The long obedience

Sunday, August 4, 2024

I call Mom just after 6:00 a.m. She shares the details of her wonderful 89th birthday party last Friday, thanks to Norm and planner extraordinaire Sandy. Mom enjoyed visiting with four generations of family, plus many friends.

I arrive at the hall without W who has a stomach bug. I've revised (cut) the talk he wrote for the Sunday Gathering since I'm speaking alone. Neither of us struggles with public speaking; it's just easier as a duet than solo.

As usual in the summer, IES Bandung hosts new guests while many of our own attendees are away. Ibu Titik has made a beautiful bouquet.

When I get home, I make toast for W and tortellini for myself. Both are good. We eat outside on the shaded Porch, planning the month ahead. W has 3 weeks of teaching coming up, which defines our August engagements.

Monday

Calls and more calls. Laurel and I enjoy a morning visit. She is reaching the end of her time with us so we evaluate what she enjoyed and what would have made her time easier or more effective.

W and I attend a meeting to discuss a community center before I head to town to collect a delivery. W is able to eat lunch. I scale down his flavors for now. But he's recovering. Yay.

I spend most of the afternoon on a proposal and questionnaire for my next book. Creating a survey is an art and a science. The initial questions must be combined and redefined until they are simple and clear. I'll depend on my academic colleagues for help along the way.

Tuesday

We start with a loop walk and an online call. At a morning meeting, we've asked God for a clear signal: do we kill the project or keep going? The sign to move ahead is in plain sight when we walk in the door. This project needs a series of miracles to come to life. And we're not yet attached to it - it's a mess with potential. It could go either way before we make much of an investment in the idea.

We have lunch with Ps Yoel and Ps Esther to find out how they and their organization handle leadership transitions.  They are wise friends and thoughtful leaders. The food at Waroeng Ethnic is good as always.

We walk home through the neighborhood lane - how creative. With Indonesian National Day coming up, someone has used the bases of 5 liter water jugs as bright flower pots.

They've made tassels from garden twine, attached them to the white-painted bottle tops, and strung them across the alley.

Even the entry is pretty, garnished with Indonesia's national colors: red and white. Indonesians are creative with basic materials.

A driver has swung wide - now the next car has to squeeze by in the narrow street. What you don't see is the motorcycle that zoomed by on the right as the drivers were negotiating their cars. There are 3 vehicles in this squeeze. W and I marvel that metal can pass metal with so little space ...

Here's the campaign poster for a mayoral candidate. We're not sure what he's promoting with the gas mask.

In the afternoon, we have a team meeting. IbuA brings out tea and cookies. By the time I get inside, the helpers have gone. They have packed a bag of cookies for each attendee. My rule is that nothing goes back into the fridge once it's been set out for a meeting. Since everyone has left, the bagged cookies can go home with our helpers tomorrow for their families to enjoy.

Wednesday

First we walk. W checks out a new "container" store that replaces the old van covered with faded tarps and surrounded by old chairs. The menu offers rice and a chicken head @$1.20; ramen noodles @50c, and more. Those are local basics - at a good price. (I'll skip the chicken head, thank you.)

My students have asked for resources. I take a series of pictures of my bookshelves and tell them to look for those in their library or online.

I call up and down the generations before getting to work. First, we find out how our daughter is recovering from surgery. After, I have a l o n g call with Mom - mostly about her birthday. She's reveling in the memories and praying with us for the family and work.

Then it's time for a monthly debrief with God's gift to me: Nancy, an online counselor living in another Asian country. "Live in radical obedience when God shows you the next step," she encourages. She reminds me of priorities and reasons to celebrate God's goodness and offers cautions.

W's stomach is healthy but his back has been seizing up for a few days. He has booked a massage for us in a beautiful setting, a renovated home. "No sexual massage," warns a sign at the entry. Good! (We are decidedly cautious because of the plethora of "other" kinds. A trusted masseuse sometimes comes to our house to knead out my fatigue after a long trip, especially with 8-15 hour plane rides.)

For a married couple, our benches are side by side. The massages deliver pure OUCH to our calves but are helpful to W's back. A diversion from pain? I need to get through some new textbooks. Unless I'm skimming, it's easiest to focus by listening. So I pop in EarBuds, swipe the Kindle reader onto high speed, and "read" until it's over.

After a quick stop at the grocer, we're home to a good lunch made by IbuS. I text a few "movie night" kids - we pray for them and are happy to get their updates. We hope to catch up with graduates who are leaving this month for their home city or country.

Read more:

*I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. Ezekiel 36:26-28

Prayer: God, give us a heart that cares about the things that you care about. Train us to love you and others with all our might, as you do. Thank you for your loving-kindness each day. Amen.