Thankful and a bit overwhelmed

Sunday, November 30, 2025: THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT = HOPE

The story of Jesus is a hopeful one. God who loves the world sends his Son to carry the sins and failures of humanity. Jesus grows up in an average family though his purpose is extraordinary. At the cross, our debts are paid and his mission is completed. How we love celebrating God's goodness during the Advent season of waiting and anticipation.

It's Round Table Sunday, which means discussions around (what else?) round tables. The hall is decked for Advent, thanks to Daniel and his hardworking volunteers.

Titik has created stunning bouquets for each table and the front. I'm tied up in conversation after the Gathering and don't get table photos but these were on their way to their next event near the exit when we left Green Gate.

Our volunteers work hard and are a blessing.

Dina comes along to sort children's books, skirting the guys who are installing the CCTVs. Shibli and Milli drop by to see what's useful to them, too. Then MrD arrives to see what we're up to and share plans for the future. It's exciting to see who is called to do what as we're serving the communities around us.

While we're having lunch at Ethnic, the rain pours down in buckets. I enjoy the nasa oncom gepuk (beef with basil and rice). Luckily by the time we finish the downpour has abated.

We say hi to Thomas as we enter our driveway in late afternoon. He's just leaving after a visit with Melvi, his fellow German teacher. They're in an intensive German course designed to help them tutor Indonesians for work in Germany. And they have a presentation due Tuesday.

Monday

I have some early meetings and do some packing. At 10AM, we're scheduled to meet the contractor at the Project. He's still not there by 11 but we have a lot to do. So we walk home. He doesn't come until 11:30. I tell him next time we're not showing up until he arrives. We're only a few minutes away. Usually we've waited a half hour to an hour for him.

Gradually I sort through books that have come in over the past 2 years.

I sell a batch of doubles online while I wait. 

PakG brings the items I packed in the morning and takes the empty boxes home. Two guys show up to chop the weeds out of the yard. They're planting grass-like spreading plants this week.

Overnight, the rain overflowed the swale at the street again. The water came down the driveway and went clear through the back of the Project. The workers squeegee it back outside. We're 2/3 of the way up a mountain. What happens in the valley below us? Hard to imagine the flooding. We pray for those affected.

In some areas, there's a water line.

Some rooms have gotten a deluge of mud as well.

The project managers and W talk over drainage solutions for an hour. Then we break for lunch. Miss Bee Providore has a "winter wonderland" theme in a room, ready for selfies.

The contractors do a walk-through from stem to stern with us, checking what's left to do. The Project has come a long way but we need hot water/ They'll plug water leaking through the walls, reroute gutters, and patch holes in the old bathroom tiles.

"No problem, they tell us. "One to two weeks, probably" before we can move in. We finish the inspection about 4PM. A whole day of ... We're tired.

Tuesday

I get blocked both by FB and WA for sending a link for Giving Tuesday. For one day only, a partner has offered $50 toward the Project for every $5 donation. What generosity! and yes, I'm sending the opportunity to as many friends as I can!

I talk to Mom, work for a few hours online, and then head for a women's gathering at IbuTetty's house.

They're trying to improve the drainage (again) in front of the Project and it's raining. So there will be quick proof if it's working or not. The helpers are baking up another Christmas cookie storm! so the house smells amazing. The timers beep constantly before the next pan comes out of the oven. Yummy. I sneak a ginger cookie (or two).

In the afternoon we get to work, fixing a shade cover. W assembles closet shelves. I have to laugh: the normally egalitarian instructions in the IKEA manual show two men lifting up the shelf - no woman in sight. No wonder, it's heavy.

This appears in the sink, a 1 1/2"/3 cm scorpion, which W scoops into a dustpan and tips into the toile.

The edges have been transplanted from our yard over the past month, but the center went from this on Saturday,

to this yesterday, including flooding ... 

to this today. "Give it a month to grow in," says the yardman. We're leaving half the property wild where it sleeps under tall Norfolk Island pines.. That shade is where the scorpions and fire ants live.

I know about the fire ants because while the guys are fixing the shade cloth, I'm untangling 20+ meters of rope. The ants bite me here and there but I swat them off and carry on. Finally I'm annoyed enough to get some Hogasan, the magic ant killer. A few sprays and they fall dead off the wood pillar they are eating.

We warm up a pizza for supper, dive into the shower, listen to the wonderful Advent devotional from Biola, and call it a good day.

We go to bed so early that my body wakes rested at 10:30. Ugh - I write and read and go back to sleep within a few hours.

Wednesday

We're handing off IES Bandung to new leadership in the coming year. So we call about getting a replacement. I'm working on an online fundraising campaign most of the day, and people are responsive and excited to give.

"THANK YOU, everyone who contributed." We are in awe of people's generous participation.

Between, we hang shower curtains. W fixes shelves to the closet wall and gets help to move a monster of a restaurant shelf into place under the stairs. (At $5 or $10? a few years ago, it was irresistible. It has been useful storage.)

Outside, they are building the entrance at the street even higher to ward off flooding. They take off the custom grate they installed 2 weeks ago and expand the gutter. The driveway is raised 8" / 20cm with new concrete poured over custom-cut rebar.

I watch the sparks fly as the workman wields his metal saw. He wears shop glasses to cover his eyes but has no ear protection. Buzzzzzz.

I don't think I've seen a fern fruiting before. This kind, which is often used in rose bouquets, apparently has black berries. Hmmm.

Some inedible fruit has fallen from trees lining the street. On the outside, it looks like a round avocado. Inside is a fibrous husk. The world is endlessly interesting, don't you think? I hear thunder rumbling as evening comes.

Read more:

* For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your descendants and your name remain. Isaiah 66:22

* God said, “In distress you called, and I rescued you.” Psalm 81:7

* When Peter noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him. Matthew 14:30-31

* Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” John 1:49

Moravian Prayer: Omnipotent God, you desire a humble and contrite heart. We confess that we have been weighed down by earthly distractions. Help us know what it is that holds us back and keeps us from following you without any reservation. We pray for your guidance.

Eternal Father, we thank you for being there when we cry out, “Lord, save me!” When we call out in times of distress, fear, and anxiety, open our eyes to your compassionate presence and the blessings around us that you provide. Amen.