Instagram Queen: Slay instagram traffic and targeting in 30 days! by Lara Badiali

★★★★★  I was a beta tester for this course (call me surprised by its utterly practical and creative content.)

Wow. f you're setting up an Instagram account, maximizing the potential of IG for a business, or just curious what the IG fuss is about - here's my hearty recommendation to enroll in Instagram Queen.

I was not expecting much when I signed up as a beta tester. It was a 2-week test. I was kinda curious about IG, which I rarely used. My friends touted it as "the thing" and "the way we communicate." Ok, let's see, I thought. Why not?

What I didn't expect was to be taken from raw novice to really understanding the medium. I didn't expect a course with a fun and funny host who delivered serious content, laid out in a logical, easy-to understand way. I didn't expect a deep plunge into how-tos, lots of insider tips, links to resources, or confidence in creating valuable ongoing relationships. I didn't expect maximum impact and benefit.

But Lara Badiali delivered. And how! "Much more than we expected," according to fellow IG students and me. The course starts June 17. Click here to Lara more about it.

I admit it may cost you a pretty penny - but it's the equivalent of a university summer course ... in 30 days. The course replaces someone you'd hire to figure out this stuff on her/his own for a few months. So it's a great investment. It will pay off within a short time.

Still thinking? If you dive in, be prepared to fast-forward from neutral to full capacity: Badiali leads you step by step from understanding your clients, setting up an account, and creating content, to scheduling, marketing, and maximizing what you've designed. HAVE FUN.

Fussing and fighting

Sunday, May 19, 2019
It's our oldest son's birthday. We call him the night before (his time). Our 14-hour offset makes it hard to connect.

Our family tradition is singing HBday to the victim of the day. My parents sing to their kids, we sing to ours, and they sing back. Yes, W and I sing - there's a brief silence on the other end and then, "thanks." Yeah, we're not great vocalists - but that's the fun of it.  Some years, the singers get past line one ...  and break into giggles instead of song.

Jeremy is 39. I remember like yesterday how exciting and painful that arrival was. According to the doc's due date, he was 15 days late. (= A very long wait for a future-oriented mom-to-be.) I was happy where the day came, one day after Mt St. Helens blew its top. Maybe that's what shook you loose, dear son.

So glad he joined the world - he's a great blessing to us and many others. And he was a good big brother!

When I go to call him, I notice a call from his phone as well. It's a well-sung HBday for me, from late March! W and I agree that Jeremy and Rebekah sing very well together: both have lovely voices. (Jer was in a boys choir with the sweetest and most pure tone until his voice change at 12 or 13. Nice memory.)

Monday plus
The study and office work are as usual - but I'm in a slump. After strenuous times, when I get a break, my body just rests - and my mind disengages. All week, I'm in neutral.

I love this team!

I check off my to-do lists, do a bit of writing, and do a great workshop about instagram. I'm a beta tester and have to catch up - the last few weeks have felt like I'm sitting on a spinner.

I learn so much it blows my mind. I take copious notes. This is one course I highly recommend. The host is fun and funny - but very clear about what you can do. It's a 30-day course - which gives lots of time to get your IG for personal or business from ho-hum to magnificent. Don't miss it! *I'll post the link when it's up for the public - or just google it.

What else is new? More critters. In the house, a roaming mouse chomps plaster off the ceiling as it scrabbles around. I hear it in the middle of the night but keep our bedroom door firmly closed. I'm not the brave type who grabs a broom and smacks something dead. W is asleep.

I actually pursue a roach across the porch one morning, after it jumps out of the wicker chair. "That's that for you, buggie!" The dogs sniff the mess and leave it alone - roaches stink when they're squished.

The grass has grown to 10" in places; the rain has fallen and the gardener has done other things. We notice this week that it's drier. Rainy season has lasted a few months longer than usual. That's great for the farms and rice fields on the hillsides around Bandung. But the bugs love to shelter in the house when that happens. On the advice of locals, I sprinkle cinnamon (thanks to Costco, a fragrant bottle) around the usual entries and we seem to have less ant and roach intruders.

Someone donates a change table to BIC. It's is a beautiful teak antique. LOVELY. We pull the BIC crib from storage - voila, a nursery room. Well, we always had the room but it's only had a rug, one chair, and a check-in table.

We're upgrading our space to be disability-friendly as well. It's a big priority for us - whole-community access matters. Pak Chandra comes by the office to show up what he's dreamed up. I'm excited! to have everyone able to get into the auditorium.

The local restaurant has Ramadan decor right by the front door. They do similar installations for Christmas, Easter, and other national holidays.

Friday
Friends come for lunch - Sumi bakes the most delicious flax and chia bread, which we crave. She's baked every day; it's an easy share: we've given away 4 loaves this week. I love the smell when we come home from work, that lingering yeasty warmth that makes everyone feel welcome.

I also love the pics Melissa sends us - makes us feel happy. Isaac is modeling a hat for W: looking cute.

Otherwhere, it's been a tense week. The national election results have been known for a month: here, early results are posted as stations log in on the day of elections (last month). Early results polls have always been accurate in previous elections ... within a few percentage points.

Like 5 years ago, the (same) loser is contesting the results as "corruption and fraud." The public statements, fomenting social chats, and some organizational prep send locals and people bused in from around the island to the streets in Jakarta to protest.

We get a warning from the American embassy in Jakarta to stay out of public areas. So we and other foreigners stay home all day. No walks. Media is interrupted by govt to prevent flash mobs and fake news from circulating. The government has been pretty patient during the run-up to the election announcements, but locals have been very worried about violence.

Today, all seems quiet. Cars and buildings were torched in the past two days in Jakarta. There are hundreds in hospital, eight dead, and for what? So sad - praying for the families and those affected by senseless mobs. "Lord have mercy and overshadow the world with Your peace."

Read more:
*Your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts. Jeremiah 15:16 

Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it! Luke 11:28 

Moravian Prayer: Gracious Lord, it is such a marvelous privilege to be called your sons and daughters. Thank you for the blessing of your guidance. May our joy be evident in everything we say and do! Amen.

A buggy ratty week

I've been avoiding the blog. So many critters came along this week that I've been avoiding dredging up memories of them. Oh well, here goes.

Note a week later: Can't upload pics due to an "upgrade" on my computer. This is what I've got. Text and a few snaps. More next week, ok? Read on...

Sunday, May 12 Mothers Day
It was a good day. We celebrated our moms at the international church with 2 videos made by one of our pre-teens and her dad. They did a good job of combining interviews from last Sunday: the first video was children talking about their moms. The second was moms talking about being mothers.

Calling my mom is bittersweet. It would be easier to be close by - to give her a hug in person.

I hear clicking at night - W's gone upstairs to read with lights on, so he's not around. I flick on the light in our room. Yup, a roach is doing laps on the bedroom floor - from the night table to the foot of the bed, under the bed and around to the night table. When it comes around again, I wack it with my flip flop until it stops moving, but leave the cleanup until morning. Sweet silence. (I stick in my earplugs to make sure of that.)

Monday, after meetings and a study, W and I go to our favorite chicken restaurant (rotisserie, the only one we know of its kind). I squish two 2.5" roaches while walking in the entry. They are our warning of things to come.

Here, shops pull a metal sheet down from the ceiling at night. During the day, the metal wall rolls up and the store is open. One roach scrambles up the wall beside us. I reach down for my shoe to crush it. Before I can smack it, it falls onto the table, scrambles under the menu, and runs to Waldemar's side of the table. My shriek brings an employee around, who grabs it in his hands and tosses it outside before squishing it under his shoe. Ugh ugh. Well,

we see 8 big roaches in all, by the time an employee grabs the anti-bug chalk and draws a deterring line across the storefront. Their waddles and scooting across the floor are so off-putting. I draw my feet up and hope they don't climb a chair leg.

"They must be coming from next door," explains one server helpfully. Ok. Maybe there is an open garbage bin at the neighbor? Whatever. Not cool. One right after the other, until the chalk line.

Yes, we're acclimated. We eat our chicken behind the curtain that restaurants pull over the entry during Ramadan. With most people fasting food and drink from sunup to sundown, we wouldn't want anyone to be tempted by seeing someone eat or drink during the day. Our servers are Muslim kids though. Most restaurants are quite empty ... until they get packed out for evening meals.

Most women seem exhausted. Our helpers and the shop attendants move slowly. They're getting up to make breakfast for the family before the first call to eat (3:30am). The chanting and readings by adults and children resound in a rhythm of day and night. There are firecrackers as well. The dogs are going crazy.

There are two more weeks before the last week of Ramadan. That will be the loudest week, with almost no break in sound. Most people will go home to their villages to spend time with their families then. It's a time for extended families to eat together, to celebrate the end of the fasting month, and to renew their religious commitments. This year, Indonesia has declared 10 days off to wrap up the holiday month - to give people time to travel back to their jobs.

Tuesday
I hear something thumping around in the back kitchen at night so I ignore it. In the morning, W finds the rat that's been plaguing us. It has jumped into the glue trap atop the oven, bouncing around until it landed on a washcloth near the sink, and finally has fallen off the counter to stick to the rug on the floor. W kills it and dumps the sticky mess - rug, cloth, rat and all - into a plastic grocery bag. When the helpers come, they sweep up all the junk that got tossed around by the athletic rodent and toss the whole bag in the garbage.

W sweeps up a few roaches in the mornings. We never leave food out, but they must be coming in with all the rain. Rainy season is usually over by April, but we still have a daily afternoon and night downpour. The little strands of Spanish moss we hung around our deck loves the weather - it's grown longer, even in the last week.

Our morning team meeting is at Josh and Clau's. Good food, sweet company (tho missing 2 people), and a relaxing home. Wonderful. Waldemar heads out in the afternoon for a short working trip to Medan (on another island - a few hours by plane, 45 hours by car). He'll be back before I know it.

Wednesday
I arrive in the office at 8, but get a phone call from the helper at home. "Remember, you had an 8-10 meeting at the house? She's waiting for you here."

Nope. I forgot.  I race home. That lasts until almost 11.

When I near the office, a member of our leadership team is waiting at the gate. He's building a disability-access ramp. Looking at the plans and talking about how we want that to looks takes almost until noon.

My 11:00 appointment is late, but she still has to wait for me. When she leaves at 1:30, my breakfast toast with PB is still in my bag. Haven't had time to eat yet.

I'm feeling a bit peckish. I speed through the toast, wash it down with tea, and am in another meeting by 2pm ... about media marketing. My guest helps me think through the future with good suggestions. When she leaves at 4, the driver comes by: I’m on the way to the dentist for tooth cleaning.

A day. I'm happy to be home before 7pm. It takes a while to unwind, but when I do, I sleep until sunup. That's a surprise! A good long night.

Thursday
I've been in the office every day this week. I start early in my home office. By 8, I'm deeply into my work. So I call the admin that I'm working from home. It's a 7 minute walk - so I can be there in a jiffy if I need to. I don't need to.

I putter a bit in the morning, mashing together quinoa with:

• aging broccoli from the bottom of the fridge (cut off the black edges), 
• soft crushed hazelnuts (80% humidity will soften any nut)
• red pepper flakes (also sticking together in the package)
• 1/2 cup of grated Australian cheese  (still from December's trip)
• good Italian olive oil
• fresh-squeezed lime juice. A new recipe, wonder if I'll like it .(I do.)

The salad has to sit until tonight - so I eat a piece of pumpkin pie for a mid-morning meal instead. I feed the crust to the dogs - I just like pie fillings, not the dough.

Around lunchtime, I'm ready to stand up and take a break from the computer. I've had a few cups of tea plus the pumpkin so I'm set.

It's a 15-minute uphill walk in the hot sun - in the 90osF (30sC.) I'm wearing a light windbreaker to ward off the noon sun. A jacket is cooler than bare arms while I'm walking, but as soon as I stop, sweat and heat pool under its long sleeves. I tear the jacket off my body at the destination and when I get home.

I'm popping in to visit a friend in a nearby hospital. D is not impressed with the care and says her room is noisy: her bed is next to the hall and across from the nursing station. "Visiting hours end at midnight, so there are people talking until they leave." (What?!) I call our office admin to ask him to deliver earplugs for her so she can sleep tonight. Hope that helps her. Maybe she can sleep in her own bed tomorrow night!

D is heaving when I come in so I torture her with the quick cure someone taught me years ago. (Didn't expect that on a pastoral call, eh?) I squeeze the muscles between her thumb and the first finger HARD for 3 minutes on each hand. "Focus on your hand," I ask her. She does.

Yup - she quits heaving and the nausea is gone. Is it because pain refocuses the brain? Whatever. It's a pressure point, not a scientifically proven method. I move an unappetizing food tray from beside her to the wall at the foot of the bed. That probably helps, too.

Her sister comes in - there's no mistaking the resemblance. E has brought some hot tea to settle D's stomach. Here, relatives bring food and take care of most of the patient's personal needs.

After prayer together, I walk back home - the descent always seems gentler than the walk up. (There's not one uphill on the return. Good! I always prefer to tackle the hard part first.)

Over the kitchen sink, I water the flower bouquet that's still going strong from Sunday. Even the rose heads are still up - wait, is that a caterpillar in the mums? Yup. I grab it with a tissue and toss it into the garbage. An hour later I come through the kitchen again. There's a second caterpillar halfway across the kitchen floor. Or is that the same one? I don't lift the garbage lid to check ...

Friday
W's back home - he's happy because he was helpful. That's his fulfillment.

Mine is planning and setting people loose. Anyone remember the line from the A-Team's Lieutenant Colonel John “Hannibal” Smith? "I love it when a plan comes together!" (The A Team '83-'86.) Yeah, me too. Haha

Bold beginnings to the week

Saturday, April 27, 2019
It's Community Dinner night, which we love! Over 30 people show up for a delicious meal and time together. W and I integrate the topic and a game activity (resourcing your time). Our game pieces are round colored candies - yum.

Josh and Clau have brought games as centerpieces, so when we leave after 8, the games are just beginning. It's so much fun - and so great to have a big family that loves to hang out together.

Sunday

We're at the Gathering site by 7:30, along with a bunch of volunteers. Today Clau speaks on the book of Ruth (way to go!) and someone is baptized. Her friends pray blessings over her. Of course, then it's time for a long visit around the Community Table.

We eat lunch with a friend at the restaurant across from the Gathering. (See the white buildings in the background?)

It's so pretty that it feels like being on a tropic holiday - oh wait, I get to live and work here. How blessed I feel! (For me, no tulip field erupting after the long rainy winter in the NW will ever compare to this ongoing beauty and warmth, week by week. "Thanks, God. You know me so well.")

I nap for an hour before we head downtown for a chamber music concert. It's W's first classical concert in Bandung. Afterward, some friends pose with the composer-in-residence. She wrote a song about harmony with a Sunda motif.

Benjamin Britten's Fantasie Quartet #2 is my favorite piece. I gravitate toward contemporary and modern art and music.

Since it's a song for the imagination = a "fantasy", the musicians encourage us to relax and visualize the music. It comes alive for me as one day in my life as a 30-something mom ... with 4 kids and a 3-job husband. The music dances and pushes forward full of dissonance, recombinations. Britten reimagines the violin, viola, and cello by knocking, plucking, tapping, bowing the instruments.

In the music, I hear W leaving for work early in the morning before the kids get up. They're coming to meals - talking talking, arguing, and working together. I feel the 101 things that have to be organized in a homeschool family. I'm herding the kids into the car, dealing with freeway traffic and carpools. W walks back in during the evening with his hands and head full of to-dos. And finally the family comes to rest: the kids go to bed, I finish my chores, and W puts down his work papers. The house is a mess but it's late at night ...

... and the composition is over. I doubt that's what 17-yr-old Britten had in mind when he wrote the Fantasie, but that's what I felt in the music.

I'll have to listen to it again - my empathy on the ride home is with mothers/house-fathers with a houseful of small kids. I haven't forgotten the jagged pace, the pieces we juggle, the traffic, the activities and noise, and esp. the fragments and dissonance that resolve into occasional bliss and harmony. I especially remember the love and energy needed to cover it all.

Of course I can't fall asleep right away. It's way after midnight when I turn off the light and listen to the devotional reading on my phone.

Monday
At 6, W and I take the dogs for a walk before one of my favorite times of week: a call with a mentoring peer. LOVE and feel renewed by our time. As always, thanks K.

By 9:30, the study group has gathered on the porch with pots of tea, cookies, conversation, and scripture... and the week is off and running.

Read more:
*See now that I, even I, am he; there is no god beside me. I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and no one can deliver from my hand. Deuteronomy 32:39

*Jesus said, “I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astounded and said, “Then who can be saved?” 

But Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:24-26

*Jesus said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” John 20:21

Moravian Prayer: Heavenly One, there can only be one god. It is you. Help us to shed the baggage of our pride and independent ways, so that holding no hand but yours, we might slip effortlessly through the eye of that needle. 

Help us to remember that we cannot be saved by the good works we do - the cost is too high and the gap too wide between a Perfect Creator and fallen creatures  We thank you for the price you paid to bridge the gap between us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

April means Easter

The weeks before Easter are non-stop.  After returning from the States, I am without Waldemar's help or an admin for 2 weeks. That is a crunch!

Waldemar is in the USA for 2 extra weeks. He comes back just in time to change suitcases, speak on Sunday, and then flies out to teach a week of seminary in Malang (2 hr flight). His trip is a day shorter than expected: he can't get a flight back on the Easter weekend - so classes last longer each day. But he's home a day early, which gives him an extra day of rest. or it would, if he'd rest).

Tuesday, while W is away teaching, a group of volunteers shows up at BIC. We clear Christmas ornaments, old children's items, and other clutter from backstage of the auditorium.

Besides gaining a classroom, we clean the sound booth and organize music binders and instruments into a side closet. It's a big job - but Della provides a delicious boxed lunch. We all work together to make the space sparkle. (On Easter, we use the space backstage for one of the Experience Easter stations ... good timing, thanks everyone!)

In-between somewhere, I've written a Holy Week devotional booklet. Nicole (Children's Director) has a friend who prints it, posters, and other pages. On Palm Sunday, we pass out the booklets for people to engage in Holy Week. A few mention how much they enjoy the activities in the booklets, reading and thinking about what Jesus has done. Cool. Me too.

Easter Sunday 2019
On Easter, morning, W and I are at the international church before 7. Many other volunteers arrive shortly after we do. Our young adults group, the special Easter volunteers, arrive by 8. Everything is in place, thanks to Nicole's hard work.

W and I speak at our regular gathering at 9, before dividing into 4 groups at 10. Each group, accompanied by 2 volunteer guides, takes the next hour to go through four Experience Easter stations.

The stations are Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, the Cross, and the Resurrection. It makes the Story come alive for us all - it's especially good that families get to go through together. The kids enjoy the "disappearing paper" at one station. The volunteers are awesome - they make it enjoyable for all.

And then we eat together - everyone brings food to share, and everyone is full when we're done.

Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday
The routines resume. Monday morning, after walking the dogs, I lay down on my bed for a brief nap before the study ... and fall fast asleep. Good thing Waldemar is leading the study - I wake with my alarm just before our lunch appointment.

Our new office admin is getting used to us and new routines. He knows where a lot of things are - before W returns, Sanny and I clean out the rest of storage. Once W comes back, his computer gets hooked up, and I pass on things that landed on my desk before Easter.

All week, I go into the office to debrief Easter and clear up - I like to wrap up completely and plan the next year. Then for about a week, I take hours alone to rest. After a big push and lots of detail work (like this Easter), my mind needs to recover.

"When do you take a break?" people often ask. Just like this. I go go go and then rest rest rest. I know when I'm done resting when my energy is back and I'm ready for the next thing.

W and I have breakfast at Pino Terrace for Rp15,000 a few mornings, sometimes alone and sometimes with friends. The governor of the province is having breakfast there one morning - and poses for pictures after asking what we're doing in Bandung.

I'm bemused as I watch the lawn being swept with a long straw broom - every day the trees drop leaves and needles, so someone will sleep them into a pile and take them away.

Thursday

We go for our first walk in months - in the hills of Lembang. It's beautiful and refreshing.

Our destination at the end of the 8 km (5 mile) hike is the Orchid Forest - where all kinds of national orchids are tied to trees. Beautiful.

 The steps down are not exactly even in width or height. The rough boards are laid on top of rough risers. We do 30 flights of stairs on this walk (one way, up - not up and down).

The army is out in force - lots of trucks are parked nearby. Maybe they're somewhere in the forest, training?Someone has carved a stump into an ocean sculpture. And the chessmen are 3' high wayang puppet figures. 

Lunch halfway back to home is good: a self-serve Indonesian buffet. It's cooked but served at room temperature, as usual. The corner where the dishes sit is dark, so I don't know what I'm looking at for most of it. At least it's near the kitchen. Most of the food is brown or golden from frying. No wonder my cholesterol is getting higher!

Saturday
We have a Community Dinner again tonight - but W has to go down the hill first to courier our passports to Jakarta. We have a visa run coming up again; someone misplaced part of our paperwork so we have a time crunch for renewal, which means a mandatory trip to Singapore soon.

Tonight, W is speaking about the wise use of resources, including money, well. I customize a game board which also serves as decor (placemats.) The game pieces are little colored candy balls. We can eat them once we're done!

Read more:

*Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth. 

Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”   The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity. Psalm 96:7-10  NIV

*Satisfy us early with Your mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days! Psalm 90:14

*The Lord says, “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good.” Isaiah 55:2

*Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal. John 6:27

*Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Ephesians 1:3

Moravian Prayer: Dear God, when we consider Jesus, we see one who nourishes us, leads us, and fits us for service in your name. We will never be hungry when we follow him. 

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah! Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who is our lamb, and who has conquered. Let us follow Him. Hallelujah! In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Well then, dive right back in!

Friday, April 5, 2019

The office is clean, my Sunday talk is written and presented to the team. I'm catching my breath. What a productive and hard-working week it's been. 

My mind is trying to use Indonesian again - and bahasa Indonesia is nothing like English. Here's an example: 

Friday, March 29

It's my first day home. Last night, I arrived at 8pm and fell into bed at 9:30 after unpacking. I carry the suitcases upstairs. I'm SO happy to be home.

A resignation email from our office assistant was in our inbox yesterday when I landed in Taiwan: his last day is Sunday. He has been a supportive and creative bridge during our landing at BIC. Since he feels called to other things, we wish him well. He says he "doesn't come in Friday," so we schedule his exit interview for Monday. 

I go into the office and write an administrative assistant job description for the next person, including "give a months' notice" into the expectations. I finish writing BIC e-news for next month and schedule it for Monday morning.

Saturday

Friends pick me up from the office for a late birthday lunch. We go to MyStar, one of the best Chinese places in town - and eat until we are almost bursting. WuJin and Dony are so sweet to think of me - and they're fun company! They're like our kids - Dony owns an English-speaking school and WuJin is a Mandarin teacher studying with him.

In the evening, our group hosts a Community Dinner. Della has cooked - and it's yummy.

Josh's talk is about the distraction of social media and what makes a good life. (Hint: being on your phone 24-7 is not it!) Our evening challenge is "don't look at your phone the first two times it buzzes with a message." (I immediately fail the challenge.)

The table activity is making a poster about FOMO (the fear of missing out). Here's our poster: we had a few graphic artists at the table. Can you tell?

The end to the evening is another lovely surprise - a birthday cake and a loud rendition of "Happy Birthday." Love it. As I age, I'm more appreciative of others' efforts and less modest about celebrating being alive. We cram together for a picture.

Sunday

I walk the dogs and get to the auditorium early. It's my turn for the morning talk at BIC - about a man who starts out fearful and a "nobody" and yet becomes brave and the leader of his people. (Gideon, from Judges 6-8. What a great story - read it here for yourself!)

We have lunch with friends who are working on a massive community project = inspiring, to say the least. I'm feeling jetlagged by evening and fall into bed happy.

Monday

After the morning study, I head to the office for the assistant's exit interview. It makes me smile when someone follows their dream - and that's what's happening with him. He hands over passwords, answers questions about procedures, and give me a thumb drive with his weekly templates. I will certainly have more questions in the week ahead, but it's an amicable and warm start to his disengagement.

Lunch is with the IES team. Only 3 of 5 can make it to Miss Bee's but the food and the company - with 2 family members added - are good. I've left my money at home; a quick raid of my desk - whew, there's just enough to cover my lunch. (And no more money in my stash. Oh oh.)

It's back to the office to catch up - and begin office chores. This week, I spend more time on WhatsApp and on the phone than I have in months, arranging next weekend's gathering.

Tuesday

After a few hours in the office, it's 10:30, time to meet the Bandung Book Group at Miss Bee. We're in fine form, catching up, celebrating four March birthdays (including mine), and just happy to see each other. I order a salad - I'll have lunch in a few hours.

Before lunch, our house helpers come into the office and clean up for a few hours. We wipe down and move bookshelves, wash windows, toss garbage, and sweep away years of dead beasties including dust bunnies.

The second wonderful meal at 1:00 is at Maxis. I'm still full. The mushroom soup and chicken is delicious though. And my friend sits across the table from me ... how I love and appreciate this neighbor. She's smart, funny, and kind - and my mentor in all things Indonesian.

The property manager is repainting the office storage room: a leak last fall was quickly repaired but mold takes hold in this tropical climate. Luckily, I don't have allergies.

He and a worker take everything from our storage and put it in a nearby classroom. "You have things from the 1980s!" he exclaims. I know. (And we're not putting it all back without sorting it.)

Thursday

I promised the children's leader a 6-page family devotional for the week before Easter. That's my first priority when I get to work. Off it goes. Isn't email amazing?!

I also write a review for an excellent book by Janet Creps. I set it on my resource shelf for people who are discouraged when life doesn't turn out the way they thought it would. For those who work hard and never seem to get anywhere. And for those who just want encouragement. It was a delight to read.

Friday

The helper comes back to the office with me - she finishes clean-up. Oh my, the windows are sparkling and the floor is clean. Soon we've emptied shelves and drawers. We put things back, but there are open spaces now (and 6 empty drawers.) Office supplies, paper, and electronics are grouped. 

Every surface shines. I'm leaving the admin's desk for him or her; my part of the room is almost done.

I don't work well in chaos. My head is always busy and full. An orderly space lets me sort surges of information. The office is reconfigured, my desk is organized, and my calendar is set for the next week or two. The worker from property management is hard at work in the storage room. Fine!

Aska drops by to ask if he can help. "Oh yes! Thank you." 

He helps set up the auditorium for Sunday and looks at the area we plan to clear and clean on Tuesday. (The musicians and production volunteers will have a great space for their gear when we're though.)

I shoot a short announcement video and I'm done. 4:00 is here before I know it. WEEKEND!

Sunday

How I love the Gathering! We celebrate Communion together on Family Day, the first week of the month when all of BIC is together. Kids spend the day with us. Nicole prepares an activity for them and does an object lesson. 

Then we have community time, eating delicious snacks from Ibu Tuti and Pei Pei - and others who pitch in ...

Read more:

*Come and hear, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me. I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me! Psalm 66:16-20

*Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord. Psalm 117

*Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. Ecclesiastes 5:10

*Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:33-34

*If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 2 Corinthians 5:17

Moravian Prayer: God, you are enough. Let us not seek after money or wealth that will never satisfy; instead let us focus on your treasures of faith, hope, and love that will never be destroyed. Amen.

A trip there and back

I'm back from 4 weeks in N America - and it feels great to be home. The time away was stimulating - such a contrast of place to our home! The trip was quick - and filled to the brim.

Challenging - we heard good advice and bad, found some beginnings and endings, and got to ask a lot of questions of experts, family, and friends. I read a lot, too.

We visited groups and neighborhoods and gatherings around the Pacific NW. 

Heartening - we played with the grandkids, ate with old friends and new, and looked around at how people are serving God and each other.

We bundled up, visited, listened to a lot of stories, and shared something of our own journey.

We celebrated a birthday or two as a family.

Grandkids are the most fun! There was not enough time or energy for all we wanted to do with them.  

And now I'm right back where I belong. Love you, Indonesia!

Read more:

*He shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord. Micah 5:4

*O greatly beloved, fear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong! Daniel 10:19

*All the peoples of the earth will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. Matthew 24:30

*Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.  John 14:27

*In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. 

Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death-- even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place  and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11  

Moravian Prayer: God of provision, you sustain us daily. Let us never turn from you; let us seek you until the end of days. 

God of peace, your way is not like the way of the world. Do not let fear control us, but let us stand strong in your loving kindness.Amen.