Monday, February 24, 2025
Lunch with Alan and Jani is always a pleasure. We meet at #Homeground to enjoy some Chinese-ish foods. OOOOH - it's very spicy today ... and I usually like spicy. We eat it anyway, our mouths on fire.
On the street, this black velvet butterfly has seen better days. It's too exquisite to pass without noticing though.
Bamboo loves the rain. Look at the frilly canopy overhead.
We chat with SamP about his role as liaison in new ventures. He's in Indonesia for a few weeks to connect local creators who have customizable products with American vendors. Look at this jacket!
He has other great ideas. W is his taster for individual filters with customized coffee.
I share our contacts, sending a note to them that he may be in touch. (Most people don't like to be solicited out of the blue.)
The garden is in pinks again. Sometimes the flowers rest; sometimes everything blooms at once.
I download a dozen books to review. Last week I listened to this one: a controversial but honest look at how American values mix with Christ's call to his followers. I'm convicted and reread it to see what challenge belongs to me.
I've recommended the FutureMe app to friends and counselors for years = you write a letter to your future self and schedule it to arrive on a specific date. It's been working great to spotlight progress or regression in various areas of life.
I'm irritated when FutureMe informs me that my free account expired last May. What? Sudden warning? Um not true anyway. I wrote something in January. Now there's suddenly no access to past letters unless I buy a plan? (The letters already waiting for delivery from last year are gone. Unless I pay to get them.) Ugh.
Tuesday
W's churning through the final chapters in his book. I haven't had time or capacity to read or edit its thick theology but today's the day. First, I attend a few online meetings, pray for others, and explain the day's chores to the helpers. Today they're redoing the bedding, serving tea, and cooking lunch, in addition to general cleaning.
Someone asks if we have decorative items to sell as she opens a second office. Blankets or a cloth slung over a sofa?
A grouping of items?
Maybe some paintings? Or? (So many options! Tell me more.)
Our landlord's mom and sisters have come from Jakarta. Our neighbor and his friend introduce us to the family and they join us for tea. They thanks us for maintaining their house in good order. They are relieved when we give them copies of the rental contract and other paperwork they're compiling since the death of PakH a few months ago.
It's a delight to meet Ibu Wigar's lovely 87-yr-old sister, who looks just like she did. (Our neighbor Ibu Wigar asked us to live here when she moved into another family home. She has since passed away.) They are descendants in the royal line of a Sundanese king.
W joins the girls-only photo. Like IbuW, her sister is a wonderful gardener. We gather seeds from the garden for her to take along. The family offers us a complimentary stay in their Bogor rental villa either with a group or alone. What a gorgeous property! (Let's see who wants to join us.)
IbuS has made a second attempt at 3-ingredient biscuits, which we enjoy at tea with other baking. The original recipe didn't specify self-rising flour so we baked little rocks yesterday. (The dogs liked them.) As easy as it gets?
1, 2, 4 Biscuits
- Preheat oven to 350 F (175C) and grease 12 muffin cups.
- Stir together and add to muffin pan:
1 cup milk
2 cup self-rising flour (or 2 c. flour plus 4 teaspoons baking soda)
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
3. Bake 15 minutes or until golden.
Yum. They're tasty with honey.
After the guests leave, we have lunch and I finally get to editing W's book. The afternoon and the crashes of the thunderstorm overhead have passed before I'm done. I learn a new Indonesian word for "cheer": bersorak.
I've promised the family the photo of PakH dressed in traditional robes at our house. It's a sweet memory of a nice man and was our last snapshot together. I'm glad he asked for the picture to confirm the contract for our ongoing lease in 2019.
I hunt through my photos for an hour without luck. Then I open my blog and search for "prince." He was a princely descendent of the old Sunda kingdom. There he is. With the date established, I find the picture in my file.
Wednesday
Cooking starts at 4:15 AM. Yay for jet lag. I drink tea and tidy as I go. There are always splatters to wipe up = so much easier to remove when they're fresh. The spaghetti sauce had a moment when the heat was high ... the stove, floor, and pot are suddenly dotted with orange. Oops.
I finish all but one sauce by 7:30 so we go for a walk with the dogs. We decide not to eat at this nearby restaurant. They must have lax management: they're the only eatery whose security guys leave garbage and scraps along the street. Old rags and other debris stay on the ground for days.
The satpams sit and chat or smoke without sweeping the back parking lot or moving broken refuse. Today there's an a discarded tire as well. If the kitchen employees are as inattentive, the food won't be safe.
We meet our supervisors to account for what we've accomplished and what we plan in 2025. Another meeting lasts until mid-morning. I'm feeling peckish so W and I split leftovers from Sunday's lunch: good noodles in sweet broth.
It's time for a break; the helpers come at 3:00 PM and my cooking resumes at 4:30 PM. We can hardly wait to see our global mix of "kids" - the young adults who will show up tonight for dinner and a movie.
Read more:
*The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23
*The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For through wisdom your days will be many, and years will be added to your life. If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer. Proverbs 9:10-12
*God, the Lord, is my strength. Habakkuk 3:19*So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16
Moravian Prayer: Our Strength and Motivation, sometimes we lose heart. We lose the fire that you set in us to blaze for you. Help us to search inside ourselves for the light that will never be dimmed. Strengthen us to be your hands and feet in the world. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment