Back to life with a party that starts the week

Sunday, May 1, 2022

Kristi gathers the kids around to talk about prayer.

We dedicate Yara to God - she was born during the pandemic so we're just getting to know her.

It's a busy morning at BIC. We pray over 3 kids who have birthdays.

And we pray for God's blessings on Vincent as he moves out of town for a new job.

As soon as we get home, we turn on the ovens. Our fantastic little ovens (sponsored by women in the Pacific NW) no longer get above 350o. They've been to the maintenance place twice. We may have to splurge for a commercial oven. 

When the heat reaches the max, we start baking French fries. The potatoes cook with reluctance - in low heat, they get hot enough to bake through but they are still soft after 3/4 hr. Oh well, the noon Hangout on the porch happily consumes them along with sate (bbq chicken skewers) and peanut sauce from a vendor down the hill. Someone brings martabak (pancakes with sweet fillings) for dessert.

In late afternoon, some of the group head to Andy's house for supper. Gotta love the social and spiritual connections.

Monday

A kitchen counter tile breaks, so we repurpose the pieces to the nook. One piece is just a few cm too tall for the shelf so it goes on the table instead.

I grumble when we have to buy a package of four 2-foot-square tiles. (They're usually on sale for under $20 for 4, but still.) Yet when something breaks, the extras are handy. So it is this morning. Do we have a similar one somewhere in the house?

W finds one on an IKEA table on the balcony. Everyone prefers the tile's flat surface to the wood-slatted tabletop for studies and devotions. We swap out the tile we need with another found in storage.

I scour the "outdoor" tile with a melamine sponge before dropping it on the counter beside the not-hot-enough-anymore ovens and the still-not-fixed-after-3-weeks fridge. Actually, I am very grateful for good working surfaces and the ability to cook.

The help has taken the week off. "What! They're gone a week?! You are much too kind. Our help has a day off and is back tomorrow," says a neighbor lady.

Noted - though it is nice to have the place to ourselves for a week. We don't pay them when they're not working, of course. Everyone got an extra month's salary already (government mandated) - even though energy is lowest while people are fasting and hardly sleeping. During Ramadan, the women clean up the evening meal before getting to sleep at night - and then are woken by loudspeakers around 3:00 a.m., announcing it's time to get up to prepare breakfast before sunup.

Last night was the loudest of the year, as firecrackers explode and chants last from dark to dawn. It's actually quieter this year - people don't have as much disposable money since the pandemic started. It's the first communal celebration permitted in 3 years. Idul Fitri ends the Ramadan fasting month.

We toss and turn and finally W gets up in the middle of the night to read scripture; he falls asleep in a quieter room. I turn up the volume on the scripture reader and doze off and on until 5:00.

After daybreak, the Muslim neighbors meet at the community center for a lecture and formal prayers to end the month. A return to eating and drinking during the day is a relief, especially for the elderly.

We are invited to the neighborhood breakfast after - beef broth, fish dumplings, fried appetizers with peanut sauce, and pastries. I especially enjoy the broth and dumplings. W most likes the cheese croissants. These beautiful ladies serve the neighbors. We love our neighborhood and feel privileged to live among these neighbors.

Della comes by mid-morning with traditional Lebaran food. All our cookie boxes are in the BIC fridge so we send a pumpkin pie along instead. Most people are gathering with their families and take a treat along. We 4 in the house have lunch together, too.

The rice is wrapped in leaf strips, along with hard-boiled eggs, broth, rendang (spicy beef), and more. Sturdy all-natural containers makes for a pretty presentation.

Read more:

*The Lord shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks. Isaiah 2:4

*Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:28-31

*You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. Acts 10:38

*The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

Moravian Prayer: O God, in what ways can we do more of what you want than what we want? Lord Christ, in the intimacy of this prayer, show us the prejudice we harbor in our hearts. Lord, what are you asking us to do in response to this revelation? Rather than doing what is right in our own eyes, lead us to be an answer to this prayer, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.