Oh Canada and "Goodbye" to a good queen

Thursday, September 15, 2022 

We arrive in Seattle in the morning and get picked up from the airport by Timothy. We hang out with the kids much of the day, unpack, and settle in.

Friday

Coffee with girlfriends stretches into 4 hours. It's a time to catch up and refresh. Our schedule is firming up and each day we have meetings or planning sessions for the days ahead.

Saturday

After W has coffee with his group, we head to Canada. The roads are empty.

In our hometown of Chilliwack, we walk along the river each evening - what beautiful sunsets.

Sunday

Shawn Vandop brings an encouraging message at Main Street Community Church: Jesus is the subject of Good News. He is God's gift to us, the object of his attention. But we are not the center of the universe - He is.

We meet a family from Pakistan - she's an instant sister of the heart.

Mom's roses are blooming in the heat and sunshine. Her secret is pouring stale coffee and coffee grounds on the soil around the roots.

Her fridge holds the collection of family pictures from years ago.

Monday

We sort cookbooks and papers.

Some old wedding announcements are still hanging around.

The flowers and planters are as beautiful as a park setting.

Mom asked me to help her clear out things - but it 's not easy. It takes most of the afternoon just to downsize her silver tourist teaspoons. After, she is exhausted. The house is full of collections and treasures but it's hard for her to let them go. This hanging on a stairwell is 1X2 meters and came from Venezuela in the 1970s.

I head downstairs to collect and sort the last violins. They're being donated to an orphanage in Indonesia. Mom gets a rest. 

If you know a luthier who needs braces, clamps, tools ... contact me ASAP. There's plenty.

I cleared out more than half of the workshop last time I was here. But there's more. So much more! My brother asks me to toss the things he wants into a suitcase. Nope - he'll have to sort them so I just leave the boxes in the sauna.

Dad knew what everything was for and loved working on violins. None of us shares that passion.

I find the banner he used to hang at art camps and fairs.

Tuesday

The kiwis are starting to grow. The day after the first frost, they'll be picked and put into boxes and bags in the garage. There they'll ripen throughout the winter. They last until May.

The Hope Slough near Mom's place is gorgeous. It's a quiet and calming walk, 2X a day.

Mom and I watch the Queen's memorial as it moves through various locations. When the flag goes up, the new king is in place.

I keep thinking what a burden it would be to have every move, every word, every expression analyzed by the world press. I'm glad I'm not a royal.

This moment, when the Lord Chamberlain breaks his reed and lays it on the coffin, signals the end of a reign.

And when the crown is removed from the casket, it brings home the ending of an era.

Read more:

*O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem. Psalm 130:7

*God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8

Moravian Prayer: God of steadfast love, have mercy upon us. In gratitude for your care of us, help us to see the needs of others in our community. Out of our abundance, may we bless others, so they know the love of God through us. Amen.

Checklists, arrivals, and a farewell.

The week before a trip is a round of checklists. Darrel and Gail J, trusted friends from Washington State, come to lead our teams in Bandung. We've known them since Northwest U ... a long time. They arrive early Saturday morning from Jakarta.

Sunday, September 11, 2022

W leaves before 7:00 a.m. for BIC. I check the lower seating area - we have kids coming to eat lunch at the house. There are dust and grass clipping everyone, along with bird poop and lizard droppings. Ugh. It takes me 3/4 hr to sweep, wash, and clean up. That will go on the helper list again. We have company nearly every Sunday and the yard and porch have to be as ready as the house.

Then it's time to walk to Bandung international Church with our guests. The neighborhood sellers are out and about. They carry baskets loaded with market-fresh vegetables. When one shoulder gets tired, they swing the pole behind their neck to the other side.

W and I speak together as usual.

Over lunch at Warong Ethnic, we introduce the Johnsen to our leadership team. Thanks to Om Danny for making the reservation in the relaxing setting under the trees.

Back at home, the porch is full of children and their parents. We love it. They've prepared their own lunch so we say hello before we go inside to pray over the families and rest up a bit.

Monday

After a morning walk and meetings, we eat lunch together at Miss Bee. They have the best grilled corn.

Then we're off to find some batik fabric (women), shirts (D), and electronic stuff (men). The tour busses are loaded as they run around town.

We're back at the house after 3:00. We're too full to eat supper, and our friends are adjusting to 14-hrs-ahead jet lag. Up at night, sleepy by afternoon.

Our Aussie friends Ross and Anne arrive as well. They're staying at the house 9 days, waiting for their tourist visa to be renewed. They know Bandung so don't need any directions.

Tuesday

Ross and Anne buy me breakfast at Pino Terrace at 7:00. While I head into the office at 8:30, they go to town to work on their visas.

After the team meeting, Darrel and Gail meet our ministry team over lunch at Maxi's. "So much food," says Gail. Luckily they are adventurous eaters and enjoy the flavors. They gift everyone with hats and journals.

Our landlord has been dropping by without warning. The dogs go crazy - they are the best guards. We tie them up while he looks at the empty house falling apart next door. Our yard man has kept up the property in exchange for my use of the office as an art studio.

"Please build a fence for the dogs," he asks W in the evening. Um, no. We're gone tomorrow. Typical day-to-day life happens without advance planning. That is a cultural  norm here. He shows up whenever. Our dogs can savage anyone who tries to break in. They warn us when people we know show up, too. They have the run of the yard ... and they are at the gate as soon as someone arrives.

Wednesday

We take Johnsens for breakfast at Nara Park before 8:00. The new creatures are owls, along with Nara's rabbits, tortoises, and hedgehogs. D/G pose in front of colorful shrubs.

We do some last-minute packing before PakGum takes us into the airport in Jakarta. We leave the house in good hands.

It's the quickest trip we've made in ages: 3 hours for 120 miles. We spot a few "camouflaged" cell towers. You convinced by the artificial palm branches sticking out?

Our flight is at 7:00 so we sit around for 4.5 hours. There is tourist shopping with huge dolls in the store's entry (Balinese). 

There are tour groups with matching outfits, whether men

or mixed groups.

The flight attendants are amazing on Singapore Airlines. On the 1-hr flight, they serve a full meal and drinks and have everything cleaned up. They're courteous, friendly, and knowledgable. It's flying as we used to know it, on a Boeing with more leg room than most Asian carriers offer.

When we get to Singapore, the airline won't book a hotel for us. They cancelled our morning flight and booked us on an evening flight so we have a 12-hr layover in the Singapore airport (9pm to 9am). Ugh. 

In customer service, Carmela calls all over. We leave without any help ... and then she runs after us. She's found a reserved spot in one of the lounges. She give us the pass and off we go. Thanks, ma'am. Greatly appreciated.

W, who can sleep anywhere, curls up and sleeps on the bench seat while I write. After midnight, we find two massage chairs free - I let it squeeze and rolle me to sleep and enjoy about 6 hours of comfort.

We start to watch the festivities as the world begins to say farewell to a godly and good ruler, Queen Elizabeth II. Hearing "Abolish the monarchy" makes me wonder if people have considered what a comfort and constant presence she was. Many countries experienced revolutions, dissolution, and government chaos, without her steadying presence.

Britain had a queen who led by example, cared for others, and stayed on course, adjusting to her times. We hope her son also has a good character: we'll find out soon enough. What a burden to carry the weight of nations on your back.

Without a sovereign who has integrity, you eventually end in the mess of politics that characterizes the USA and other republics. "We can vote," say the people, ignoring the sorting, sifting, political elbowing, and news maniputation before they get to vote on anything. (Then we bemoan, "We have no good choices.") The backdrop of the monarchy has many benefits - if the king or queen are good people.

I see the heaps of tributes and flowers along the gates and walls of the palaces and think, it's almost that pretty in Bandung, which we have left for a short while.

Read more:

*The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalm 51:17

*Saul said to David, “Who has ever found an enemy, and sent the enemy safely away? So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day.” 1 Samuel 24:19

*Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. Romans 12:17

*All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. James 3:7-12

Moravian Prayer: Merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, may your presence grow nearer to us every day. In all that we say and do, may we reflect your will for peace, compassion, and care for all, even those who wrong us. Amen.

Days of flowers and friends

Sunday, September 4, 2022

After Eki and Lyong take the obligatory selfies, they're off - young life is full of movement!

All week, the anniversary bouquet from BIC opens. The house smells of lilies.

One suitcase is packed for our home assignment. Another lies open on the bedroom floor. Goodies stashed in nooks and crannies are pulled out and placed in the luggage.

Monday

The dogs need no persuading. They love walking first thing in the morning. We pause at the neighbor's fragrant vine beside the path.

The poinsettias are in full bloom.

The day zips by. There are the usual morning meetings. I doodle and paste some batik flowers in the homemade botanical journal. This is such a "nothing" book. I'm determined to fill the pages. It's an exercise in patience and I'm gong to learn something new in the process, I promise.

We have brunch when we remember to eat. We pause for a mid-afternoon break at #NaraPark. W's in the mood for pizza and it's a short walk from home.

"Where did the tomato sauce go?" W wonders, reviewing the menu. The pepperoni pizza comes with a side of tomato ketchup and spicy sambal. We put that on top to pep up the flavor, and hits the spot.

Tuesday

After the morning walk with the dogs and a few calls, I pop into the art studio. I return to a "What about Dreams" series. Anything goes, when it's about dreams. My dreams are colorful. The hardest parts are making them real.

The 3 canvases total 100X48 cm (approx 39"X 18"). At first, I intend to paint flowers on an abstract background. Won't this make a good base for a garden of tiger lilies? But the dull colors feel stagnant every time I go into the studio. It sits for 2 months, sucking the life out of me.

Today I go in another direction, layering color on top and pausing while the paint dries. It helps to take a photo and turn it every which way. As usual, I forget to put on gloves  so my hands are full of paint. I give them a good scrub.

Later in the day, I add another layer. I think it's a cheer-me-up triptych for the stairwell. We'll see.

At team meeting, we're partly online and partly in person. Some of us get cookies and tea; the others provide us with good company and updates. (But no cookies for them. hehe)

Afterward, Shibli and I walk through the house. My parents brought paintings from Tanzania in the 70s; a few hang upstairs. They are glimpses of another era.

We talk about how a house acquires comfort, hospitality, and warmth. Most of us can't afford high end things. So it's vital to become alert to beauty in small things and ordinary things. 

Bringing in what catches our eye and letting that find its place creates a peaceful atmosphere. Most space begin plain, with fixed walls, ceilings, and floors. This was our nook when we moved in. It was a sewing room before we got here.

There's no rush to fill a space; it will fill itself. We paint the walls white. On-sale bedsheets become a panel of curtains with the help of IKEA clips.

We start to think about all the ways the space can be used. It's little: 7' X 9' or 2.3 X 3 meters, just off the main entry. Once the imagination takes flight, things start to flow into the house. We acquire 2 skinny tables from a warehouse closeout.

Here comes an IKEA lamp on sale. We find a weaving at the airport. I paint a mural with watery acrylics and kitchen sponges. That's topped with shelves that friends are rehoming. The macrame hanging is a Christmas gift.

And so it goes. Soon it's a nook with personality where I can spread out a quilt for stitching.

Or seat 10-12 people for a study or meal.

Is there a neglected space in your house? If so, what do you already have - or what's flowing by - to give it life and usefulness?

Spaces often reflect the soul of the inhabitants. 

Is there something inside you that has lain fallow for a long time? Why not ask God to bring that part of you to life?

Read more:

*You came near when I called on you; you said, ‘Do not fear!’ Lamentations 3:57

*Can a woman forget her nursing-child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Isaiah 49:15

*Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. John 16:24

*So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.” Hebrews 13:6

Moravian Prayer: O gentle Savior, the one who takes fear away, draw near to us. In your mercy, clear our hearts and minds of the stresses of today, and grant us a small portion of your abundant joy.

God, our help in ages past, we praise you because you are faithful to us. We pray for help to remember that we should never be afraid, because you are always with us, until the end of the age. Amen.