As we're out running errands, I just have to snap a pic of the guys cruising by - "safety first"? Maybe more like, "safety last." The traffic is not fast, but still ...
Monday, June 15, 2019
It's a long day after a full weekend. In the morning, the guys cut a few tall branches off the moringa tree. We strip the leaves and set them out too dry.
Tuesday
My first meeting is online at 6:30. I woke up at 2am and started to write the last part of Sunday's talk. We have to present it to our team today at 9am. I'm not done until 5:30. I'm up again at 6:15. But my host is not online until almost 7. I have a cup of tea and clear emails while I wait.
By 9, we're at the office for the second meeting. It's good to hear what people are doing - everyone's active and working hard. We come home for nasi goring (fried rice, an indonesian staple). The yardman has picked melinjo berries and leaves, which get boiled.
The nanka (jackfruit) tree has a few big fruits, too. Some trees boast dozens of big ovals overhead (pic below). You don't want to stand under a tree when the fruit breaks loose!
The helper strips off the prickly skin, wrapping her hands in newspaper to avoid the sticky sap that can be used as "white glue". It can be very difficult to get off, even with oil and soap. She cooks up an enormous pot of Sunda-style jackfruit curry. (Vegans would love the stuff - it tastes like pulled pork.) Ripe, jackfruit is eaten as a fruit. Before that, it tastes more like a vegetable.
Wednesday
It's date day, even if it's just a date with myself. While W works at home, I go to Rumah Doa (prayer house).The retreat center is completely empty except for me today. It's not quiet since the gardeners are hard at work.
I pull on my down jacket and socks (baby it's cold outside when I arrive - 66o or 19. Brrr.). I get out my pen, and put on some orchestral music to block the sound of the hedge trimmers.
I spend some hours there: thinking, praying, and finalizing the calendar of "Stories of the Bible," topics for the international church through Christmas. It's strange to plan Advent topics (Hope, Love, Joy, Peace) but satisfying to post them for the leadership teams later in the day.
Lunch is a disappointment: Eatalia has been replaced by a greasy food shop that says it's like a pizza (fillings) but has a deep-fried breading around it. I am too tired to find another place - so I try it. Not my taste. W loves fatty foods and might enjoy it.
In the afternoon, I drain the two fishbowls on the porch. W refills them with fresh filtered water. No filter or heater is needed in these fishbowls - what a far cry from the fiddly saltwater aquariums I used to have.
I go fishing in the neighbor's pond. I need a few more fish in our fishbowls on the porch. Usually, we have fewer fish after a few months - this time it was almost half a year. Then I walk over to restock from Jez's overflow. The beta has been swimming around in there for more than a year. Seems happy.
The red platys are abundant. I also catch a male green swordtail under one of the lily pads. The little frogs who live in the pond jump out of the way of the net.
*The Lord said to Jeremiah, “Now I have put my words in your mouth.” Jeremiah 1:9
*Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 9:23-24
*But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom. Luke 21:14-15
Moravian Prayer: Lord, often we are not bold in our witness or we are afraid in sharing our testimony, so we remain silent. Encourage us to speak without fear and dwell in your word and presence each day. May we trust you to teach us to speak with grace and wisdom, that the good news may be proclaimed wherever you lead us. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment