Adieu, sweet daughter

Saturday, January 9.15 

Creative cakes in the window

Our first chore is a call to an immigration lawyer in Seattle. American border immigration officials have complete authority to take our Green Cards whenever we enter the country. Getting them back is a hassle.

We are in complete compliance with current law, according to the lawyer - but it would take money and time if someone refuses us at immigration. We want to spend the least amount of time away from our work, especially if we can expedite the process with citizenship.

We'll have to spend 3 months in the USA before we apply for citizenship. We can fly back here after that while the application is processed. We are almost due for a normal biannual sabbatical of several months.

Lunch, with a jolly Chinese-Indo family - kids being fed by Mom behind us.

W and I consider whether we should stagger our returns so we don't miss so much time here. But the next evening, I run into a cockroach - or rather it rushes towards me, so I holler for W to come kill it, and think about everything that could go wrong in an aging house. I'm not sure if I want to stay alone. Prayers for wisdom appreciated!

After the call (mostly good news), we have to run errands. The helper strips beds, irons, and makes herself lunch while we're gone. Today, we have to get to immigration to extend our Indonesian visa. Above the car, a net in the parking lot catches leaves and fruit that would fall on people below.

Sunday
We speak together downtown in an Indonesian church. The welcome is warm, the people friendly and the interpreter adds and subtracts according to what he knows about the group - that's a part of the exchange that we take for granted.

Our friend Josie comes to cheer us on and pray for us. Encouraging!

Tree complete with Disney-wrapped gifts
under the tree

Kirsten is saying her good-byes all week, exchanging greetings, WhatsApp numbers, and little gifts. She begins to pack, sorting what she can take and has to leave behind on her return to the States.

Monday

Dog walk. Every morning, we take the dog out. It's good for our health - but it feels so early after late nights and events! Usually we walk between 6 and 7:30am. Sunlight begins to brighten our room about 5:30 so we're awake, just not always happy to dress and get outside.)

The prettiest part of our neighborhood

The women and children are on the street. The gals chat and feed the babies and toddlers in their charge, smiling and calling Selamat pagi (good morning) as we pass.

Kids almost as big as their nannies. Breakfast is served ... as long as it takes, spoonful by spoonful.

After morning Bible study, participants pray over K. DrW drops in to say goodbye as well. I forget to take pictures. 

K finishes packing as W and I toss PJs and overnight take-alongs into tote bags. K's room looks abandoned. I've got a long chore list for the helper, who then texts that she's not coming today (tends to happen on Mondays, as K notes.)

The driver comes about noon and we head out in crashing thunder and lightening followed by a gushing downpour. The water in low areas is 12-15" deep within a few minutes. The main street down the hill becomes a river. Motorcycles pull over as their drivers can put on rain gear. The cyclists lift their feet up out of the water where the going is deep and swift. Cars slog through. A few, parked at the side, slip and slide into the gutters with the force of the water.
We stop at Porto for lunch before leaving Bandung: Kirsten's at her favorite food places for the last time. Between us, we have 4 kinds of potatoes on our plates. Mashed, fries, wedges, and potato soup. I'm not a big potato fan but these are tasty.

We never know how long it takes to get to Jakarta. Our friends share their guest room in Jakarta with us. They're away on a visa run to Singapore. In the evening, we head across the street for a little supper/snack at a coffee shop before bed.

Snacks at the CircleK mart may be packaged familiarly,
but they include shrimp chips, seaweed, coffee-flavored popcorn, and cassava chips.

Tuesday
We eat leftovers for breakfast but eat at a local mall for lunch: Kirsten is hungry for Chinese food before she leaves tonight. We decide on Japanese instead. You know how that goes.

Whew, this mall is not like home. The upscale shops looked just like "back in Seattle" when we first arrived in Indonesia. Now the difference between well-maintained Western-style shopping in Jakarta and what we have in Bandung is starkly obvious. (Maintenance is not a high value near us. W notes the new paving in the neighborhood is already lifting and pitted with potholes.)

K needs to rest so we skip the mall and head back for the flat. We call the driver, who doesn't see us standing near the exit. He makes a complicated U-turn to find us but nothing is easy in Jakarta traffic: a simple U-turn involves leaving the lot, battling traffic around the block and coming back in.

We're in the X of the intersection, with traffic criss-cross-ing in every direction beside us

After a nap at the flat, we head for the airport. Traffic is good so we hang out in a coffee shop before hugging and kissing Kirsten goodbye at the security gate. The guard lifts her suitcases onto the X-ray conveyer belt.

Then she waves goodbye and is gone. Her trip is about 40 hours, so we'd appreciate prayers for safe and healthy travel. She'll need a good place to live and a roommate when she arrives.

W sleeps on the 4.5-hour trip home, while I read, pray, and think. Another season finished. My mother-heart doesn't know what to feel. Numb, mostly. I peek into the empty room. IbuA has stripped the bed, washed the floor, and folded the things on the floor. Thanks be to God. I sink into bed near midnight, exhausted.

Wednesday
After the dog walk, the landlord calls that he's on his way. More inspections and pictures needed for his loan to develop the property next door. A lovely surprise by the gate: an orchid is blooming, just like last year when we moved here.

I need better internet to grade projects, so I walk down the hill to Ethnic Resto. I couldn't ask for a prettier place to grade papers!

Beside my table, a worker fits a plywood sheet to the door.

Their Vietnamese spring rolls are fried in so much oil - when I put a napkin under the rolls to drain fat, they're immediately saturated. And they're still greasy. But the tea is hot and bitter. Perfect.

The plagiarism checker notes aberrations to the assignments. Students struggle with knowing how to do their own work and quote others.

Read more: (ESV unless noted)
*One who rules over people justly, ruling in the fear of God, is like the light of morning, like the sun rising on a cloudless morning. 2 Samuel 23:3–4

*God says, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” Isaiah 43:1 

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

*Keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Acts 20:28

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

*So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:26-28  NIV

Moravian Prayer: You, O Lord, revel in a repentant heart. Teach us the value of humility before your throne and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. May we be dressed in the white robes of your salvation.

Gentle Shepherd, you grant us your authority of love. In every way that we find ourselves in authority over others, let us take your example and lead in gentleness and love. Amen.

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.