Easter weekend is here!

Thursday, April 17, 2025

After cleaning mud from the hike off our bodies and clothes, we feel almost human again. Shibli and Tanikota intern SanSan drop by for over an hour. She has done a wonderful job teaching children during this university semester. Now she's moving elsewhere for work. We send a small gift and thank you card with her.

GOOD FRIDAY 2025

It pours down rain. Oh what lousy sleep. I manage 6 hours with a long break in the middle. I start the breadmaker at 2:30 AM so a loaf will be ready when I wake. We bake a second bread in prep for lunch guests.

It's a meditative morning, with reflections and a blog post on the great gift of Jesus. It's unfathomable how much we are loved and what He has accomplished for us.

As I cook and clean, I note the silicone pan liners are in terrible shape.

It takes a half hour of scrubbing to remove the baked-on gunk. Every once in a while my inner "German-Hausfrau" goes on a rampage to give something a deep clean. Today's the day for the liners.

I make gnocchi, egg sandwiches (on fresh bread), salad, and sausages for lunch. Dessert is cookies, of course! Having friends over is a pleasure around the big round table. Everyone spins the central lazy-Susan until the food they want reaches them.

J and N bring gifts of homemade jam and some tea. Perfect! We talk about the spiritual treasure we share in the death and resurrection of Jesus. The conversation nourishes our souls as we feed our bodies.

Great flashes of lightning strike in the early evening. Thunder rolls across the sky. The power of God is on display tonight.

Saturday

Lots of people are walking the Loop before 7 AM. Indonesia officially celebrates Good Friday but not Easter. Families get together on days off and extend days on either side if they can. This is a long weekend for many.

Alice orders lily stems at the last minute; I didn't mention it earlier in the week because she was ill. She's amazing at finding what we need! Ding-dong, the gate bell rings and there they are. Thanks (x100 for all you do), Alice.

A trip to the yard yields bromeliads and maidenhead ferns. Most of the lilies are closed. Hopefully they open by tomorrow. I add pretty white-flowered weeds from the morning walk to make a 4' X 2.5' (130 X 80cm) arrangement. That's big enough. We drop it off at the hall.

W's in the mood to go to the mall. The last time I went to PVJ, I was wearing a mask. That means it's been years. The empty storefronts are full again, the mall has been upgraded, and the aisles swarm with shoppers. However, the fashions? Look at these polyester knit patterns, straight from the 1970s. Retro is in, I guess.

Lunch is spicy noodles, which live up to their name. The taste is worth the heat. I pick out as many hot red peppers as I can find, but my lips tingle for hours afterward. Thank God for a healthy stomach. 

W enjoys his wagyu croquette, a mass of egg, meat, and cheese, on croissant-like bun. He finds a new batik shirt and I buy small gifts for next year's Christmas White-Elephant gift exchange. (Yes, I dislike pressure-shopping enough to gather barang barang or hal hal = stuff = far in advance. Best case scenario: I never have to shop for a "need.")

Inside the mall, a play area is full of kids and bunnies. I don't see if they're selling the bunnies but 2 banks of cages have dozens of rabbits in them. Whether they end up as saté or pets is up in the air.

We drop by Veronica's to check on Kiki and hand over her humorous book about growing up in 1950s-'60s Australia. So much is relatable to Canadians of that era. Remember Massey Ferguson tractors (no John Deere in Canada)? Remember when school discipline was a smack on the palm with a chalkboard pointer, and every classroom had a British flag and a picture of the Queen?

How about family chores? Back in the day, no kid expected payment for doing chores; it was every family member's duty to contribute. I laugh while reading parts aloud to W on the drive to the mall.

W helps me figure out what's missing for the survey I need to write my next book. Apparently I've been stalled for a month by a simple instruction to "make and send the shortened link" for returns. Sigh. Should have asked him sooner!

What a spiritual journey this Lenton season has been for me, reading through the book of John. John was the beloved friend of Jesus and an eyewitness to what Jesus said and did. I finish the final (Lent Day 40) blog post in late afternoon. Read it (and catch up on the others) here.

Read more:

*For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. John 3:16

*He is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

*In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 2 Corinthians 5:19

Moravian Prayer: Prince of peace, we confess our faith this day as we remember your last breaths, your cries of anguish, and the blood spilling from your side. Bless and comfort us, gracious God. Remember us as you go into your kingdom. Amen.