Spun sugar and balloons

Thursday, April 11, 2024

Brunch with Laurel includes toasted egg sandwiches, fruit, cherry yogurt, and tomato salad. I'm brushing ants off the dishes even before they have food on them: it's definitely bug season in the kitchen and outside. I cook so rarely that it's a treat to pull together a meal after a morning walk.

I tour the yard, spot the turtles, feed the fish and birds, and am exhausted. Cmon! What's going on? I lay down and crash into a 2-hour-nap. Meanwhile W and Herbert work together on the Porch.

For lunch, Korean ramen hits the spot, even though it's from a package. There's work to do and it's nice to finish before nightfall.

Friday

The trees are showing off in the increasing sunshine, between night showers. Over our heads, an 8-meter (25') palm is dripping with red berries as we walk.

We read the talk for Sunday with this view from the Porch.

I package cookies for Dyna's baby shower. Wina picks up a few guests and me around 10:00. With drivers on vacation, owners are driving themselves or catching a ride with friends like I do.

It's wonderful to celebrate new life coming into the world. We bring our baby pictures and do a guessing game of "who's who?" The furthest back I can find is a picture of my Uncle Albert's and Aunt Edith's wedding. I was a flower girl with my cousin Elaine. My cousin, much more of a lady even at age 8, was pristine at the end of the wedding. In contrast, my socks were wrinkled, my white shoes scuffed, and my bouquet wilted. I remember it being a fun time with people trying to restrain me all day - oh well. The hand on my shoulder is probably so I'll stand still at the photographer's.

Each person brings snacks to share at the baby shower.

We confirm that another guest is also expecting a baby in the next months. Woohoo! The two little boys enjoy their time together, checking out the presents.

Dyna and Daniel are expecting another son within a few weeks. What joy!

Every child is wanted by God and sent into the world to be a blessing - in his or her unique way. (Imagine if God had made us all alike! What a boring planet we'd live on.)

Saturday

My goal is to thin the garden into submission before the yardman returns on Tuesday. We need a fresh start on the flowerbeds. They're an unruly jungle where roses and other plants are shaded by more vigorous growers. One of those "can't-stop-growing" plants is coleus. It's found a perfect spot and takes over. I snap off stems until the pond, lavender blooms, and a rose bush emerge.

Half of it gets chucked; the rest soaks in the kitchen sink while I'm watering plants outside.

There are enough stems for 2 bouquets: one in a heritage vase for the living room, and another for the Porch table. Mom bought the colored vase in Italy decades ago. The thought crosses my mind: "What will archaeologists learn about our global culture when they find Italian vases in Indonesia; Indian fabrics in Europe, Brazilian carvings in China, and Navajo pottery in Alaska?"

W and I stroll to #NaraParkBandung for brunch. Several restaurants are open around the courtyard. I order pesto linguini, which comes with sausages cut into florets. W eats the meat because I'm not a big sausage fan. The pasta is perfectly flavored.

Beside our table, this young princess spins cotton candy. At 65c, the childhood memory of days at the fair is irresistible. W and I share one on our walk home.

I can't get over how beautiful the world is, working on the Porch with the cicadas chirping in the tall trees at the back of the yard.

Last year we bought a clutch of bird toys at the bird market. Today a new one goes in each birdcage. The birds stay on the other side of the cage most of the day until they figure out a beaded swing and the dangling wood blocks are safe. They will eventually chew them to bits as they've done with the old ones.

I download another dozen books for review. I'm hunting for classroom texts and recommendations for our university students and my husband, who's a professor of IT and theology. The business and art titles are passed along to faculty colleagues and artsy friends.

So many good books are close to being published, alongside the self-published volumes that spring up like weeds. (Good weeds, many of them.) If you're a self-published author, give me access for a review.

Read more:

*Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that they should turn from their ways and live? Ezekiel 18:23

*Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. Luke 9:34-35

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

*Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1-4

Moravian Prayer: O God of reconciliation and peace, please help us to learn to love and forgive our enemies, just as you continue to love us when we fail to follow you. Help us to understand that we are all sinners who have been set free by your gift of grace. We should delight with all who turn to you. 

Lord, you are our true king and the son of God. We know we are to follow your words of love with actions of love. Please help us to listen to your words of wisdom so that we can fulfill the loving purpose you have for our lives on this earthly world. Amen.