Flu avoidance and encouraging meetings

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Sunday, October 9, 2022

We join Freedom Church in Woodinville in the morning. The people are warm, welcoming, and friendly. By the time we find our seats, we've said hello to multiple regulars and I've found a heart-sister in the seat next to me (Deborah). Pastor Eric leads worship and encourages everyone to work out our calling.

The three older grandkids are ill and stay home and watch the service online with their mom. This was supposed to be their sleepover weekend, but they're too sick to do the things we've planned. So we postpone until the weekend before we head home to Indonesia. It's disappointing for them and for us.

Jonathan, our youngest at 33, comes for Little Caesar pizza at lunch. After we eat, the guys are on their devices and still talking. It's good to see each other. I can't hug Jono enough. How we miss our kids.

No wonder our NU Alumni shirt doesn't fit me: it fits slim and trim Jonathan just fine. All our children graduated from our alma mater.

Monday

After a few morning phone calls, Melissa and 3 of the 4 kids join me on a 3 miles (5 km) circuit of the neighborhood. They're growing so fast.

The kids take their bikes - even littlest Mak makes it all the way! We pluck some lavender blossoms from the boulevards and enjoy the fragrance together.

I'm downsizing dishes. An assorted amount of  ironstone dinnerware (England) gets put into boxes.

Some Kaiser Germany vases are set aside for nieces.

Our apartment has morphed with a mix of African and other global mementos. Some are from our parents' travels. Most are wedding gifts and hellos from various expat friends.

The elephant stand on the old dresser from my grandmother's bedroom.

I write across the room from a 1X2 meter (3X6'+) painting of the Northwest Passage (by Norman Yates). That art has cheered me for 19 years, gracing various rooms since we acquired it on our 25th anniversary.

It's one of those rare pieces where the closer you get, the more interesting it becomes.

Zoom in? I love primary colors and never tire of it: it makes my heart sing.

Tuesday

We're out the door about 9:00, headed into the mountains for a regional meeting. It's good to connect with prayer partners and friends who support us in other ways. We've spoken at many of their organizations, and W was prof for many of them at Northwest University before we moved to Indonesia. W's name tag says, "Sorry, I can't talk!" because his throat is sore after a cold.

For lunch, we eat the "best of 3 tries" of Pho (Vietnamese soup), before W drops me at home. He mets someone who buys our old iPhone - yay for FB Marketplace. (That site is a total scam in Indonesia, with no prices or fake ones, lots of "free" when they are sellers, etc. We've given up on it there.)

After we pack for Texas, we have one more engagement with a Round Table group. They're encouraged to ask questions about our work, theology, and whatever else interests them.

Read more:

*The Lord said to Moses, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet.” Deuteronomy 18:18

*Just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts. 1 Thessalonians 2:4

* If we have died with him, we will also live with him. 2 Timothy 2:1

Moravian Prayer: Dear Lord, we want to clearly identify your voice and hear you when you speak. Above all, give us the grace to understand your will, and the audacity to speak truth in your name. Amen.