Food is a common denominator for meeting people

Saturday, January 25, 2025

It's a quiet morning so after getting our work done, W and I walk out for lunch. It's often cheaper to eat out than to buy and prep things. #HomeGround features Chinese-Indonesian food. My beef scallion dish is tasty, with its small bowl of rice on the side. Note the water bottle for scale. Portions are reasonable = smaller! here.

The flowers are happily blooming around an old flower pot in the garden.

An overnight guest arrives late in the evening and will stay for a few days. JD is a former team member and beloved friend to many.

Sunday

We have to leave early. I leave JD some breakfast options. Overnight oats? Breakfast bars? Or?

As the community gathers, W and I relax. Martin is leading worship and speaking. It's a Round Table Sunday this last weekend of the month, when we discuss questions around the table. Today's questions are: "How do you grow up into God's DNA as his child?" And, "How can you serve others as a child of God?"

Several families take home the table arrangements. DrG and IbuT pose with flowers that match their outfits.

The team has a lunch meeting afterward. JD joins in and gets to know the current team.

I order #MaxiResto's Chinese New Year special @$5: duck. Very good.

Hanny comes over to grab study books for starting a women's group.

We set the beautiful arrangement from #titikbadudu on the coffee table. The afternoon is filled with writing and revisions. 

Monday

The world is full of surprises, isn't it? This cute "dog and kennel" art on the street catches my eye on the morning walk. Oops, W points out that it's actually garbage and a discarded latex glove.

PakG has painted bright sienna on the re-sealed flower pot. The color will fade to "clay" color in the sun. It's quickly filled with water, as well as plants and fish from other pots. The water must still be contaminated by the paint: all the fish jump into the garden. Sorry, fishies. We'll give it another day or two for the plants to detox the water before trying again.

The bougainvillea blooms from its stump. That thick bare stick was thrust into a pot a few months ago.

W admires the "blue hairdryer" he ordered. It's a cheap, for drying Bailey after he gets washed. (That usually happens after each hike). The delivery driver has thrown three packages over the top of the gate while we are away. The glass jar W ordered smashes into 100 pieces, despite good packaging.

Overhead, the bamboo hedge towers 25'/8m tall. The bright green is energizing.

We meet Shibli at #HomeGround for his birthday lunch. As part of our team, he faithfully leads the groups that teach English in village neighborhoods.

Tuesday

Between meetings, there are walks and conversations. Oh oh! What happened? There are many dead fish in one of the Porch fish tanks. They're tossed into the garden, while the remaining 3 fish are rehoused into other tanks. The fishes in the office vase are doing well.

 I love spending time with Judy over coffee. W joins lunch with JD. The world of expats is small - many of us know each other from other settings.

This morning, it's helpful to share ideas with Keelee. After that, Nancy gives me good counsel. I'm pretty sure she'd tell these kids to get in the car ... but their parents seem ok with them hanging out of the skylight.

The #MissBeeProvidore pasta is deliciously SPICY. I pick out some of the hot red peppers. W helps me finish it.

We're home by mid-afternoon and would be ready for a break - if W wasn't working on a book with a looming deadline.

Read more:

*Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14

*A bruised reed [the messiah] will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench. Isaiah 42:3

*Jesus said, “Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones.” Matthew 18:10

Moravian Prayer: Loving Spirit, as a mother cares for her young, so you care for us. You nurture us, especially when we feel down. A light, you will not dim; you only seek to help us shine brighter. Help us to encourage our youth, ourselves, and the world with your light. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

Lent Day 32-33: Life in the fish bowl

The diversity in our three aquariums fascinates me because it mirrors much of life. Two are saltwater, and one is fresh. The first (tucked in a guest room as a "spare" in case the main one "tanks," if you know what I mean) is no trouble at all. I top it off with salt or fresh water, change the bulbs and filter medium every half year or so... and that's it. The fish eat every two days and swim with vigor. Crabs, shrimp, and snails keep the algae at bay. Red coraline algae grows and keeps the water clean. Once in a while something dies and I fish it out. No problems.

The other salt aquarium requires constant maintanance. It has the best live rock, great lighting and filtration, good livestock, but only one fish - who has lived through algae blooms, hermit crabs gone mad and eating every snail within reach, and cyanobacteria spikes. I'm constantly fighting green fronds growing over the live rock, sheets of it sluicing down the walls, and clumps spreading on the sand.

And finally, a freshwater tank sits on my desk. I brought 10 tetras and a few free guppies home after I'd arranged rocks and live plants, filter and lights. Voila, "It was very good."

Except that two nights later, the glass cracked and leaked 5 gallons of water down an irreplaceable library card cabinet onto the rug. I scrambled to get a cheap tank to put in the fish. Overnight in the stocking pail, several fish up-ended. I was left with about a third of the original occupants.

It's not pretty. The light cords hang over the front of the glass and the filter hangs off the visible edge, the only places they're accessible for maintenance. My eyes have become accustomed to "not seeing" the ugliness, blocking out the systems to see the beauty behind them. Most of the time it is calming and soothing to see the plants waving in the current, fish darting or fluttering their fins between them.

A few weeks after our deluge, I found a replacement tank to fit the original lighting and filtration. But I have to wait for new flooring (bamboo to match the rest of the upstairs) before I unsettle the fish again.

Meanwhile, the fish are unaware. They flourish in the temporary set-up, eating every two days, snails multiplying and plants growing around them. I thin the plants, feed fairly regularly, and rinse the filter every month or so. Low maintenance, and so relaxing!

Like my fish tanks, life is contained in our surroundings. Whether or not the environment is hostile or friendly, some people seem to thrive while some languish or give up altogether.

During Lent, I remember Jesus, who had initial hurrahs and "You're the man!" until people got tired of him and his message. They turned away in hostility and dismay when he disrupted their lives. He broke the rules and showed God's expectation of obedience to his law. He pointed out the hypocrisy and self-aggrandizement of "important people." He sent a herd of pigs over a cliff after exorcising a person's demons (ooh, not politically correct today either). And he refused to be drawn into circles of power and politics so he seemed irrelevant and impotent to those who valued human esteem.

My coach Jodi reminded me this week that Jesus rarely told anyone, "Hey, pay attention. I'm God's Son." Sometimes, if people figured it out, he even said, "Hush, don't spread that around!" We don't always have to be "preaching" and "proclaiming." Also, it's actually obnoxious to God when we hoard power or put others "in their place" because of our position in a company or organization.

Our role is to live where God has put us with love and integrity, in places fair and foul. Around the world, many Christians suffer and die each day. In other places, we enjoy peace and prosperity. God takes pleasure in watching over and caring for us, no matter what or where our fish bowl. I for one am very grateful for that today.