Flying through the week

Monday, November 16, 2020

Quote of the week: "Never believe anything bad about God." Steve Cuss (Makes me ponder: why do we blame God when we do not praise or worship him for opportunities and accomplishments, or as we examine and exult in the wonders of the world and the good people around us?)

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Kirsten's on her way back to the USA tomorrow. She does her "lasts," like picking up a Miss Bee iced chocolate drink.

We eat a final dinner together at Nara Park, tucked under a stairwell because the live music is rather live-ly and loud.

We enjoy its beautiful landscaping

and shoot a Marco Polo for our grandkids at its turtle park. See the big turtle shell inside the half-barrel?

Tuesday

After the morning team meeting, I walk home from the office. Ibu Apong has made a special lunch for Kirsten and us - yummy chicken and potatoes. K's a potato-lover.

Of course we take porch pictures: K's last stand on the garden overlook.

After 8 hrs of driving to Jakarta, supper, and check-in, the plane takes off about 10pm. Kirsten has good flights, with a 2-hr delay in Chicago. By our time, Thursday at 4am, she's at her Airbnb in Texas. That's about 38 hours of travel time, door to door.

She had excellent connections this time. (It's brutal every time we go back.) Isn't air travel a marvelous invention? A hundred years ago, who would have dreamed you could circumnavigate the globe in a day or two?

Wednesday

We're prepping Advent packages for BIC attendees all week. "Who is going to have to pull together the devotional content and stuff for kids?" asks a weary team member. Then Hillcrest Church in Bellingham calls to offer us their Advent devotional, complete with kid activities inside. What great timing! Thanks, Toni and P.Christian!

I shoot an Advent announcement video for Sunday once the colorful bags are delivered - and begin to drop items in, including the Hillcrest booklets. It's going to be a good packet. People can pick them up Monday to Wednesday next week. After that, we'll deliver to the addresses we have in our community call list. (If you attend BIC, make sure we have your current address.)

All week, I comfort myself with endless cups of tea and lots of paperwork. This lovely china cup was an earlier birthday gift from our Indonesian "kids" (students who stayed with us in Seattle a decade ago).

The helper and I clear out K's room. IbuS washes bedding any time there's water. City water has been sparse and spotty the past weeks, despite rainy season. We may get 1-4 hours of very green or algae-laden water in a day (if it's flowing).

We do our wet chores whenever there's water. Running a load or two in the washing machine empties the storage tanks and uses up the water for the day. We fill the plastic kitchen buckets for washing and rinsing dishes before using the clothes washer.

Mom says she's cried our daughter's farewell for me. "Just cry as you clean," says my mom. "That's what I used to do when your younger brother left for his next contract." 

I try. Nope. no tears come. Just a feeling of loss and an empty room. I'm a slow emotional processor. W and I already miss Kirsten! Until she's home, we pray night and day for her safety and good arrival.

Thursday

Since we came back from the work conference, we've been walking every morning, starting about 6am. (Dawn starts at 5am, so that wakes me up.) It feels good to put a few miles on our feet, especially if the dogs are ready for a brisk trot. I am at the office about 7 but walk home for lunch most days. Sometimes there's enough work to go back until supper. And then it's nice to fall into bed early.

I love the theme of Advent, shared by Hillcrest. Indeed, there's a lot of darkness and a need for light. In our souls as well as our bodies. I'm so grateful to have an hour or two of hot sun every day in the tropics.

Today we don't go on the weekly mountain walk because we're acquiring food for the weekend sembako packages. Saturday, the BIC Alpha crew will pack up 50 parcels of rice, ramen, sugar, oil, coconut cream, and beans - plus a surprise treat: one of the snacks K left behind. (She loves to try new foods.)

People are hungry! really hungry, in a culture that lives day to day ... with COVID taking away many jobs. (You can donate here if you want to be part of the next sembako project. The funds go 100% toward buying food. Everything else is volunteered and gratefully passed on.)

Someone drops by the office, shedding English books and CDs of kids and Christmas music. They're heading back to North America for a while. We'll pass their goodies along.

I ask Ibu Apong to cook "whatever you want with beef and coconut." We've avoided those the past months because K can't eat them. It feels like a splurge.

Friday

In the office by 7, I work until noon. There's satisfaction in getting things done on the mornings when it seems like there's nothing to be productive about. I sure miss the movie nights, community dinners, and other gatherings we used to take for granted. 

Kim sent me the link to a podcast on handling anxiety as a leader. It's taken me a few weeks to listen - I just don't have the capacity to tune in very often. Afterwards, I check my body and ask, what's wound tight, what's relaxed? And where is God in this part of our story? Do I trust him with the day, the weekend, the next week ... and my life?

Read more:

*O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him. Psalm 34:8

*We praise you, God, we praise you, for your Name is near; people tell of your wonderful deeds. You say, ‘I choose the appointed time; it is I who judge with equity. When the earth and all its people quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm. To the arrogant I say, “Boast no more,” and to the wicked, “Do not lift up your horns. Do not lift your horns against heaven; do not speak so defiantly.”’ No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt themselves.

It is God who judges: he brings one down, he exalts another. Psalm 75:1-7 NIV-UK

*O Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but we acknowledge your name alone. Isaiah 26:13

*For my name’s sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, so that I may not cut you off. Isaiah 48:9

*We must obey God rather than any human authority. Acts 5:29

God saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 1:9

Moravian Prayer: Lord our God, it is you and you alone we look to for calm in the midst of the clamor of a busy day; for joy in the peace of a woodland vacation; for rest in the middle of a sleepless night; for comfort in sorrow of a lost one. 

God, you withhold your anger and show us mercy. You call us to service—not according to what we would like to do, but according to your design. You show us the path with purpose and grace through Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God. Amen.