So many extras: feels like an extreme ride

Sunday, June 21, 2019

Our neighborhood walks are smoky - if you have asthma, you're in trouble here. Leaves and garbage are swept and burned at the roadside every morning.

Otherwise, the flowers are blooming and after rainy season, every tree is bursting with new leaves and color. Even the neighborhood gazebo is being overrun with plants. 

 At BIC, W and I speak about Solomon.The kids are in the auditorium for Family Month. However, the children's director is sick. She texts a half-hour before the morning starts for me. I grab a few plastic animals from our kid-gift drawer and ready a kid talk. Only two youngsters show up. They're game but their English isn't strong enough to participate as hoped. No worries - but

• Another last-minute cancellation (the slide doesn't get removed from the PPT = awkward)
• Someone else is leaving town so we have a farewell prayer for her
• The media team needs a script edit when I duck into the office. Ok, done
• And something else unexpected happens, but from the distance of a week I can't remember it ... It was a full Sunday morning, for sure.

A friend texts at 3:30 - can they come at 4 to talk? I don't see the message until 4. No worries, they were already at the gate. I'm in full zone-out mode so W takes her question.

Monday and Tuesday
It's study day again, led by Nina. I'm happy to see everyone. After, I spend some time in the office Monday afternoon.

We have our team meeting on Tuesday and a bunch come back to the house with us for lunch. Writing, planning, catching up on the teams and their work - it's a pleasure to see everyone using their gifts to bless others.

We have to pick up a few things at Borma (Indonesia's Woolworths). The groundskeeper needs new boots for $4, too.

Tuesday afternoon, W stays home while the groomers come - they love using our American clippers. Gypsy snarls and W ties her up. Meanwhile, Cocoa is a jewel - she loves to be groomed.

And she's so happy when she's done, she's like a bouncy ball.

 

Wednesday
W and I have a date day - starting with breakfast @Pino Terrace. It's yummy, just over $1 for chicken chowder in a biscuit, and a short walk from the house.

The groundkeepers are pounding new "lawn" into place with a brick - the low-lying area is a soggy mess that washes out with big rainfalls.

We head back home. I wait while W does a bit of work. It's our Sabbath so we're on the way to town before 11. What a hot dry day. We walk up and down an empty street in Chinatown.

Trees are not cut down here. They tower into the sky. At root level, they break up curbs and paving goes around them.

We're following directions from locals. We loop around and around the neighborhood, passing the same shops (10,000 plus steps and 6.5 miles).

Finally we find the streets we want. I find fabric I like for upholstering the porch furniture, which is shredded by sunshine and a plethora of guests.

What? I have to buy a 100 meter roll of each? No thanks! At the egg store,  motorcyclists pick up a stack of cartons and deliver them to the shops. 

I'm looking for a clay teapot for the Chinese tea a friend brought. I find 2: a good Chinese one for $13 and a local set with tray and 3 cups for $6. There are also baskets galore.

I happen on a baking store. A kg of cocoa is Rp125.000 (under $9). We're out of cocoa, but I'm not in the mood for another splurge. I leave the shop owner our bread recipe and he gives us a discount for the few items we buy.

When we get home, I soak the clay pots and cups in boiling water like WuJin taught me, rinse them, and fill them with water to hydrate for a few hours. Then we dry them overnight.

Thursday
It's our first walk in the hills in ages. I love it - but skip one steep side trail to save my knees. A friend from BIC joins us - what fun to introduce her to the wild woods across the valley from her house. "I've seen this trail so many times, but never been here," she says. (She's lived on the opposite slope for 20 years.)

Lunch is at an overlook on the side of the valley. Beautiful.

Three pickup trucks full of wedding guests drive by. Old and young are in wedding finery - I try to imagine my mom and mother-in-law dressing up and hopping into the back of a pickup on these cratered roads. Nope - too much of a stretch for my imagination.

We have time for a quick shower to wash the dust and sweat off, before a guest comes to sit on the porch for a few hours. I have enough in me to make a quick and simple supper before relaxing with a book and an episode of a Korean drama.

Friday
It's an early morning at the office. The vines along the way are beautiful.

I get a message, "Can we come by?" Fathima, a grad student who came to movie night 2 years ago, brings 2 friends to the BIC office. They're in charge of a linguistics and 4.0 technology conference at a major university.

The organizers just found out that their Australian keynote speaker is not coming: he's sick - is there any chance that I could do a 90 minute session tomorrow morning? WHAAAT? They're a bit desperate: they're expecting 180 guests, national and international lecturers, doctoral and grad students. Oh boy.

I feel a release in my heart - ok, I'll try. I take notes as we talk. I don't really know what the conference is about - I can't read the Indonesian description. Our assistant Sanny reads the conference manual later and explains a bit more before the office closes for the day. I ask my friends to pray for success. Have I ever done this kind of a lecture at such short notice before? Nope. Anything can happen.

A young couple takes us for lunch. They're working out details for their wedding: W will marry them in October.

While they check out nearby wedding venues, I head back to the office to work on the talk, based on the notes and our conversation. And then it's home, a quick supper, and early-to-bed, hoping for a miracle.

Saturday
I wake after 2am. By 5:30, my talk and PowerPoint are done. I've read the lecture through once, so I lay the clothes I'll wear on the chair, fill my bag with a computer, cable, timer, etc. I'll be ready to go when I get up.

I go back to sleep for an hour. W hands off a thumb drive for my PPT. Apparently MACs are not working on the screen at the university. They had trouble last night. Ok. Thumb drive it is.

At 7:30, the dogs start yapping. Someone is already at the gate.  I fine-tune a few things on my presentation and get dressed. I text Fathima, "Please tell them wait for me. " They said they'd send a driver at 8:00 to pick me up.

I grab a few chocolate chip cookies and make a thermos of tea. No time for breakfast. I'm out the door at 8, but not a minute earlier, computer bag in hand.

The driver and a grad student drive me to UPI on the next hill. We arrive a few minutes after 8:30 when the greetings and other formalities are over. The linguistic department is already assembled.

I'm ushered to the front row where one of the professors waits, along with a table full of water, tea, and snacks. There's an extended introduction (15 minutes) before the moderator and I take our seats on the platform. The enormous gong is struck with a red paddle (oh that lovely rumbly vibration!) and we're in session.

The lecture goes well - the faces are friendly. Participants are engaged, interested, and have fun with a hands-on activity - conceptulizing a children's counting app based on local language and traditions.

Afterward, the moderator translates the Q&A. Many come up to say how much they enjoyed it and take pictures. It's fun to see how everyone crowds in - I get one pic on my phone, when accepting the thank you plaque. (Picture taking is a 10-15 minute finale in any conference.) The professor/moderator says he got a lot of ideas for his own class, which makes me even happier. I'm home before noon.

There's something about saying YES to the impossible or implausibe that is deeply satisfying. This time, I felt covered in prayers. I didn't feel nervous or anxious, but more anticipation to see the ways God intended to bless this time and the people who were gathered. I came home with a smile.

When has that last happened to you?

Read more:
*Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad? Job 2:10

*Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress. Psalm 31:9

*Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24 NIV

*Jesus said, “But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid.” Luke 12:7

*Jesus prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.” Luke 22:42 

Moravian Prayer: Help us, O Savior, in times of trouble and trials, to know that you are fully aware of every aspect of our lives. Help us, Holy Spirit, to trust in our heavenly parent who is full of compassion and mercy. Help us to walk by faith, surrounded by perfect peace, knowing that God is taking care of us through every need, storm, or situation. 

By your example, Redeemer, show us, during times of our persecution and trials, how to accept God’s will and purpose in our lives. Assist us to remember that all things will work for good to those who put their trust in you. Give us the grace to say at all times, “Your will be done!” Amen.