A wonderful week

Sunday, December 3

We speak at the International Church in the morning: what a fine New Years' treat for us. We speak alternately to keep the attention of a diverse audience.

We meet Paula and David for lunch: it's our New Years celebration together - they're back from Thailand and we're back from Jakarta after the Christmas break. It's our third time at the Padma Hotel since we arrived in Bandung. Its reputation for good food is matched by stellar views over the valley north of our home.

We are early for the meal. So we have a smoothie and the first time to talk together in a long time. The view at lunch is breathtaking. We've traversed the valley before with a walking group.

Monday

Time is running out on Kirsten's visit. I'm catching up on grading this week - I have a few late projects to send back (papers that missed their deadlines so weren't in the grading queue). We have a study of Mark in the morning.

Our friend Dr W arranges a facial for herself and K and for me afterwards. The sun is very hard on the skin and this necessity is disguised as a New Year's treat.

From the car window: a horse cart

Tuesday

Grading. Prep for tomorrow and the visitors who are coming. Between, the neighborhood masseuse arrives. She loosens K's muscles and gets her ready for the long flight next week.

The day goes by in a blur of chores, meals, and academics.

Wednesday

W and I walk to Yogya at 8am for groceries. The dog envies me my Japanese charcoal and green tea ice-cream. (I know I know. Ice cream for breakfast.)

It's movie night. There's a half-day of cooking in preparation for the evening. Josie and her mom swing by in the afternoon, bringing frogs' legs for K to try. We enjoy tea and cookies together. Josie's mom loves walking around the garden, but today - other than the guava - there's little to harvest.

K chooses the movie (Jurassic Park, which neither W nor I have seen) and the main course: tacos, Texas style. W finds good Indonesian subtitles and sets up the projector. That means the art comes off the picture ledge, the furniture is rearranged, and we try to use less electricity in the same circuit. Even so, we trip the breaker three times. (You can't plug in a kettle at the same time as another appliance - or the projector.)

Three guests at their last movie night: Kirsten, David and Paula

We've made enough food. The tacos are a hit as the house fills up with people chatting and visiting. The Cannon family from Spain arrives partway through the meal. The parents and two siblings are visiting our friend Katie in Jakarta. They've come to Bandung by train and our driver gets them; then he heads home himself.

Movie night focus

The movie is fun. Midway we break for dessert. Then we visit at the end of the movie. By midnight, everything is tucked away: the furniture is still awry.

Thursday

We are at the meeting place for the walk just after 8. We have a full car to the meeting place, but we're running behind. W and I walk Gypsy. I catch a ride with our neighbors part-way. W's a quick walker and catches up.

Still clean: before the sweat and grime

Today we have some new hikers on the route from Lembang up to the volcano. The Cannons are game to try. And friends David and Paula have not yet been to the volcano or on a nature walk because they've been in language school. They move to Jakarta tomorrow - so this is their one chance to see what they've been missing.

Ellen and David chat at the tea plantations

The walk is a tough one, but everyone perseveres on the steep and long trek (4.5 miles, equivalent to 71 flights of stairs, according to the GPS). We start climbing through the tea plantations on the first hills.

Contours of hill country

The grass has grown tall on the roads between rows of tea bushes. We almost miss one of our turns and have to double back to find the marker. The two women (Angela / German; Veronica / Australian) have unerring senses of where we are in the "middle of nowhere." Soon they find the way again and once we're on the right track, we pose for a picture.

The next terrain is pine forest. And then we're in the jungle. In rainy season, the grass and bushes grow over the paths. We push our way through the tall grasses, avoiding sharp spines on some. The shrubbery and the branches meet across the overgrown path. As each person goes through, the greenery snaps back into place and the next one has to part it again.

Left: before - coming through. Right: a few steps later

We smell the volcano before we reach it. Then we're in the scorched wasteland of rock and sulphur and steam. The pools are successively cooler, the farther they are from the main vents. We find one that is mid-heat and sit on the edge.

Volcanic mud scrub

Kiki is a local: he negotiates a local rate for all of us to have our feet and hands massaged with volcanic mud. (It's 40% of what tourists pay.) Oh - all our feet are aching and that massage helps so much! The men and women who do the foot-rubs earn good money: each tourist pays twice what a helper makes in a day - for 20 minutes.

"I'm doing this for my children," says the young woman who scrubs my stiff muscles. And her brother sells us 5 water-bottles filled with volcanic mud for the price of one tourist bottle (another example of "local price.") We distribute the bottles W buys eggs (30c each!) and boils them in a strainer over a bubbling water vent. Then it's a relatively short walk - another kilometer - up to the parking lot. We hop into our cars and drive up the winding road toward the crater.

Official badge

The other two cars have already gone ahead.  Two men on a motorcycle pull us over. "Where is your ticket?" they ask?

We protest that we have paid a fee and our driver and car have paid the entrance fee. But the officials insist on sending us back to the entrance and checking all our IDs. They want foreigner admission fees from our guests and the ones who have forgotten their IDs.

One of the teens started the walk with her mom and sister. The mother and daughter had to turn back: the young gal was feeling dehydrated and ill. (They have only been in-country for a few weeks. It takes a while to acclimate to the tropics.) The mom has the daughter's ID so another gal whose husband is in the Australian military pays the high foreigner fee.

A wood statue sprouts ferns near the volcano

It takes over an hour to sort everything out: we are starving by the time we are permitted to leave. But the Mandarin restaurant is worth it - it's not American-style Chinese but Chinese and Indonesian mixes of ingredients and flavors. Delicious.

And just like that it's 3:30. We drive across the ridge to the Bible study at the Bamboo Shack. What a wonderful time - looking at the Old Testament this afternoon, the story of Jacob leaving his parents and encountering God for himself.

I'm struck by the mystery of God-with-us. Why does he choose to make himself known to people like Jacob ... who make little effort toward him? And what a strange way to seal a promise - a ladder between earth and heaven. Wow - (Genesis 28, if you want to read the story).

When we get home, the furniture is back in place and the house is clean. We shower the sweat and dirt off ourselves, change, and walk down the street to Miss Bee's for a late supper. We're home before 9, weary.

Miss Bee for supper

Friday

I make scones for breakfast and mix a loaf of bread. It's baked before W and I go to the train station with David and Paula. They're moving to Jakarta today.

On the way home we go into immigration for our visa extension. We fill in the forms but need a photocopy. The copy shop next door is on break. We walk down the street but no copy shop is open. And by the time we get back (empty-handed) immigration is closed as well.

Back home, I make a quick lunch of salad and meatball soup. The bread is still warm, the soup is tasty, and the salad slightly bitter from the red cabbage.

W takes the Cannons to the train station for their own trip back to Jakarta ... and drop the visa extension request at the immigration office.

Just before sundown at 6, we walk down the hill to a student food court, Kolony. K's still checking off her list before leaving next week: a final supper at Pots and Pans? Check. Fortunately, it usually costs about as much to eat out as to prepare a meal.

Read more:

*Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord until he comes to rain righteousness on you. Hosea 10:12 NASB

*Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 ESV

Moravian Prayer: Loving Lord, you call us into repentance, a moment for us to be honest with you. Let the false luster of our lives be transformed by the beauty of your kingdom. May we be renewed by your Spirit in order to live the life to which you call us. Amen.

Resignation: my word for 2016

Three years ago we were comfortably living in Seattle, with work that was satisfying and life-giving. We had no desire to shake things up. And no inkling of the changes coming our way.

However, in March 2013, both my husband and I sensed a transition into something new and completely unexpected. It’s a complicated story that's not completely written yet. But we love Indonesia and the teaching we do in SE Asia. There have been many turns in the road, along with open doors.

I've always been happy to try new stuff. To risk and fail. I tend to jump forward because I'm naturally task-oriented.

But lately, I seem to analyze and agonize over little decisions. I've been puzzled about why God would bring us here at this stage of life – when we are older, educated, and were generally happy and secure in our careers. (Why not sooner? We love it here.)

It's all part of "culture shock," a normal and expected process of adaptation.

Has the adventure been great? Yup. Have there been challenges? Sure. We miss family and friends. We have some visa issues to resolve. And my greatest frustration is the difficulty in remembering words and phrases in a new language (when I've always been a quick learner.)

Praying at year's end, I asked God how I could align myself to his work. The word “resignation” popped into my mind.

Resignation can mean to end an assignment or leave the past behind. = Quitting a job like we did two years ago.

But there’s another aspect of resignation: the acceptance of what cannot be changed or is out of our control. Quitting your own agenda.

Luke's Gospel tells us that an angel visited a young woman named Mary. The angel informed her that Elizabeth, her older cousin, was pregnant. Mary herself would be the mother of the coming Messiah. Yet she was not to be afraid.

Mary does not not fight against her unknown future. Rather, she asks how this can happen and is told that anything is possible with God.

We don’t read that she had a lot of questions about the child she would bear. She didn’t pause because of how her fiancé or neighbors would view her. She didn’t talk much about the implications for herself.

Most of all, she didn’t refuse the opportunity. She resigned herself fully to God’s plans. She trusted God and knew her place – she was God’s servant.

Mary agrees to God’s assignment. (Luke 1:38) Mary said, “I am the servant of the Lord. May it be unto me according to your word.”

Another translation records her response this way: “I belong to the Lord, body and soul,” replied Mary, “let it happen as you say.” (JB Phillips) Wow. That's the most positive form of resignation.

Like Mary, if we want God to give us a significant assignment, we must be willing to do what he says. To resign our own expectations so we can say yes to his direction, no matter what the consequences. We acknowledge that it's God's job to take care of the details around our obedience.

This year, may the Lord help me resign my own agenda to surrender to his.

Holy resignation. It’s my word for 2016. What’s yours?

Read more: (NKJV)

*Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the LORD do what is good in His sight.” 2 Samuel 10:12

*Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses. May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. May He not leave us nor forsake us, that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, which He commanded our fathers. 1 Kings 8:56-58

*May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble;

may the name of the God of Jacob defend you;

may He send you help from the sanctuary, and strengthen you out of Zion;

may He remember all your offerings, and accept your burnt sacrifice. Psalm 20:1-3

*May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in His works. Psalm 104:31

*And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, both that you do and will do the things we command you. Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ. 2 Thessalonians 3:4-5

*Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all. 2 Thessalonians 3:16

---

*O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! Psalm 95:6 ESV

*God has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ. Ephesians 1:9 ESV

*He called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9 ESV

Moravian Prayer: Lord of light and love, we praise you for not only giving us life in your creation, but for also bringing the light of your love into the darkness of our lives. Amen.

Happy New Years amid a miscellaneous review of strange and random cultural accommodations

Wednesday, December 30, 2015 - Christmas Day 6
It's our second movie at a Bandung theatre. We see Star Wars in a luxury theatre (under $4.50 a ticket). I almost fall asleep a few times because the crashing, shooting, and light flashes tire me out. It's also cold: they provide blankets for the recliners and I've brought in my own fleece blanket. With two covers pulled up to my neck, I'm fairly comfortable. Sleepy, but comfy.

It's nice to relax: it's been busy and tomorrow is a big day. I drop in at a neighbor's house to ask her about customs and details. We are so lost at times! She offers to bring homemade yoghurt to the party tomorrow. Accepted with thanks.

The gardener who comes once a week missed last week. He shows up unexpectedly today. Everything in the yard grows all year around; there's no way to keep up without help in raking, pruning, and weeding. The regular monthly hedge-trimmer hasn't come for a month. The lawn(-ish) is scraggly and 12" high in places.

Pak Lili levels the grass-like plants to the ground, crouching and slashing with his machete. He's weeding the seeds I've sown when I point out that those vegetable shoots are deliberate on my part. Sigh. He rakes up the guava fruits lying under the tree. But he doesn't pick the ripe guava as requested: it continues to fall into the yard day by day.

Overhead, as evening falls, the fruit bats flap and fly and eat themselves full on guava fruit. They ignore the porch lights we leave on to chase them away and hang from the rafters during the day. W gets out his super-soaker water gun and squirts them until they find another perch.

Polite company: shoes off at the door -
flip-flops on against the cold marble floors

Thurs - New Years Eve 2015 - Christmas Day 7
We don't know what to expect tonight. We've invited our neighbors for an early New Years dinner (6:30-8:30pm). At least we think we have!

Neighborhoods have a Pak RT (neighborhood council head), voted in by the community. As far as I can tell, they serve for 3 years. A fine man keeps peace/harmony (RT) here. He settles disputes, makes sure security men patrol day and night, negotiates construction that will affect the neighbors, and keeps track of who is visiting more than 3 days.

We used to report long-stay guests to him until we moved one house over last year. Now we have the weird privilege of having a gate in the neighborhood but belonging to another RT section that looks after garbage pickup, etc. Our dog takes care of security, barking fiercely when people come near the gate. We'll tie him up tonight. In general, adherents of the majority religion (Islam) dislike or are afraid of dogs.

Pak RT on left

Anyhow, the Pak RT and his wife looked over our invitation last week, helped us revise it, and said they'd distribute it to the neighbors. We have no idea who has been invited or who will show up. Several of our friends cancel: they have other activities tonight.

After walking the dog from 6:30-7:30 in the morning, it's time to get serious in the kitchen. Kirsten helps me prepare food for the evening. We bake bread and two kinds of cookies, make an bread/sausage/egg casserole, puff pastry sausage rolls, and beef/chicken meatballs in barbecue sauce. (We have no pork at the house so our neighbors can eat anything we provide.)

Last month when 1-2' jackfruits were falling off our trees, the helper cooked a huge batch - which tasted like roasted meat! I froze some then and pull it out for tonight; we need some Indonesian food as well.

Mid-morning, a local restaurant delivers pre-ordered meat pies and Kirsten gets a rude surprise. She's dressing when a man walks into her room. K yells until the man backs out the door. (No one has ever just walked into the house, especially not with a delivery.) The young man runs back out the gate, rings the bell, and calls out "Pizza!" Must have watched American TV and is trying to get our attention. Just weird. And disconcerting.

The local handyman (the helper's husband) is here as well, repairing the roof over the laundry area. The duct tape over the holes in the old corrugated plastic sheets hasn't kept the rain out during this rainy season. The laundered clothes or bedding will be partly dry and a rainfall will splatter them wet and dirty again. The handyman says he's ordering white plastic but he removes and replaces the ruined sheets with clear ones. Oh oh, that will heat the whole house in dry season. (He finishes on New Years Day. I'm glad. We have no dryer other than the clothes racks on that roof terrace.) Nothing is completely straightforward here.

In need of repair: a duct-tape fail

By 2pm when the helper comes, I'm ready for quiet time and a nap. She agreed to work late today: 2-9pm before celebrating with her family. She makes rice and tidies up. (We're on the third round of dishes by the time she arrives.) She washes and chops fruit and pours yoghurt over iced fruit. The neighbor's helper has delivered the yoghurt along with a punch bowl to serve the fruit in. One of the hooks breaks and a glass shatters on the floor. Oh no!

A hit! Yoghurt and fruit salad

The pembantu washes the rice, mops the floor, and vacuums. By 4:30, I'm rested enough to shower and get moving. The prepared food heats in the oven and I plug in the slow-cooker and rice cooker.

A good friend drops by at 5 with a tofu salad (bean sprouts, dried and fried onions, dressings, celery leaves, and more). She asks if she can help, but we're almost done so she goes back home until the event starts.

There's a downpour about 5pm. Oh oh - people won't show up if it's gushing rain! But it lets up and two guests are here at 6:30; will others come? We relax, chat, have some water ...

and a half-hour later the house fills up. Over 30 guests of all ages enjoy Indonesian and Western food. (The fruit salad / yoghurt and tofu salad supplied by our friends are big hits.) We laugh, chat, and visit. W prays a blessing over them and their families. We encourage them to take a scripture promise for the New Year, our family tradition since childhood.

Beauties: the one on the left claims to be 50!

About 8:30,  guests fill goodie bags with baking and the house empties. (Yes, we baked a lot! and everyone is full so we send home cookies for them to try.) Two friends visit with us for another hour, talking about God's good plans for us and the blessings of scripture and faith.

God with us = a wonder we cannot comprehend.

We don't know what this New Year will bring, but we know who holds it in His hands.

W walks a couple of women home - and then leaves again to deliver a phone left at our place. (Surely the families will want to greet each other for the New Year!) Cleanup is mostly done by 11. Then we read and unwind, pray and talk about the year past and ahead. How blessed we are to usher in the next season with our daughter here!

The sky is exploding with fireworks. We watch from our balcony as the New Year rolls in.

New Years 2016 - Christmas Day 8
I sleep in until 7. I slather on sunblock as usual. We call our families before the dog and I walk a few miles. W works on other things and then goes over to help a neighbor.

The handyman bangs away at the roof repair most of the day. Previously we had two lights on anytime we'd work in the kitchen. Suddenly there's light streaming in - the old dirty panels blocked sunlight. Wow, what a difference.

I strip the ornaments off two trees (4' post-Christmas bargains last year @$4.50 rather than $50.) All our personal ornaments fit on one of them, including tiny anklung souvenirs from trips with guests to the Sunda culture center downtown. W helps put the garlands and ornaments into a bin for next year. We didn't buy ornaments this year: we got the basics at post-Christmas sales last year.

We'll keep a tall pre-lit tree in the LR for another week: it had no ornaments. Instead, I hung up paper labels with daily Advent verses. Each day we read a verse and tucked it into a bowl. The empty tree is pretty. Simple. Serene.

For lunch, we walk to Koloni and order dim sum and sushi, Bandung-style. Maybe we'll try something else another time. Just saying.

It drizzles a bit but the rain holds off. The dog is happy to be on a second walk and snoozes on the wall outside the food court until we are done.

Happy New Year to you!

It's a productive but relaxing day. I spot-clean the tablecloths, put away the dishes, and organize the fridge. In the evening, we open the bag of Pfeffernuß cookies that my sister-in-law delivered when they visited in November. Yum. They may be from a bakery in Switzerland but it's the taste of home, a comfort when we're so far away.

Sleep well, everyone. The first day of the year has been a good one for us. How about you?

Read more: (ESV)
*O give thanks to the Lord of lords, who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 136:3–4

*This is what the Lord says- he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:16, 18-19 NIV

*For you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. Malachi 4:2

*Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17

*Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10

*Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20–21

Moravian Prayer: Lord, through you all things are possible. As we sit at the precipice of a new year, may we look upon it with hope and expectation of what you will enable us to do in your name and through your love. 

Trusting you completely is a daily, sometimes hourly, struggle, Jesus. The mystery of your incarnation and your resurrection competes with our desire for proof. When tough times and unanswered prayers weaken our faith, grant us the strength to pray the prayer that never fails: “Thy will be done.” Amen.

Meeting and evaluating

Tuesday, December 29
The early morning walk starts at 6:30, after we do an hour of work online. We go through the lanes and streets with our yard dog. Gypsy needs a long walk - and even so he is frisky throughout the day.

A quick learner: no tugging on the leash
and an immediate sit-down when we pause

Then the day really begins. W is working on the visa situations on several fronts. We prepare and rehearse a talk for the first weeks of January. I have some letters to write.

We are surprised when our helper hails us as
we're walking past her house.

And at 11, K and I meet with a friend from the walking group. Madju explains how she keeps her arthritis pain under control with Indian herbs and natural foods. K has tried many of the foods herself (but without helping).

The ingredients for Chai tea: Indian basil,
ginger, cinnamon, and peppercorns

Sumathi and her daughter Amitha (visiting from Singapore) join us for lunch. Amitha is marrying next summer and we hope to attend the wedding. We met her boyfriend last Christmas - a fine fellow indeed. Today is also Sumathi and Augustine's anniversary. What a treat to spend time together.

Friends old and new 

Amitha will be setting up her house before the wedding - she comes over for ideas on furnishings and layout. We share some tea before they go home.

Exploring the tea cupboard

While we're at lunch, W is retrieving a parcel from a family in the US. They have blessed us for Christmas - and we are stunned at their generosity in finding and sending children's books (for learning English) and dog toys (dog management!) We are delighted with the books and the dog is ecstatic with the squeaky toy he drags around the yard.

It's time to review our year. We discuss how God has blessed us. And how have we blessed others? We are so grateful for people who have supported us  during this transition to a change of vocation. We love this city and its people but there are times when we really miss old friends. Knowing we're not forgotten helps a lot :-) .

Funniest snap of the day: on the opposite hilltop,
a cell tower disguised as a very tall tree (left)

Read more: (ESV)
*David and all Israel were dancing before God with all their might, with song and lyres and harps and tambourines and cymbals and trumpets. 1 Chronicles 13:8

*For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

*God gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. Daniel 2:21 

*The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. Luke 2:20

*Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians 5:17

Moravian Prayer:
Loving Giver of life, receive our words and deeds of celebration as offerings of praise and thanksgiving for the magnificent gift of your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Please accept our undying gratitude for his life, death, and resurrection.

It is difficult to discern your will, God of Wisdom. The Scriptures inform us, but interpretations can be controversial, even adversarial. Forgive our allowance of such disagreements to obstruct the work of your Spirit in us. Show us how to live the way, the truth, and the life of sacrificial love. Amen.

Christmas Days 3-4

Sunday, December 27
The days spin by. We are tired from our travels and got in late last night. W adds a second morning service to the regular one: that means a trip toward town via angkot (mini-van for passengers). We are speaking at both in January.

Cookies baked by neighbors in language school

It takes me all afternoon to unpack a small carry-on luggage. That's the last time I leave it for the next day. Somehow, done immediately upon return, putting things away and into the laundry hamper is efficient and thorough. Today it feels like I'm puttering here and distracted there before the suitcase is empty.

One meal at our place

Monday
We're writing an invitation to the neighbors for a New Years Eve gathering at our house. K and I set off to buy groceries while W takes our first draft of an invitation to the Pak R.T.'s house. (He's the man voted in to keep harmony in the neighborhood.) Properly, we should have the council secretary's stamp on the invitation before giving it to others.

A strangely heart-shaped schnitzel

These families have lived here for 30-45 years: someone like us from outside has no idea about correct procedure. W gets help from the women of the house. They rewrite the invitation (what we had was not considered an invitation.) W upgrades our effort to reflect theirs.

Discovering a baker in town

"They were very specific on what was proper," W says. Which we appreciate. We'd originally thought of making a light supper and guests bringing something to share. That's not good, we find out. We're now providing a dinner and no one else brings food. We wonder what an Indonesian would write - and who would deliver such an invitation - to ask neighbors over in Canada or the USA.

Homemade baking

This event is not as simple as one might think! We do lots of informal gatherings that we don't ask about - but this is different .. It immediately becomes more formal than our original idea to "have the neighbors in."

• Should we personally take the invitations over? Or can our helper give them out? 
• Who gets invited? Who gets left off the list? 
• Do we invite all close neighbors or ? (There are over 60 houses in the neighborhood where we reside.) I don't even know where all the women of the arisan (women's group) live.
• Will we know how many are coming? Will they RSVP or not?

We wander back to the RT's house with the corrections. Neither he nor his wife are in but we leave some homemade cookies. We'll have to go back in late afternoon. I'm so sleepy that I nap in the afternoon.

Then we go back once again. Pak RT is not there but his wife comes from cooking dinner. She has W sign all the invitations and promises to deliver them to our neighbors. So the event is out of our hands. It's so different from what we would expect. Life here is full of surprises.

Hope you enjoyed the food pictures - much of life here happens around the table.

Read more: (ESV)
*The Lord said to Moses, “Who gives speech to mortals? Is it not I, the Lord?” Exodus 4:11

*The Lord our God we will serve, and him we will obey. Joshua 24:24

*Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

*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

*You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit. John 15:16

**Be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58

Moravian Prayer: Who, us, Lord? You chose us? But we are too small, too old, too young, too poor, too busy to heed your call. Forgive our excuses and fill us, instead, with your Spirit of unselfish commitment and action so that we bear fruit for your kingdom

Tireless Creator, often we succumb to post-celebration doldrums. We lose our enthusiasm for service and witness. Help us remember that even in the dullness of daily routine we can share your grace. Rekindle the coals of our hearts with the fire of your love. Amen.