Christmas week! 2024 - thanks be to God

Sunday, December 22, 2024 - 4th Sunday of Advent

We enjoy time with the IES Bandung family. Though many are away, other travelers join us. We sing Christmas carols and talk about the peace of Christ that the angels proclaimed.

Titik has worked her magic with flowers.

The eldest person lights the candle of "peace" for the fourth Advent Sunday.

What a joy to be together.

Roadside, there's a star-shaped flower on a tall weed.

These little stars fall from the trees and punctuate the street.

W takes a closeup photo of one.

And pink bulbs have burst into bloom along the street.

Monday

Jane and I enjoy the morning on the Porch with tea and baked goods. Some friends have sent cakes and pastries. Jane takes along a few books for her kids to read.

We start preparing the house for Christmas Day, cleaning and paring away. We're cleaning, baking bread, and doing final shopping. We drop off our favorite curry cubes for Alice, who is cooking for her family. Breakfast sausages and curry cream are a favorite at movie nights and other events.

Our simple 4-ingredient curry recipe+water: 

1. Heat 1-2 T of oil in a medium-hot saucepan or pot. 

2. Stir-fry 1/2 chopped onion for 3 min. until it loses its color. 

3. Add a block of curry*, gradually adding a liter (4 c) of coconut cream. 

The point is to have the curry absorb the cream and onion flavors. The sauce should thicken each time.

4. Stir and sauté the curry slurry for 5 min between each addition of cream. It will be thick.

5. Once all the cream is added (about 1/2 hour?), gradually add hot water (up to 2/3 the amount of cream.) Simmer uncovered for 10-20 minutes. Should be creamy and fragrant. 

That's it. If you hate onions, go straight for 'sauté curry in coconut cream'. The sauce bubbles as soon as water is added so I sometimes make it in a soup pot.

* Hint: we make a huge batch so we combine a block of mild and a block of medium curry. It freezes well. Whisk it as you heat it up and it's like freshly-made.

There's even a Christmas aisle at Toko Setiabudi.

The garden is in fine color.

Tuesday - Christmas Eve

One last batch of cookies: these are star shapes. They make 7 batches. They're still cooling when they go home.

We're at the hall at 4:30 for carols rehearsal. I can't believe how relaxing it is to play with a band. We have a good drummer, bass, and guitar - plus Eki brings his violin. My hands do their own thing by reflex. "We didn't know you played," say many of our regulars. What? (I prefer to let others learn to play keyboard in process, so rarely play myself.) 

We go through all 11 carols before  the Candlelight service at 6:00.

It's a wonderful time of community. We read a portion of the Story from scripture, then sing a carol. 

At the end, W lights his candle from the Advent candles at the front of the hall. We pass the light around and sing Silent Night.

Alice and her crew have hot chocolate and cookies ready. People stand around and greet each other, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.

Wednesday - Christmas Day

W's got the water boiling in the big stockpot before I get to work at 5 AM. We never know how many people to expect (80 come, the same as last year). The sauces are done but I cook spaghetti, and bake sausages and meatballs. The women come at 9 AM to cut salad, wash dishes, and cook rice.

We decide on savories inside (kitchen) and desserts outside. The tablecloths are on, anti-fly fans are whirring, and the food gets piled on the tables. We use rattan plates with paper liners and recycle cutlery and cups.

At 11 AM, guests of every age start arriving. They're from every continent. 

The best surprise is when Herbert, our Tanzanian former team member, shows up. We didn't even know he'd returned to Indonesia! I tear up, seeing him.

How close these young people grow to us. We don't have birth family nearby, but these are children and grandkids of the heart.

As always, it's a joy to read the Story together, eat, and open gifts. I package about 30 extras for those who forget to bring a gift for the exchange. After, we put the extras away for next year.

It gets noisier and noisier! as gifts are swapped, stolen, and opened.

Every corner of the yard is full of conversation. Those who come as strangers make at least a few new friends.

After the last guests leave, W and I clean up a bit, give the helpers their Christmas bonus, and relax. Nara has sent over a feast (Beef Wellington) that makes an amazing supper. Thank you, Paulina and staff!

Thanks be to God for the wonderful gift of his Son, Jesus. This has been a month of Advent (expectancy) and celebration.

Read more: (The birth of Jesus)

*In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her  firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you 

good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 

When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. (Luke 2)

*I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. Exodus 6:7

*And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

*See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are. 1 John 3:1

Moravian Prayer: Wonderful God, we rejoice that you have called us to be your people, and we see the responsibility that calling brings. Strengthen us for the task at hand and make us worthy of this task. Amen.

Tea parties and cookies galore

Tuesday, December 17, 2024

A week from today is Christmas. The house smells of baking. Today the helpers make dough for another 1500 cookies and baking starts. The rest of the dough goes in the fridge for tomorrow and Thursday.

Mid-afternoon, the book group arrives for tea. It's relaxing to set out china and serving pieces brought from our life in Seattle. There's little chance to use it here since meals and events tend to be informal. I figure the women won't judge me for using good dishes and cloth napkins.

What You Are Looking For is in the Library is this month's book, a pleasant series of life-changing encounters with a librarian and books. It's a delight to discuss how each month's assignment affects group members. We have different personalities and backgrounds, which makes sitting around the table even more interesting.

They leave as W and Melvi come back from a birthday party at 6 PM. Food is put away and dishes are done within an hour. Whereupon I fall into bed with a book ...

Wednesday

W and I eat leftovers and drink hot chocolate for breakfast before calling our moms.

The Mastermind group, meeting online from around the world, gives me good counsel (guten Rat.) I follow up their advice immediately. What a relief to have trusted backup voices affirming what I know = some projects don't belong on my plate. Twisting myself into others' timelines for volunteer work is a wasted effort; neither the work nor the satisfaction are good.

Baking day. The house smells of peanut butter cookies and melted chocolate, spread on ginger cookies while the butter comes to room temperature.

IbuS and I work together though the bulk of the work is hers. I shove ChaChas (Indonesian M&Ms) into the tops of the cookies and put them onto cooling racks. They're stored in whatever we find - bread savers, cake domes turned upside down, and plastic boxes. Between, IbuS makes lunch: marinated tofu, egg sandwiches from yesterday, rice, and veggies. Pretty good.

Innumerable cups of tea get me through the day. A surprising hit yesterday was the Twinings Gingerbread Joy tea, a variation on chai flavors.

Thursday

Due to slippery conditions, rain, and Christmas proximity, the mountain hike is cancelled. Group members wish each other Merry Christmas or Happy Christmas, depending on the country of origin.

Instead of a hike, W and I walk along the river to Dalaraos for Sunda food. It's mid-morning as we eat but we wander up the hill before catching an angkot (taxi bus) partway up to our intersection.

The string needed to close our cookie bags is nowhere in sight, said an admin. Since hearing that, we've tried to find colored string in several shops, including this stationer.

From the outside, the stationary shop looks like a dark hole with graffiti sprayed on its corrugated walls. When you move to a new location, you get used to a different storefronts as well as sorting out what's available inside.

The beloved (or hated) durian fruit is ripe next door at the new fruit shop. Each spiny oval is 10-15" (25-35cm). The rack might be outside the shop, but you can smell the fruit from inside and from the street.

When we get home at 11 AM, IbuS and IbuA are baking and chatting. I remind IbuA that she needs to finish the chocolate dough for 1200 cookies today. She whips up 7 or 8 double-batches and bags them. In the last month, we've gone through at least 12-15 kg of butter, bags of flour, and more sugar than I could track.

While the mixer whirs, IbuS bakes cookie sheet after sheet in several ovens. The timers ding ding ding all day. I lift the cookies off the sheets onto cooling racks and put them away. The last batch is baked before they go home. The full bins and boxes are stowed in tubs, along with about 2500 other cookies, made over the last few weeks. Tomorrow we package!

Friday

W and I drop into the hall to check where the string is to close the bags. We've been told they're not at the hall so we ransacked our house, to no avail. This morning on the way home from the walk, we pop into the IES storage basement to root through all the bins. We check various rooms at the hall. Nada.

Before we go home in defeat, I decide on another look in the kids-classrooms. On the shelf is the colored string we've wasted time trying to find. It is in plain sight. We take it home and I cut the string before anyone arrives.

When everyone shows up, the assembly line starts on the first batch of 140 bags. IbuA has agreed to work an extra day and Alice helps us get this DONE. It's one task per person until you have capacity to help someone else. Then you hop over and help others catch up.

• open the bag and put in 2 kinds of cookies - IbuS
• put in a specialty (frosted) cookie and 2 more kinds of cookies - IbuA
• pull the string through a label
• close the bag with a bow and put it into the "finished" tub - Alice and I.

It's efficient and we finish the first run in record time. The second (120 X5 cookies) is packaged before the second batch of labels arrive. when they do, we add the labels onto the strings and tuck those away. The third run (+100 X4 cookies) goes even faster.

We've made 370 bags before 11 AM. The helpers wash the emptied storage boxes and the floor, make lunch for themselves and PakG, and leave for home by noon. They take the cookie discards for their families to enjoy.

SO... MANY... cookies.

W and I walk to Miss Bee to get away from the smell of baking. These flowers are worth a second look.

The shapes and colors are exotic.

Dead seed pods, split open by their fall from the trees above, look festive.

I order linguine, so rich that I can eat only half. W enjoys his fish and chips.

After work, we head to Robin's for supper. His home is an artist's showcase, with prototypes of his furniture and artwork. I like these end tables, designed for ships on a cruise line.

He shows us his grandma's recipe for Rösti, a Swiss method of preparing grated potatoes. 

And I learn how to make chopped chicken the German way. It's a taste of home at Christmas time, which is comfort to a soul far away from family.

Saturday

Fresh baking arrives from Dr I. W and I enjoy one each for breakfast and a second for lunch, along with yesterday's pasta leftovers.

After a massage to unkink my back, W and I head to the hall where the worship team is rehearsing. Back by noon, there's time to write the talk for the final Sunday of the year.

It's a 3-book Saturday. Before our walk, I finish a novel Her Sanctuary about the witness protection program. Managing Leadership Anxiety has come highly recommended by several trusted leaders. I listen to the audiobook while my body is being pummeled.

The final book is Still Alice, the story of early-onset Alzheimer's. My closest cousin died of that 4 years ago; how little I knew of her struggle and her family's loss, even when she tried to explain how her memory was failing. All three books are the kind I like to learn from: well-written and engaging.

The groomers arrive to clip poodle hair in time for Christmas. Our friend's little dog joins the pack while they're gone overnight. I wonder what our family and friends are doing this weekend. Feels like they are very far away ...

Read more:

*For justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it. Psalm 94:15

*A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit..The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. Isaiah 11:1-5

*Jesus said, “And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them.” Luke 18:7-8

Moravian Prayer: Gracious God, we long for restoration on our own schedule, but we know your time is not our time. We have no doubt that you have heard our cries and will answer them. We thank you for your faithfulness. Amen.

Dinner-and-a-movie takes a week ...

 Monday, November 18, 2024

It's a work day. Casey-dog goes home after his weekend with us. He typically hangs out with the big dogs or snoozes nearby. We walk and have a few meetings before I crush through to-do lists. Later in the afternoon, W and I watch My Penguin Friend, this month's movie choice. The plot loses me a few times but we think our guests will enjoy it.

Look at this handwoven ceiling at the neighbor's gazebo. Indonesians are endlessly inventive with natural materials. Most homes have barbed wire or spikes around the property to deter thieves.

At night, Michael Hyatt's 5 Blind Spots webinar provides some clarity on my vision and leadership pauses. I am up 10:30 p.m. - 2:00 a.m., which isn't ideal.

Tuesday

It feels good to walk and stretch our legs. I leave with Gypsy-dog at 5:30 a.m., while W and Juno-dog join us for the second round. The night's rain tore leaves from the trees but has abated. I choose shoes carefully; the soles need to grip mossy and slick pavement.

We move the living room to movie night mode. I visualize where to store the shelves for the next 2 months.Christmas decorating starts when we clean up from movie night. If the guys don't have to move those heavy teak shelves twice, they are happy.

The helpers stash the grocery haul and bring down serving dishes. They'll cook rice, make mayo eggs, and chop the fruit and salad when they arrive tomorrow at 3:00. IbuS will also bake her famous cheese balls - if we skip those, we hear complaints.

Several of our team members are ill so we meet online instead of in person. The heavens let loose with such a great downpour that meeting in person would have been unwise anyway. A few times, the lightning strikes a mere second before the thunderclap.

Wednesday - Movie Night

W has the water for spaghetti boiling when I start work at 5:00 a.m. We've added roasted rosemary potatoes since it's a crowd favorite. The kids are hungry when they come and I'm cooking:

• 5 kg (11 lbs) slow-roasted baby potatoes with herbs
• 3 kg (6 2/3 lbs) spaghetti with tomato sauce
• 3 kg creamed spinach
• 200 breakfast sausages in curry sauce
• 200 meatballs in black pepper sauce
• 150 spicy chicken wings

For the first time, there are 2 convection countertop ovens, which halve the baking time. The sauces bubble between steaming spinach, boiling spaghetti, baking sausages and chicken, boiling and baking bakso (meatball-ish rounds). I rinse off the wooden spoons and pan liners in the spaghetti water, ending up with a thick rich broth. I'm done before 9:00 a.m. though the potatoes spend most of the day in the slow-cooker.

I love our monthly MasterMind group. A small group meets online this morning, so I listen in as I work. I finish cooking, shove the roaster with sausages into the oven for reheating later, and wrap the other hot items in blankets. I clean up and turn off the ovens before my turn to ask the group a question. I love that we pray over each other, too.

My first thought as I sit down is, "Where's a notebook?" because, as always, they offer things to ponder. My plan is to process their counsel as I relax this afternoon. I jump back into the kitchen at 5:00 p.m. to finalize prep, leaving space for the helpers to get most of their stuff ready.

W goes for a walk and then sets up sound and projectors during the late morning and early afternoon. He makes a last-minute dash for cookies stored in the office fridge. Almost 80 people have signed up, but we expect about 50 to show up.

W sets up sound and projectors during the late morning and early afternoon. He makes a last-minute dash for cookies stored in the office fridge.

The gardeners are on their third day of restoration. The overgrown yard is unrecognizable. The roses are trimmed, lawns are edged, and weeds are being pulled out by hand in the flower beds = flowers are still blooming, not mass-mowed. They've had to pause during daily thunderstorms but they're making good progress.

Today, the guys are working in the back section. The chomp-chomp of the hedge clippers alternates with the slap of branch clippings hitting the ground and the weed-whacker (in lieu of a mower). It's never looked so good - "like a hotel garden," says PakG. Yeah, these guys know what they're doing. What a relief, after fighting to be understood by other yardmen.

It's pouring rain in the afternoon and evening. The southern part of the city is under 50-100 cm (3') of water as the river overflows its banks.  45-50 enthusiastic and rain-soaked guests show up anyway. 

They enjoy dinner and the movie -

and make new friends. Many hang around until almost 11:00 p.m. 

There are a lot of newcomers but we love to see our longtime "kids" when they show up. 

We fall into bed late.

Thursday

Of course we're still waking up early: I at 4:30, W at 6:30.  It's time to refresh for Christmas. I strip pillow covers and slipcovers from sofa and chairs before the hike. It's timeto refresh for Christmas. I write the long list of cleaning chores for the helpers. The furniture stays in my office until the tree is up, other carpets have been brought out of storage, and the ornament boxes are downstairs. Last season's art is collected, carpets rolled up, and fall decor goes away.

With the unpredictable weather of rainy season, the hiking group decides not to drive into the mountains. We live on a mountain anyway so W and I walk down the hill with Veronica to do two loops of the university's Treetop walk. Riverside property is not desirable here.

My sandals slip around on the mossy paving but luckily there's a railing beside the steepest parts of the elevated boardwalk. When cars park on the sidewalk, we walk around.

This little guy found an unlucky end.

We eat brunch at #Delaros, a Sundanese buffet, before walking uphill to our place. It's 12,000 steps and almost 5 miles, which is not bad. Our watches record 100 meters (310 ft) of total elevation, without noting ups and downs. Not strenuous but a nice walk to clear the body and mind of yesterday's efforts.

By the time we get home, the women have cleaned the movie night residue and done several loads of laundry. The sofa has a red slipcover and Christmas boxes are in the main room. I hand over red covers for the pillows. A few days of work, and it will be festive and tidy. Now ... not so much.

Read more:

*Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord. Isaiah 50:10 NKJV

The darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 1 John 2:8

Moravian Prayer: Jesus, you are the light of the world that casts out the darkness. You light the way that you would have us travel in our lives. We pray that your light will shine through us and draw people to you, Lord. In your name, we pray. Amen.