The sun comes up on a new week. Every day, God turns the world and lights us up, longitude by longitude. How kind. How creative. Who else could have dreamed up a spinning ball populated by creatures and forests and worshippers?
Meetings. Walk. Meetings. I review a few books on leadership and coaching. (Check them out here.) This little guy is sitting on the road. I'm not sure if he's dead and not-yet-run-over ... or just cold. It is 19oC (66F) after all. Brrr.
It's a typical Monday except that the possibility of a new venture has knocked me from maintenance mode to wild creativity. It's all in my head? Ideas are turning and flipping and popping around.
"Potential" is my happy place. I take care of post-weekend business before walking around the house to release some energy. An easy shift is removing the broken mirror pieces from the nook shelves. They get rehoused upstairs, in a cabinet of possibilities.
Without mirrors, it's flatter. Should I paint down the wall to the floor? Not today.
On the entry table, I spot a "scent-melter" (whatever it's called). 30 years ago, Mom bought this at a home sales party and never used it. I brought it here last year and haven't used it either. Let's see if the berry fragrance can inspire me to write 2 newsletters, due tomorrow. I light it and hope for the best.
I get one newsletter and a few more meetings out of the way. One meeting gets postponed and that creates some space in my head. The day flies by but my hands are cramping from writing by late afternoon. Time to put the keyboard away.
Tuesday
The day starts after a walk. All but three meetings are postponed or cancelled. Suddenly there's unexpected time to write and edit. I'm working on someone's article for publication as well as my book, "Letters from Cambridge." I finish one last monthly newsletter to supporters and partners. W and I swing by the grocer for supplies which eats up the morning hours.
Our wonderful IES team meets after lunch. I admire their obedience to God, their willingness to try new things, and their mutual encouragement and prayers.
I'm reading
Art of Work by Jeff Goins. It reminds me of the wild energy I had and how bravely I used to welcome new experiences. Time to do that again, but perhaps with more wisdom. Certainly with more restraint.
There's fresh bread baking, a delicious lunch of nasa goreng (fried rice with chicken), and the house is clean. Oh what a blessing are IbuA and IbuS! It starts to rain after 2:00, putting an end to the yardman's efforts outdoors. W heads to town for vermiculite and other hydroponic supplies. Slowly that project is taking shape.
Wednesday - May 1, Indonesian Labour Day
W and I have breakfast down the street after our walk. We expected a tropical country to be overflowing with fresh fruits and vegetables. Nope. Most fresh produce is exported. This is typical: noodles plus fried and more fried foods.
The newsletters are out, the addresses updated, and calls made. Labour Day is traditionally a day of student protests for fair wages and better working conditions. Since it's (another!) red-letter day, the driver takes the day off. The rest of the workers come since they get paid by the day.
Martha and I chat online between Washington State and Indonesia. She's a praying friend; it's a special gift to share our children, who married almost 15 years ago.
I have kept a bullet journal since January and it's a lot of reviewing each day. Something easier I've done before?
Minimalist journaling, which is life recorded in a little square. For May, I'm going back to MinJo to see which I like better. Both are excellent ways to track habits, connections, and accomplishments.
W doesn't want to paint the hydroponic system the bright green I have; I offer to spray it with black and green but he says no. He's supposed to choose a shade from this plant - a natural shade.
Instead Pak AD paints it (nicely, I admit) with leftover paint from the gate. "Don't spend money on spray paint," he advises. He uses up the can; now we have to match the gate color the next time it needs painting.
Supper is leftover meat, fresh bread, and melted cheese. Sometimes a sandwich is all you need.
I think my hesitation about teaching an upcoming class is solved in an online meeting. That falls through but I get a go-ahead to team-teach with an accomplished friend. What she knows will be of great benefit to our students. Back to the hard slog of scoping out the class out. The syllabus is due next week.
Thursday - happy birthday, Melissa!
It's a daughter-in-love's birthday today so we call. She's out so we leave a message. I remind my mom to call her as well. One more call to a brother who has good news we've been waiting and praying for.
We leave the house at 8:00 to hike in the tea fields and mountain forests. It's quite cool until we leave the forest. We pause for the same photo we take every time we get to this tree.
In the tea, the unshaded air is warmer.
Lightning strikes mark the few trees left to shade the tea.
The dogs love these walks and are full of grass seeds. They run back and forth = 3X our distance or more. Today's hike is not far (+3.5 miles/+5 km) but the weather is perfect. It's 32oC (90F) when we get to the car.
During rainy season, the rocky roads through the plantations become overgrown with grass, which is beaten down by the little trucks that pick up tea trimmings. That slight cover over stony ground eases the dips for our ankles and hips.
We decide on
Sidang Reret for lunch. On the weekends, they're booked with tourists but they're empty when we arrive. (Check the gorgeous
promo photos here.) After the tippy walk, we choose a table poolside rather than sitting on the floor cushions of the "boat" tables.
Thinking ahead, I order a platter for 3; chicken, tofu, rice, fried beans, crackers, and salad. I make lettuce wraps and enjoy a side order of beef satay. We wrap up the leftovers for tomorrow's lunch.
Thursdays outdoors unclench any expectations of what we hope to accomplish or what we still need to do. They are refreshing breaks and time with friends. I come home to finish my book group presentation, shower, and update conversations toward an upcoming class. Pretty restful, I'd say.
Read more:
*Give me an undivided heart to revere your name. Psalm 86:11
*Jesus said, “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.” John 15:4
*God exalted Jesus Christ even more highly and gave him the name that is above every other name, so that at the name given to Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11
Moravian Prayer; Loving God, we pray for your guidance in aligning our hearts to love you and to love others as ourselves. We pray for the strength to love you with every fiber of our heart and soul. Help us to understand that our love for our neighbors is our truest expression of the love we have for you. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
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