Slow down to leap ahead

Wednesday, November 11, 2021

Early on, I have a refreshing meeting with K, my friend who is halfway across the world at her computer. At 9:00, the IES/BIC team meets in person for the first time in months. Or has it been over a year? Some of us have returned to Bandung from travels around the globe. It's good to see dear faces again.

While we're in the office, several neighbors drop by our house for a bag of coconut curry nangka (jackfruit) that IbuA made yesterday. Two enormous fruits were on the tree, but both were half-spoiled by insects. It's a constant guessing game of "pick now" or "wait a week" to beat the little larvae that love jackfruit as much as we do. Yesterday, the helpers took some home and we ate some. It's a pleasure to share.

At the convention hall, JP walks us through meeting at Christmas. I measure for decor. We'll be returning the furniture that was removed when the ceiling fell down. (Termites damaged the rafters. Typical for here.) I take pictures of the 1' grid on the floor, the easiest way to measure without having to write down numbers.

JP and I lay out the BIC logo on the tiles. It takes a surprisingly long time to align the three pieces back to its original shape. His crew will put the logo on the wall before we use the hall again. Good luck!

This is a week of details. Alice, W, and I work through lists: volunteers, tasks, and spaces. Next week, we'll send things off for printing and order hygiene supplies. It feels like standing beside the train tracks, waiting to jump aboard a fast-moving freight. We know it's coming. We're prepping. But there's so much we can't afford to miss. Prayers appreciated.

Thursday

Our driver is ill in hospital. So we can't get up to the hills for a walk. Melvi hitches a ride with someone else and takes our small dog Bailey. B's a gentleman and doesn't run off like Gypsy does (taking Coco with him). Tho 2 big dogs walk the neighborhood with W and me instead.

We join the group for lunch nearby at #NaraBandung. There's a new pizza restaurant #Pinetta with a menu that everyone wants to try. Paulina (one of the owners and a walking buddy) treats us to a feast.

The favorite pizzas are spinach-corn and truffle fungii (3 kinds of mushrooms plus truffle oil). 

The chef comes by and stops long enough to discuss his menu choices. The owners did a taste test to narrow down the possibilities. It definitely caters to Indonesian tastes, with combinations like pepperoni and white sauce. There's even a blackberry-cheese dessert one. Yum. (Who knew?)

His wood-fired crust is good enough that he's not going to be mistaken for any of the pizza chains, no matter what the toppings. We're longing for pepperoni and mushroom on that crust. Maybe we'll special-order it next time. At $6-7 for a pizza for 2 people, we can experiment.

Just when we think we're stuffed, Paulina sends for 2 kinds of gourami fish from #Paman, the Indonesian restaurant at #NaraPark. I can't eat another bite.

We are certainly not hungry at supper, though IbuA has made curried chicken and rice.

Friday

We missed date day so we have lunch today at Maxis Resto. The food is good, savory and flavorful. Once again, we have no appetite for supper!

The tree on the other side of the venue was cut back to 25' (8 m) of bare trunks a few months ago. It has filled out again and is lush and green. It's astonishing to see what grows here ... and how fast it does.

Saturday

After a walk, W attends a study with a few profs during my online meeting. It makes me smile to see the women who live across SE Asia. We're reading a Jenni Allen book together, Get out of your Head. It's about right thinking; she challenges us to pay attention to our inner life and thoughts. Some writing, finishing some agendas, some prep for the weekend ... and lunch sneaks up on us.

The neighbor's red-stemmed palm is glorious. t's one of my favorite trees in the whole neighborhood.

Anyone want a Dutch pancake? We walk out of the neighborhood to #BabyDutch. It's almost cheaper to eat out and to cook.

When we get back, it's started to rain. The guava branches that hold the orchid cuttings are wet. This is a beautiful place.

Read more:

*Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. 

You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! Psalm 8

*Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior. Isaiah 45:15

*Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations. Ephesians 3:20-21

Moravian Prayer: Almighty God, we not only acknowledge you as leader of our lives, but willingly submit our hearts to the just work of your kingdom. In reverence and adoration, we pray. Amen.