Loving on our daughter and more

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Yummy leftover ramen = breakfast. I go for a walk around Kirsten's Texas neighborhood. The houses are spaced far apart with a big strip of paving between the sides of the street. It feels so empty. And quiet. No carts. No buses. No people streaming across from both curbs.

Some people have beautiful plantings to soften the edges of their homes. 

We take K's dog Mika for a walk after breakfast and then head to a few shops for milk and more picture frames. When we walk into the HEB in a migrant neighborhood, the first display is a stack of lard (animal fat) and hominy (beans). Their end-caps are filled with Hispanic food. I'd definitely shop here for spices, peppers, and other Mexican goodies if we lived here.

Most Mexicans and Central Americans are Catholic so there's a whole section of prayer/vigil candles.

Across the aisle is an endocarp of candies made in Mexico. They remind me of Mackintosh toffee - lots of condensed milk, caramel, and sugar. I google the recipe to make this when we return to Bandung.

K introduces me to D&D discount store, where everything is half-price of the Western-style discounters. These grasses are $3.50 and $3.99 each. Next door at Ross, they're $8 or more.

We get home, relax before lunch, and catch up with messages online. Kirsten makes supper and we sit at her glass table.

We lay at pictures for a gallery wall and choose where we'll place other photos. We'll have W hang them and other things when he returns from Springfield. (He's part of a theology commission meeting there.)

Meanwhile, he's given my books to commission participants for distribution to libraries around the USA.

I'm surprised each time I come by this picture, hanging in K's hallway. W and I took an evening painting class years ago and gave K our pictures. It feels like the start of something, not a finished piece of art.

In the evening, Mika positions his neck, ears, and shoulders against K's toes for a self-massage. It's so funny.

Thursday

W's back. He has to reroute though Atlanta due to thunderstorms in Dallas (flights cancelled). He sleeps in the Springfield airport and is happily back to Austin by noon.

We eat HEB barbecue, just as tasty as any other we've tried. After a nap, W changes air filters, hangs pictures, and does other maintenance chores for K. I write some reviews. I love this prayer poem from Barbara Peacock's book, Spiritual Disciplines for Soul Care.

Friday

We wrap up our time with Kirsten by mounting a photo gallery wall.  

We eat a delicious taco lunch at home before redoing the bedding. When we're done, we hug and start the goodbyes.

K takes us to the airport via a Walmart (W finds a sale on tech). Look at the fragrance aisle. In every Walmart around the world, we can predict the values and culture by the long aisles inside. (For example, in Germany, it was alcohol and baking supplies!)

We have a wonderful supper in the airport lounge (Farmer Fresh salad-in-a-jar) and are bumped to first class for the flight to Seattle.

It's a peaceful, sometimes bumpy ride and we arrive in Seattle early. Our luggage comes about the time we arrive at the baggage carousel. The shuttle to the car park is already on its way when W calls. We're the first passengers dropped off, right at our car. The highways are empty as we drive up to our suburb. We are home by 11:00.

And then the work starts. We unpack and get ready for bed. Except that I have to make edits in my author proof copy of Vol 2 of "What Made Them Think They Could?" W inserts the changes as I flip through my hard copy - and before we know it,

it's 3:45 a.m. on Saturday.

W has page justifications to finish before he hits the hay. It's a busy weekend ahead; there's no other time for this before we head home to Indonesia next week. I have to order corrected book copies to take along.

He's off to coffee with friends while I pack up before a walk in the neighborhood.

It's a long way back down the driveway.

Each year, we look forward to meeting our friends Don and Brenda at Brier Pizza. 

Don's a leader who generously promotes others' accomplishments.

From lunch, we drive south to Chehalis for tomorrow's gatherings. We watch the Gathering in Bandung, with PsAnthony's speaking on God's love for us and our love for others.

Read more:

*He awakens me morning by morning, he awakens my ear to listen as a disciple. Isaiah 50:4 NASB

*Surely it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but you have held back my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back. Isaiah 38:17

*Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. Acts 16:14

*By this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 1 John 3:19-20

Moravian Prayer: Omniscient God, who makes no mistakes, open our minds and hearts to your mercy. Teach us to accept your grace without questioning your reasoning. Open our eyes, so that we can see ourselves as you see us.

Thank you, Lord, for the opportunities awaiting us to praise your holy name and witness to your divine love. In our every interaction, may we exemplify our devotion to Jesus Christ by earnestly listening to others and responding with compassion. Amen.