash as I go). Later, they'll fill up the serving dishes until everyone has eaten, and clean up as people set down their plates.

Our friends start arriving at 5:30 for the 6:30 dinner. Paper plates, cutlery, sauces, serving dishes, and extra serving table are set up in the kitchen. W has put the cart with infused mint-lime water on the porch. We buzz around saying hello. Today, I made labels for each dish - wow, they'll know what they're eating? (Usually, they're brave and try foods, or they ask.)

Beautiful birthday girl and her brother on the right

It's been a cool day with heavy rainfall about 5:00. The rain stops in time - though we lose about 15 people on the list, and the room and porch heat up with arriving bodies. The noise level rises, too - everyone's having fun, reconnecting or introducing new people to their friends.

Claudia has made potato salad, Maddie's mom has brought a cake for dessert to celebrate her 17th birthday. Bella is turning 24. The gals have people from 19 countries celebrating with them! Cool.

Dinner is a hit and then we start October Sky, a film about persisting with a dream and following your destiny. Conversation during intermission and afterwards is lively and warm.

The last few leave before 11:30 and we take one more phone call before falling asleep about midnight.

The last group to leave poses for a picture - still smiling

Contrasting lifestyles - above and below

Thursday

Around 7, I walk a mile to join a friend at Starbucks. Except that the new Starbucks (or any other coffee shop) doesn't open until 8. So I walk on, meeting her partway to her hotel. We decide on tea, coffee, and conversation in her room.

The view is stunning - a luxury complex overlooking the poorer neighbors below. It's a typical modern city setting. Heartwrenching.

My friend is traveling back to the States in less than a week. I get a funny pang near my heart, walking up the hill to home and thinking about that. We are far from our families today. But the memories of yesterday's "new family" make me smile, too.

Read more:

*Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord. Isaiah 50:10

*The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58:11

*Bring the homeless poor into your house. Isaiah 58:7

*He rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son. Colossians 1:13

*We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19

Moravian Prayer: God of surprises, do not allow the darkness to be the last word. Trusting in your goodness, we gather our voices to raise a joyful song! Christ is alive! Alleluia!

Divine Architect of justice, give us courage to clothe our prayers in action. You call us to love as we are loved; daring to act with courage. United in Christ, we follow your way, serving the least of these. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.