Holy Week - a look inside a quiet week of celebration and remembrance

Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Monday and Tuesday, studies are online. It's a very full working season for us.

One of the pleasures of a lead role is deciding what comes next. Every Monday and Friday, BIC goes online with a guest. I'm very excited about the friends scheduled this week. These people have heart-deep connections to Bandung.

Staying home is not that bad - just find your Daiso slip-ons or bury your feet in a fuzzy IKEA carpet. Comfy. The mind whirrs in remembrance while the body rests.

The dogs are delighted to have us at home instead of out and about. They bark fiercely when anyone approaches. They're quick, running from playing in the furthest corner of the yard to aggressively jumping up at the gate. GRRRRR. "Don't come inside until they're settled."

With so many "bad news" reports, I counter by posting beauty - and friends respond with beauty of their own. We share a flower a day from our yard or surroundings. One day, I spot the 6'X4' dill shrub. It's over a year old and sends out new green feathers at the end of every cut. Marvelous.

 The 12' concrete wall separating us from the neighbor drips with 3'-5' ferns. Glorious.

Orchids, ferns, and bromeliads are taking over the branches of the old guava tree. Clumps of guavas hang from young branches that sprouted after a severe pruning. I thought I might have killed the tree, bare as it was. But nope - there's fruit everywhere now.

There are also flowers galore = blooms on every tree, shrub, little bush, and in the ground. I pluck a few blossoms for a vase, pack a few colorful branches into the corner of another room ... but mostly it's just an extravagant show. God's putting on the Ritz during the suspended social season.

I talk to my dear mom and dad a few times this week. Mom's going strong but slower. Dad's holding his own, too. Glad to have a brother in town to take care of groceries, look in on them, and keep them laughing. W keeps in touch with his mom, too. What a blessing to have our sweet parents just a call away!

 The view from my near perch, the nook which sometimes becomes a home office, is tropical greenness. It's inspiring. We have to make up a commute to get 5-6000 steps a day. We remind each other, "masks on!" anytime we leave or if someone comes inside the gate.

Thursday
I bake or cook at least 2 meals a day, based on my appetite. Besides nibbling on chocolate. Chocolate its own food group, don't you think? Vital when crunching through info or taking classes. (Ask anyone in my masters or doctoral cohorts. I could hardly get through a class without snacks.)

Milk kefir and kombucha are thriving and replicating on the kitchen counter.

The new sourdough starter is ready to go. Pancakes anyone? They're tasty. So are the  quesadillas, creamed chicken in pasta, and other things that take a few minutes to cook.

Good Friday
It's a day of solemn remembrance and reflection. The former pastors of BIC share a video on the Facebook page (bicbandung14, #bicbanung). BIC lost two friends as well as mentors when Terry and Sandy Dyck repatriated to Canada. Everyone is happy! to see them online with a word of encouragement for us. Thanks, Terry. Thanks, Sandy! We miss you still.

--o0o--

And so here we are on Easter weekend. I could not get clarity on Easter as I was planning the year. Nothing. I fretted. Prayed. Wracked blogs and books for interactive activities. In February, I finally gave up.

"If you have ideas," I told our teams, "run with them. I'm getting nothing." Topics, scriptures, sure. Of course those were on the calendar - we have topics and themes written on the BIC calendar through 2020.

But creative Easter ideas? Ways to celebrate? Nada. It was a blank slate.

I'm a resource person so I expect a natural, ongoing flow of stuff and ideas. When I have "nothing," it's time to let go. And I let Easter go this year.

I am marveling at how much energy and effort that saved us and our teams. No one knew what was coming in March and April, but our plans would have gone to waste. God knew and gave me "nothing."

Actually, he gave me rest, which is a golden gift for a leader.  I made some art and read a lot. Resting. Thinking. Praying.
--o0o--
This evening, we meet online with about 60 people - it is a JOY to see everyone's faces. We're all so excited to catch up with locals, with Dayana (and beautiful babe) in Austria, and with Tabitha in Malaysia. A lot of expats flow through Bandung for studies and work. We stay connected as long as we can.

Saturday - silent Saturday

I clean the fridge. That might sound ho-hum, but when I look closely at the refrigerator, it's apparent that the "help" hasn't cleaned the seals in at least 2 years. There is mold. There are spills here and there, under a jumble of expired and new groceries.

Roll up your sleeves, Rosemee. It takes a while - 2.5 hours today of movement and meditation. You can clean and think, right? You're a captive audience. When I'm done, everything has a place and the fridge is spotless. (I also know what I'll check the next time this thing is "cleaned.")

Mindless chores win the day, some days. When I look in the mirror, my hair is limp and lifeless. Time to color it and bulk up.

I use half a kit of expired Revlon home color. Hey, I'm done. Now to wait for another quick surge of energy for a haircut: once the shape is in my head, it takes 10 minutes. Now that I've started thinking about it, it will happen in under a week.

It's a busy day for W, who is subtitling the talk for tomorrow. There is much to learn. He's a quick learner and wants to know all the details and contingencies. He's teaching next week "in Singapore," actually from his office upstairs. That means class prep. My next class isn't until July.

But I'm learning, too. Mostly, I'm learning patience. Many of the things I envision for the future are on hold while W and others ramp up skills. I have lists, people. Lists of dreams. Lists of possibilities.

I have a separate list of "must dos." I share parts of that and fill notebooks with the future lists. I'm working through 2 seminars online - a Michael Hyatt (vision and communication) and an art book group called "Growing Gills." That one is about how artists sort priorities and gather stamina for finishing projects. One is about the future. The other is about the present. I learn from both. 

My assistant Alice is in cooking mode, too. She sends over a pan of perfect moussaka - I haven't had any in years, and her recipe is exceptional. Thanks for sharing!

A few more little tidy-ups - earring on the stand! and dishes are done. I'm so ready for bed.

Silent Saturday is done. Easter is coming. Thanks be to God!

Read more:

*Happy are those who fear the Lord, who greatly delight in his commandments. Psalm 112:1

*Although our sins testify against us, do something, Lord, for the sake of your name. Jeremiah 14:7

*For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. John 3:16

*Christ himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness.

By his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. 1 Peter 2:24-25

Moravian Prayer: Jesus, call us in from the many paths onto which we have strayed, and gather us around your cross. Seeing your wounds, may we never look away from the wounds of the world. 

Lord, when in desperation we cry, “Do something,” restore us with the truth of what you have already done. May we spend this day of Sabbath vigil remembering, and may we be grateful. Amen.