World Cleanup Day is today. W's finds the last rat in the glue trap this morning - after it crunched around and he spied it with his flashlight. It was sitting on our window ledge last night. It had the beadiest eyes in the light near the ceiling. When he got close, it squirted through a crack in the windowsill outside. Today it is no more.
W and DrW head to clean up the neighborhood - while I work on our talks. I have a 9am-noon commitment at Stamford, a local international school. Three of us are judging a storytelling contest.
"It will probably last 2-2.5 hours," read the email. "Come at 9:30." (This morning, I get a WA that I'll be met there at 9.)
There's no telling what traffic is like; I head out at 8:30 and no one is on the upper road. I'm there before 9. The organizer gives me and the other two the rubric for grading. We read the upper primary scripts and grade them. Then we wait for the older group to write and submit their radio scripts. The kids are working in groups; some of the writing is quite interesting.
While we wait, we tell rat stories - some have had rodents share the bed. Rats make nests here and there. We talk about how best to trap and rid our houses of rodents. It's funny. And gross. And something we all have in common - they squeeze in from the garden, from neighbors, and from - who knows where.
Since we have guests for lunch at the house at 1:00, I tell the organizer I will be leaving at noon. "Oh my," she says. The speeches haven't even started at 11:50, when we are introduced to participants in the auditorium a few minutes before 12:00. I smile, wave, and leave on time.
We love having people over - and these two and their almost-2-yr-old are favorites. We've hugged a lot of Sundays, but visiting together makes the friendship deepen and even more special.
Sunday
It's a typical busy Sunday morning. The children's leaders are ill so it turns into Family Sunday - all together in the auditorium. The service leader is stuck in Jakarta with a broken car so W steps up to lead the service. He calls the children up to the front and tells a Bible story before the main talk.
Scott and Sarah assemble a team to lead worship.
Today Josh is the main speaker. He recruits two girls to read from the Old and New Testaments. They are gifted with clear voices.
We join a big group at Miss Bee. Oh yum - good food as always. We share noisy conversations and a lot of laughter around the table.
In the afternoon, another guest arrives at the house, which means more tea, a few cookies. I'm so thankful for IbuA who keeps baking, week after week. The four old square Tupperware boxes are refilled and emptied, one after another.
A week ago Thursday, we called a mobile dog groomer was supposed to come over. We've had four cancellations or postponements.
Today, he calls that he is thought he was here, but is lost - he went to another part of town with a smilier address to ours. He promises to come the next Thursday. It's his last chance; our poor standard poodle is shaggy and needs a trim. You can't let poodles go too long without grooming. Since Cocoa gets a run in the hills every week, she gathers dust! She and Gypsy now happily own the yard. And she loves being brushed out.
Monday
Meeting day. W takes the train to Jakarta at 5am. He's got a committee meeting. My day starts later: a 7am conference call before our 9:30 study. Several study participants arrive before 9: last week started early and they're still on track for that. We don't mind - our porch is a great place to visit and hang out.
Today we have guests from Germany joining new attendees and regulars. I love the interaction - and the conversations around scripture. It's fun to explore from many personal viewpoints, past experiences, and varied worldviews.
After, we have our team lunch upstairs - and then Clau and I head out for another meeting with Mr S on some empty land. There may be an interesting project in the works. Life is never dull - but I'm glad to get home before 5:00.
Tuesday
I wake early - and by 4:30 the Muslim chants are at full volume. We usually sleep through them but this morning there are several new voices resounding across the valley from the next hill. Some of the speakers have beautiful cadences - some are high-pitched, some are low and rumbling. They don't last long: after 15 minutes, all is quiet.
W is back in mid-morning but the special event of the day will be picking up our daughter, who is here for the week. HURRAH! We can't wait to see her.
---
Kirsten arrives on time - and we are delighted that she's here. It's a 40-hour trip from her place to ours. She's so tired but up for a good supper and chat. Oh ... sweet to have family here - esp a daughter.
When K opens her suitcase, it is full of baking soda. The American TSA has slashed a sealed bag of baking soda and let it drift all over the luggage.
So rude. Why couldn't they tape over the hole they made in the bag?
Wednesday
We have a group over for breakfast at 8:00. There are several new people in the group - what a pleasure to meet them. PakD brings a huge box of baking over. I should have taken a picture - they are beautiful as well as tasty. I add tea, rice, and hot curried jackfruit to the mix. It's a bit early to cook but oh well.
At 10, we leave the first meeting for a staff meeting at BIC. We move through our long agenda and have work to do. We're back just before lunch -
We eat at Eatalia - pizza, sweet potato and mushroom gnocchi, and calzone. And K gets her list of movies for the trip.
We're already tired out when we come home before 3. K and I rest while W heads out to one more meeting in town. (He loves to keep going. I need breaks between.)
Read more:
*Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. 1 Samuel 3:9
*God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Psalm 46:1-5 NIV
*You silence the roaring of the seas, the tumult of the peoples. Psalm 65:7
*And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7
Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. 1 John 2:24
Moravian Prayer: Lord, you speak to us in many varied ways—in the beauty of creation, in the cry of one in need, in the still small voice within us. Open our hearts to understanding and discerning your desire for us. Then use us Lord, just as you will.
Lord Jesus, who commands the wind and the waves, calm the storms within our world. Grant peace to those in need and distress. Empower us, through your grace, to be as Christ to others. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment