We wrote what??

Monday, May and 6, 2024

Why buy a lawnmower when you have a goat? The neighbors let their 3 goats roam near their house and in the big abandoned lot. The goats call to each other nnnnneeeeeh most of the day as they graze.

W wants to try #Pipinos, a fusion cafe down the street. Surprise! I order the best ravioli I've had in Bandung ($3.25). It's high-fat with delicious cheese and pesto.

But I look across the table at W's gut bomb: a mayo-drenched croissant filled with coleslaw, deep-fried chicken, and maple flavoring. There's not one thing I'd order in that combo, but he says it's good.

These pretty crimson stems grow beside our courtyard table.

We take a shortcut down the hill between high walls of the kampung. Most neighborhoods are similar. Whether the walkway is 2 or 5 feet wide (600-160cm), motorcycles squeeze past as pedestrians flatten themselves against the sides.

The streets are busy: two guys carve away bricks and a cement pad with a chisel and hammer. I wonder what's going into that cavity.

Another group is cleaning the got (drainage ditches on each side of the street). Leaves, garbage, and food wrappers tossed by locals are everywhere, plus what washes downstream from elsewhere in heavy rains. There's not a garbage can to be seen; it's normal to throw the waste to the side of the street. It's cleaned up by private helpers or occasionally by groups like this. 

There's a growing garbage dump on our loop walk, not in the "real" disposal area, but in front of a beautiful weekend house. The heap of tossed bags contains home garbage: paper, food, plastic. It's disgusting. Every month or so, someone clears away stacks of rotting items. Once, someone hung a banner over the usual drop area: 'The ghosts will get you if you dump trash here,' and it cleared up until the banner was removed. Then it was back to people throwing things out from motorcycles and car windows.

Hurrah! hurrah! Finally my syllabus shakes loose from my desk and laptop and I'm making progress. There's a stack of 4 binders (from various classes I'm combining into one) and another pile of printouts.

Supper is a matter of clearing the fridge and catering to our tastebuds. These plates have a little bowl: great for dressing, yogurt, salsa, etc.

Tuesday

I figure out that my resistance to starting my academic work was mostly due to last month's flu. It shut down my brain, body, and drive. On a call with a friend, she mentions the same despair and depression. Wait - that whole muddle was from being sick? Thank God! that's over and I've come back to life. We pray for her healing as well.

Usually Tuesday is team day. Since the team celebrated and connected at lunch on Sunday, I give them the week off.

Walk. Nara breakfast. Writing. Syllabus work and class study. There's so much new information for the class. The question is what to include, what to shed, and what to pause. On the office desk, I leave behind what I've compiled. I spread the rest onto the table on the Porch.

It's a gorgeous sunny day. The rain has been tapering off, which means a warm afternoon. The helpers are hard at work. Outside, PakAD prunes jackfruit branches that have stretched into our eaves. Crash. Smash. The long limbs hit the ground.

Inside, dishes are being washed, pumpkin pies (from real pumpkins not cans) are ready for the oven, and bread is rising in the bread maker. My Turkish teapot steams away: a big handful of leaves steeps in the little top pot while water boils in the bigger bottom pot. I mix stiff tea and water, half and half. W finishes off what's left over with sparkling water, sweetener, and ice.

From the Porch, I smell roasting chickens. Yesterday, W and I popped into the grocer. Whole broilers were on sale for $2.25 so we bought several for the house plus one each for the help. PakG drove down the hill to pick up the heavy bags of groceries while we walked home.

Today I ask the kitchen helper: "Want to prepare the other fowl as you make our lunch?" It's easier if everyone takes home food that's ready-to-eat, rather than having to cook after they get home. Plus we have yummy spices and a real oven ... 

"Yes please!" Only two chickens fit into the turkey roaster at a time, so they are baking all day long. We try new foods when they come on sale and bought weird salty dried mango. It is magically transformed into a delicious fruit salad by IbuA, who is a genius with food.

Last week, I was browsing files for an upcoming class when I ran across a formatted-for-publication chapter. I had no recollection of writing it or what book that went into. 

Today, looking for a book, I find one that looks vaguely familiar ... and there it is? Ah, I vaguely remember writing it. Once my work is out there, it's out of my head. Margaret Shirer is the only Pentecostal mentioned in the book; she was a wild thing and an AG missionary to Africa and Central America.

Wednesday

After a walk, we stock up at the grocer's. Yesterday, making pumpkin pies and bread "ate" into our stock of eggs and flour. 

PakG points out the moving trunk of a tall avocado.

W gets a closeup of the writhing mass of caterpillars. 

"It's the normal cycle for avocado trees," says PakG. "They strip off all the leaves and the tree grows back healthy and strong for the next season. That will happen in our yard as well." Eh?! What a way to replace autumn and winter in the tropical garden!

My desk is a heap of binders, papers, art supplies, an aquarium, tissue box, toys and lamps from our last IKEA run, and even memory stones. (I draw my word-of-the-year on a stone and keep them on a plate as a reminder of God's guidance.) There's so much on the surface that I can't put my computer between. "That's it! Do something."

Clutter gathers when I'm ill, like during last month's flu. I'm ruthless about clearing what others leave in my office unless I'm sick or focused on a project. Hence, the heaps. In a mild start, I sorted books on the office shelf - and hey, today there's room for the class binders and texts in that blank spot. The other binders and books go back to the top shelf. DONE - lamps and toys head to storage as hostess gifts and play items for young visitors. 

W's kickstarter investment a few years ago keeps my tea warm as I tackle the paperwork that's left and write Sunday's talk and book reviews. I liked the book read to me overnight by the Kindle reader. (2X speed is about perfect for absorption.)

I'm chugging through an academic journal article, written by a well-known theologian. As I edit, my head begins to buzz with repetitions, run-on sentences, and prepositions. I write the new journal editor, "May I cut out some of this for the readers?" Let's see what he says.

The former editor offered me carte blanche and told me to quit highlighting my edits. "I trust you and I don't want to know what you did." That was easy. Now I'm trying to guess the new direction of the journal. Especially when the writer is famous.

After lunch, Lisa drops by for tea, pumpkin pie, cookies, and an apple to dip into yogurt. The cute plates were 50% off and called my name last week. The teacups are from my Seattle collection. I re-homed 50 or 60 teacups but kept some favorites.

We check in how the media is going for the weekend, send off some videos, and read through the Sunday talk for the first time. Learning is constant - as is connecting.

Read more:

*Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land. Psalm 37:7-9

*Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe.

The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names. Hebrews 1:1-4

Prayer: Thank you for your salvation, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the inseparable One True God. Thank you that you come near to us when we accept your forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

In you, we are made whole. We are set free from the powers of darkness. We are heaped with your mercy and divine favor. Give us hearts to worship, tongues to praise you, and feet quick to do your bidding. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Life sorting

Seems like there's always stuff to sort around here! I just got through a major organization effort at the beginning of the year. Now my office and desk look like the Tasmanian Devil from the comic strips whirled through. My online calendars are unreliable: I found an afternoon appointment for today, entered on my phone calendar, that didn't synch to my computer. Who knows what else I missed?

I'm scanning years of university notes, so there are full and half-full boxes of scanned pages. "Keep them until you know if it stored correctly on your computer," warns my husband. So boxes of random notes, in and out of page order, have begun to pile up near the scanner.

For someone whose mind ranges as far and wide as mine, physical order is a must. I tend to pile printouts of interesting ideas. "I'll get to those later today," or "I can read that by week's end," I tell myself. That often is true... but when it's not, the stacks mount into chaotic read-me obligations. Those piles drive me crazy.

Today is a sorting day. Between three appointments (one at home, thank God!), I have to tackle the books, magazines, and papers in this one room. Besides, I need one of the papers for a morning appointment.

Sorting. Sorting. As fast as I can.

No matter how wonderful life it, troubles come. Schedules get interrupted. We get sidetracked by unforseen appointments or information. Perhaps people we know need more attention than we'd planned to give them.

I'm so glad God can keep track of time, people, and everything in this world. He never loses an opportunity to renew and restore, whether it's humanity or nature.

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by everything you could be doing, eating, seeing, or thinking? How do you sort through your possibilities and obligations?

Read more:

*Isaac's men then dug another well, but again there was a dispute over it. So Isaac named it Sitnah (which means 'hostility'). …

From there Isaac moved to Beersheba, where the LORD appeared to him on the night of his arrival. 'I am the God of your father, Abraham,' he said. 'Do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you. I will multiply your descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will do this because of my promise to Abraham, my servant.'…

One day King Abimelech came from Gerar with his adviser, Ahuzzath, and also Phicol, his army commander. 'Why have you come here?' Isaac asked. 'You obviously hate me, since you kicked me off your land.'

They replied, 'We can plainly see that the LORD is with you. So we want to enter into a sworn treaty with you. Let's make a covenant.'…

That very day Isaac's servants came and told him about a new well they had dug. 'We've found water!' they exclaimed….

But Esau's wives made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah. Genesis 26:21, 23–24, 26–28, 32, 35 NLT

*"To whom will you compare me?  Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.

Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Isaiah 40:25-26 NIV

*If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. Romans 14:8 NLT

Moravian Prayer: Liberating God, we follow your ordinances over the ways of human construction. At times, this may bring criticism upon ourselves, but may we be ever faithful to the way of Christ over any other semblance of law. Amen.

How to see with new eyes

Before: an office heaped by neglect
and drawers emptied to move a desk

What do you need to see with fresh eyes? What project or goal have you been putting off?

Most of us have old eyes. We look without seeing our habits, clutter, and destructive patterns because we recognize familiar patterns as norms. How can we see things with new eyes or fresh vision?

I walked through our front door Sunday night after spending two months in Montana. Before my sabbatical, I blocked out things around the house to focus on my dissertation and travels. One of the most exciting things about my return home (besides seeing the kids and our grandchild!) was getting a fresh look at the house.

Before: the other side of the table...

Yesterday I had an eye migraine which I suspect was caused by "good stress" and the elevation change. However, W got an early start today (6am) and I woke full of vigor. First, the dogs and I walked a few miles around the neighborhood. Then I unpacked food, clothes, and toiletries. Finally it was time for some real renewal of the house, which I'd been ignoring and putting off...

During: furniture begins its move into
place and the sorting begins.

I washed and de-spider-ed the conservatory before tackling my utterly chaotic, post-dissertation office. (Happily, Jonathan appropriated my "dissertation" desk while I was away.) I leveled a drafting table as my standing desk and re-purposed a glass table for my sitting desk. Some clutter waits to be sorted, but the bulk of my chore got done today. Hurrah! Hurrah!

So how can we look at things with fresh eyes so that we can renew ourselves or our spaces? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Leave your familiar environment and come back. Let things settle down while you think from a distance about new possibilities. I graphed a few ideas for my office while in MT before choosing a plan of action.

During: leveling the standing desk

2.  When you return, consider your priorities and who you are--before you restart routines. Priorities may require personal changes, spiritual renewal, or decluttering a physical space.

3. Make a list of what needs doing before the sheer mass of change bogs you down. I began to jot down must-dos and chores in a notebook, on the evening of our return. It took a couple of days before I had energy to begin. Those "little" actions I've notated may take months to complete, but I'll check them off as I go. The list helps steer next steps in the right direction.

4. Start small but don't quit until your energy runs out. Drift through the list, doing what is at hand and what pleases you. If you find yourself running out of steam, do something else. Then get back to the main task. (Between the two daunting jobs of the conservatory and office, I diverted to small chores on the check-list to keet energy high: I ran the dishwasher, washed and folded laundry, cut my hair, checked FB, and blogged.)

After: the sitting desk is ready. Time to blog?

5. Remember that things usually get worse before they get better. Don't get discouraged if everything feels like chaos. You don't have to finish what you started in one day!

6. Celebrate what you've accomplished. Take a photo of "before" and "during" so you can enjoy the "after." When I've finished my office, I'll post the final photos.

God is merciful. He made the world in six days rather than all at once. Afterwards, he rested and enjoyed his creativity. Let's give ourselves permission to do the same.

Read more:
*Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. Psalm 139:7-10 NIV 

*I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may keep my ordinances and obey them. Ezekiel 11:19,20 

*Jesus said,] "'I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father's hand. The Father and I are one.'"

John 10:28–30

*Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. 1 Peter 1:22

Moravian Prayer: Come replace our hearts with whole hearts devoted to you, Lord Jesus. Take away our love of sinning and burn away the impurities of our minds. Help us bring every thought, word and deed into captivity through our mutual love and ministry. Amen.