Rockabye house - and a slip and fall

Monday, July 29, 2019
It's the anniversary of my in-laws, though DadK has been gone a long time. W talks to his mom but I'm not there when he does. I think about them all day, a long life together. And then one is left. Some day that will be W and me. Sometimes I think about that - what happens then?

It's part of my natural focus on the future. I constantly have to push myself back to live in the present. The future pulls on me every day. Most of my waking dreams are of how things will be; only a few are about what have been.

We have a study on the porch - and then head into the office. The view from our walkway is beautiful.

Tuesday
It's team day, so we take most of the morning on the devotions and catch-up. W and I present the first draft of Sunday's talk and take note of the critiques.

Over lunch, we visit with a couple who is considering non-profit work in Indonesia. Lunch at Maxi's is delicious.

Wednesday
Late Tuesday and Early Wednesday is our day off. We head for town. My eyes are fatigued and I want to make sure all is well. I meet the nicest doc and his staff - and find out his wife is an acquaintance. Small city (of 5 million)!

W and I have lunch together. W's crab and seafood plate costs $6; mine is less.

He suggests a selfie. What?! Fully acclimated to this selfie culture, I guess.

  The displays are artistic. I snap a few pictures of them.

We do a bit of shopping - browsing, really. I'd like 10 or 15 of these seats for the new hall layout - they're casual but give firm support for a body. Oh oh, when I check the tag at $80 each, it's a bit pricey! If wishes were horses...

I find a few on-sale baskets and a cute pottery pup that makes me take a second look. I'll put it on a shelf to surprise a smile out of someone. Cute, right? (Every room should have a few unexpected pieces.)

The hop itself is interesting - I like the wood spheres that house plants. Someone has forgotten to water them, though.

On the way back to the car, I skid on a round pebble, slipping off a 3" ledge into a pothole in the pavement. My shin glances off the far edge and produces a goose-egg of a hard bruise. (My knee is slightly skinned but fine.) My trousers don't even tear. (Bought them in the USA, eh?)

What hurts is my left arm. I sit still to catch my breath before W pulls me up by my good hand.

We walk to the car. "It's not far," says W.

It's a block further than he thinks, about 3 blocks from my tumble. Next time, I'll wait for the car. There's a beautiful modern building on the way, though.

Once in the back seat, I swipe a baby wipe across my palm to scrape the gravel out. W dabs a glop of sterilizer (alcohol) on the cut.

"OwH OwH OwH!" I say, almost breathless. Oh, does that ever hurt ... only for 30 seconds. Then I'm glad it's disinfected and the sting subsides.

It takes over a half-hour to get home. We buy a pack of frozen chicken going up our hill: I have to get ice on this arm sooner rather than later. And that's what was in the grocer's freezer. We send it home with the driver later, who is happy to have supper.

There's nothing broken, thank God, only internal bruising in the wrist and palm. My shoulder ligament is caught on something, too. When I rotate my arm up for comfort, the joint catches and tweaks. Yeee-ouch! Not doing that again (until Friday, when I confirm, yup, it's stuck on something.) If I don't rotate my arm that way, it doesn't hurt as much. Good plan, then.

We postpone two meetings - I'm in no condition to go out. I just rest. I'm the "one day's rest and then back to work" type, not the "suffer for a few days and then I'm out for a week of recovery."

W pampers me all evening with cold packs and a hot water bottle - I'm shivering in no time. A sleeping pill and anti-inflammatory before bedtime, and I'm out from 9 until 6, the best sleep I've had in a long while.

Thursday
While the Thursday walkers hike our favorite walk (which actually morphs into a new one), I have to stay home. My hand and shoulder are sore but by evening, I can start to grasp things with my thumb. By evening, when we go out for dinner, it's a dull ache rather than a roar. We have a good dinner at Puri Bambu, a famous old location with Indonesian-Chinese cuisine. It's fun to meet the two young men related to our host, who polish off the leftovers like they should at their age. (I remember.)

We skip a stop on the way home: I'm really finished. I toss and turn, sleeping off and on through the night.

Friday
A 7am online call starts the day - it jumpstarts my mind with theology and analysis. After I hang up, there's just enough time to make a thermos of tea, toss cookies and banana bread into my tote, and grab my art supplies. W is already walking home from his breakfast appointment so we pick him up on the way out.

We love to go to Rumah Doa (House of Prayer) for prayer and reflection. We drive through farms and nurseries up the hill. The colors are astonishing - I love the green possibilities that line the narrow road. W and the driver joke about the snake-like progress between trucks loading and unloading plants in the middle of one narrow lane and the cars and motorcycles hurtling toward us in the oncoming lane. You have to have nerves of steel or know the flow to drive here.

Our teammates are waiting - we talk about several aspects of serving together. Periodically, it's good to consider if we are on track or on a new course.

W has to pick up a few things at a supermarket. I find some ramen I want to try. I love the noodles of Indonesia = so much variety. We drop W at a corner where he can catch an angkot (little van) home.

Pack Gum and I continue the drive. I'm off to a late lunch with the Bandung Book Group - several have birthdays, which we try to celebrate each month. The cookies and banana bread are split up between tasters afterward, when we've had our lively chats and catch up. One of the founding members is visiting from Australia: it's also her birthday so it's double the fun.

They order fish and spinach to share around the table. I don't like fish, but I'm happy with my order of spicy mango chicken and rice.

Oh yum - Akasnya Teras has good food! And I love the little ceramic tea set with a serving tray.

We're home by late afternoon. I can pick up things already - it's going to be a fast recovery, though my shoulder is still hooked up on something.

The house sways and the windows creak - there's an earthquake off the coast, felt in Jakarta (100 miles away) and here. It's gentle and kind of soothing. I wouldn't have noticed if W wouldn't have mentioned it. We walk onto the porch, but the dogs are relaxed and not concerned. "Good chance of a tsunami," W says, looking at Google. God, please keep the people on the coast safe, we pray.

Read more:
*When the ways of people please the Lord, he causes even their enemies to be at peace with them. Proverbs 16:7 

*Love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High. Luke 6:35 

*The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:9-14 NIV

Moravian Prayer: Protector of Peace, strengthen and unite the souls of all people. With our hearts broken and selfish, direct us toward service to humanity. Turn us from vindictiveness, and teach us to love one another. Amen.