Celebrate! but check the potatoes

Saturday, May 23, 2020
What good food! Della, friend and caterer, sends over a feast. Our wonderful neighbor Dr Wuri sends soup and chicken and potato and other treats. We feast. When I finally remember, I take a picture of what's left - rendang, chicken soup, krupuk (crackers), and rice wrapped and smoked in a lattice of leaves  (already gone, sorry!) ... oh yum.

This has been the final Islamic day of fasting. Tonight will be the noisiest night of the year, the night that starts Idul Fitri (the wrap-up to Ramadan). All night long, people are marking the end of the month of fasting with firecrackers and chants, music and celebrations.

Sunday
Families and neighborhoods are together, many ignoring social distancing. There are far fewer trips to hometowns and far fewer cars on the road.

Most young people wear masks as chin straps. Their noses and mouths are left uncovered - or they wear no mask at all. We'll see if there's an acceleration of Covid in the next week or two.

We pray for God to spare this country the worldwide pandemic and many deaths. W's at the office par of the morning, making sure our Gathering online is going well.

For part of the morning, I join an online farewell for American colleagues who've left Indonesia. We're meeting via Zoom of course.

I tear up a napkin from one of the good demos sent over from Alice's house this week - it was a noteworthy moussaka. I glue some pieces on a journal page as I listen to the voices from around the world.

Tuning into the Gathering at BIC Online, it's fun to see families from the local church worshipping together. One dad sends a dance party  by his girls during the worship songs. So cute!

It's bittersweet when a family leaves that is fluent in Indonesian, has practical skills useful in times of disaster ... and who care so deeply about people. These guys acclimated well and lived in Indonesia almost 2 decades. But they knew that their kids need to finish high school in the USA.

Third culture kids balance two cultures: their parents' expectations at home (American, Australian, Korean, etc.) and the school and neighborhood cultures where they grow up. When they return to their parents' homeland, some have a difficult time finding a permanent home - either in that homeland or elsewhere in the world. They adjust better if they tether to their parents' home culture at some point, meeting extended family and making friends there.

For us, it's a quiet day of the heart, interacting with various communities. We take a walk in the afternoon, waving to friends nearby and exchanging blessings with families of those we know. These narrow uneven steps lead back to our neighborhood (ours is the far red roof) as we come out of the village lane.

The fig trees along the way are full of figs. (See all the grey lumps on the trunk?) The figs kind look like fungus as they ripen. Hmmm. Maybe we could plant a fig tree in the yard. Nah, our lease expires in 3 years. Maybe not.

W and K order pizza for lunch but I'm almost pizza-d out. So I make my own favorite food ... ramen with veggies, an egg, and other good additions. Everyone eats happily. And stashes away the left-over pizza for later.

K's pizza is so spicy that W takes the untouched half to the neighborhood security guards. Many kampungs or neighborhoods pay people a pittance to watch at the main entry. They try to make sure no mischief enters or leaves. Our neighborhood is no exception.

It's my turn to write the talk for the Gathering next week. That wants unscheduled and random time. If I can quiet my mind to hear God's voice, the talk flows onto the page.

This week is about "celebration." Rejoicing and taking notice of good things seems to be a neglected spiritual practice for many believers.

Most gods demand more ritual, more sacrifice, more rule-keeping. But our God gives his people a day off every week? Surely that's something to appropriate and cheer!

Between, I play with a friend's art piece. She barely had an hour on it on Art Sunday in December.

When I find it, I think it might be fun to add bits of paper, netting, floss, and paint to see what happens.

I might send the canvas back to Ruth for more work on her end. Thoughts?

Monday
I finish writing the Sunday talk before lunch. The online study has a big group today. We're discussion the book of Daniel. What a wild journey through history, prophecy, and prayers.

W and I eat lunch together but K is still resting. W eats some of his leftover pizza and a papaya salad from last week. He doesn't finish it all.

I make myself apple-pecan pancakes. Oh oh, they're delicious with maple syrup from Canada. I have a few leftovers to tuck away for supper, too. No more cooking today.

We go through the talk together, sitting on the porch with the birds chirping away. I must check if the potatoes are coming up in the pots beside the vegetable garden. It's the small things that get away from me.

W modifies his part as usual. The fun thing about speaking together is that one person writes the basic talk. The other other customizes it to their voice - and sometimes adds ideas of their own. We record it for our team to make comments and suggestions.

I'm watching some art podcasts, enjoying some new ways of journaling, and thinking deeply about what is to come. My heart is celebrating the goodness and protection of God, and asking for that to continue over the families who will be traveling back to work in large cities from their hometowns all over Indonesia.

There's much less traffic. The streets are quiet except for young kids playing on their parents' motorcycles. 3-4 pile on and roar by.

The caterpillars have completely stripped the 60' high (20 meter) tree outside our gate. My oh my. The silver bark is beautiful - this is a tropical version of "winter" where the tree rests and then leafs out again.

Read more:

*There is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered. Psalm 130:4

*Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Colossians 3:13

*Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

Moravian Prayer; Gracious God, your greatest commandment to love one another is often the hardest to follow. Give us strength to follow your example and forgive those who have hurt us. Amen.