Perhaps a Lockdown? and relief

 The driver gets a mandatory COVID test because his neighbors have tested positive. He tests positive as well, though symptoms don't appear until days later. That shuts down the house. W and our guests were in the car with him yesterday, masked of course. We send the bad news around to everyone but we all test negative. 

Everyone is suffering, including some friends of friends, who are stuck with 15 containers of rattan furniture for an American company that's gone bankrupt. That affects the weavers and their families, the suppliers, and the shippers ... know anyone who could use a container of beautiful rattan chairs? (I'll pass your contact along.) Or maybe you want to redo a hall or large lobby? Here it is!

Near the end of rainy season, the leaves and flowers are stunning. On the left (below) is a mosquito-repellent plant. Sometimes I pluck stems and put them throughout the house. W gives in and sprays the water-wells in the bromeliads against mosquitoes this week, too.

We also have to paint the porch tables after 6 years. W puts the 2 porch fishbowls on one table while he gets to work. Don't you love the Bali-glasswork. It's made by glassblowers who use driftwood and roots to mold the bottoms of the glass bowls.

On a walk, I admire the tall trees with their bright orange blossoms. On the street, they fall in heaps, swept away with garbage and dead leaves. Such beauty and abundance, lavished around the world by our Heavenly Father, if we just pause long enough to look around.

Dropping to the pavement:

Details of each 5" blossom: the yellow lace edging gets me every time. 

Thursday, March 18, 2021

The helpers get tested and at this point, they are negative. We'll pay for a second test next week. We cut back their work-days while paying them full-time. It's not their fault that the virus is starting to hit villages all along the ridge. And everyone is suffering financially and needs the income.

No mountain walk for us, sadly. I clip on the leash as usual but when I walk around the yard with the dogs, they look at me as though I've lost my mind. They drag behind on the leash. No matter - I do about 1/2 mile of loops and unclip them. They are not impressed. W and I stay in all day. This is the start of 14 days of quarantine. Maybe. We've already had COVID but will get tested at the beginning of next week, when exposure should show up.

Friday and Saturday

We walk before 6am so that we pass few people. There's no way the big dogs will be okay with staying in the yard and we're feeling restless, too. Our bodies are used to 4-5 miles of walking every day. We head straight back into our gate. The mornings are clear and cool at 5:30 as the skies start to lighten. 67oF (20oC). We wear long sleeves and shiver as we start out.

 I cook whatever strikes my fancy. W usually does dishes. I clear out the fridge freezer in a few hours, making a stew for the dogs from freezer-burned meats, rice, and pumpkin. My little white poodle shadow is my taster. He sleeps near my feet and dogs my footsteps otherwise. I love it - and he likes the green shag rug from IKEA under the porch tables.

I freeze the dogfood in ice-cube trays. That makes it easy to defrost and pour over their kibble. I also make a chili soup for ourselves. With various cook in our kitchens, I never know what's frozen or what's been used up. After this deep clean, I not only know what we have but where it is.

My energy is low, having to stay in. I read, write, study, and have tea on the porch. I never get tired of the colors of the garden. We send half a lime pie to the neighbors. Otherwise we'll end up eating the whole thing ourselves. It's delicious, a creation from Ibu A.

There are so many limes in the garden - I put a few more on the plate after the last dozen are eaten or given away.

Sunday

We're celebrating Sunday with BICOnline - after an early walk and a big breakfast.

I toss raw oatmeal, pineapple, seeds, and nuts into a bowl of blueberry yogurt. Mix it together, and it's uglier than you can imagine. But it's also tastier than expected. The tang of yogurt and fresh pineapple mesh well with dried plums, blueberries, and apricots. Add in the crunch of hemp and pumpkin seeds, almonds and walnuts, and the creaminess of cashews ... and you have a perfect breakfast bowl.

The hardest thing I do all day - and I've been agonizing over this for 6 weeks - is pull the plug on an in-person gathering for Easter. I just haven't heard "go" or "stay" from God. 

Because we are preaching through the Bible - and we're at the beginning, so W and I have been reading Genesis 11-50 over and over. It's the story of Abraham and his descendants and relatives.

Though Abraham was a man of faith, he and his wife took matter into their own hands, pre-empting the promise of God to bless all nations. Abraham loved and prayed over both sons. That resulted in blessings on both sons Ishmael and Isaac, but there has been conflict between two boys ever since. They began competing as children so many thousands of years ago. Their quarrels continue through their progeny even today.

Warned by that, I'm not willing to go without God's leading. So we pull the plug. We will come back in person in God's time.

But here's the challenge we're sending to everyone in our circles: during Passion Week (this year from March 28-April 3), call 2-3 people. Tell them you love them and miss them. Remind them that Jesus died and rose to bring them close to God - and that will always be Good News, whatever the pandemic restrictions may be. 

This black flower blooms on a shrub beside our teras. It reminds me that even darkness can be precious to God and beautiful to others.

Monday

I sit on the office porch, enjoying the breezes as I work and make Monday calls. The "zoom quilt" is coming along nicely, call by call. The needle goes in and out, pulling thread through the layers.

We get a rapid test - we and Melvina, all negative. By now, the virus should have shown up if we were getting it, so that's a relief.

We head out to lunch at Maxi's - it's completely empty on the porch. A tropical paradise nonetheless.

Tuesday

This is the day we record our Sunday talk (past ones here). We're "late." W planned for 6 but we start at 7am instead. "Late is as late does," as we say.

We're late because I start the washing machine for my semi-annual laundering of our bedspread. I look over, "What's that, crammed into the second washer?" (Thank God for 2 machines, this one a gift from an expat returning home - used for bedding and guest laundry.) Whew, there's SO much soap, plus 4 pillowcases, a couple of sheets, and who knows what else in there. I scoop out half the items and half the soap - and it's still foamy. Oh well, I guess the helper will get a refresher on laundry tomorrow.

Why on earth start laundry before 6am? It's because draining the water storage tanks later in the morning means no more water for the day. Limited city water comes in about 7-10am. There is a well further on the property, but people took the pump and other gear before we knew it was there.

We do as much with water early so that the storage tanks have time to refill and we have water for the evening. However, often city water is cut off before the tanks even fill. Yup, we live in nice old house with a terrible water supply and not-grounded electricity (wear your flip-flops or rubber soles, otherwise you get a shock when you touch a live electric cord.)

Anyway, W starts the next round of filtered water in the back kitchen, too. That's used for aquariums as well as drinking. We're low on water because I just cleaned the fishbowl. When he's done, we hop in the car with a few bottles of filtered drinking water and the gear for recording at the office. Feels utterly decadent to drive 1/2 mile! since we don't do that very often.

The driveway needs sweeping each morning: it is full of leaves again - and there's a bag of clippings propped up on the post. Will have to take care of that today.

Breakfast is from the bag of seeds and nuts I keep refilled in the office. Oh wait - there's also old banana bread in the fridge. I'll have a little slice of that, too. Perfect for such a morning. 

It's wonderful to meet with 2 reciprocal mentors. Then it's back to work on FocusMate, with partners from New Jersey and Oregon.

Read more:

*This poor soul cried, and was heard by the Lord, and was saved from every trouble. Psalm 34:6

For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Luke 11:10

*For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21 NIV

Moravian Prayer; Compassionate Lord, every time we cry out to you, you are there to save us from trouble. Every time we knock, you open the door to us. Thank you for always being there for us. Amen.