Tuesday, August 26, 2025
The bromeliads are at it again!
We walk early while the streets are almost empty. Many people who live on the hill - and those who drive up from the city - "do the loop" at 7 AM. Construction workers gather before the gates open at the Padma Hotel. This premier Bandung hotel is undergoing a complete renovation and a huge crane hangs in the sky above the worksite.
Anton is a pill. He is jumpy, uncooperative, and general puppy-mischievous. W hangs onto the 3 big dogs while I keep walking with little Bailey. I'm late to the first meeting anyway but forgiven.
Today we're trying a new kind of bread, panettone made with the failed "nut bars" of last week. The bars crumbled into granola instead of holding together so we've been putting it atop yogurt for breakfast. Why not try it in bread? It tastes a bit "peanut"-y but otherwise is tasty and soft.
We visit our friend in hospital. Chandra is recovering from his surgery yesterday. Prayer and something sweet (not us, but banana bread?) is in order. It helps that his sister is a doctor: she can interpret the charts and give lucid updates.
On the way home, Veronica and Kiki send up some extra-ripe bananas.
IbuA and IbuS know exactly what to do with those! Mind you, we run out of eggs again, so PakS goes to get another 3 dozen so they can finish baking. When we're done we have 5 fresh loaves. One goes back down the hill to Veronica's. Two more go out the door to others.
Our team meeting in early afternoon shares updates and completes 30 weeks with a devotional:
Faith, Friendship, and Focus by our friend Rebekah Vicknair Metteer. It's been a great blessing to us.
At the project walkthrough, we clarify areas to be painted, simplify water needs, and approve electrical outlets.
We admire the work already done and hand over a banana bread. IbuA and IbuS's baking is greatly appreciated by the crew! and by the time we turn around, the box is empty.
We walk home, admiring a clump of flowers beside the street. The lilies bloom 3-4X a year, glowing as night falls.
As a series, they are spectacular.
WednesdayI'm up during the night, my mind churning with the project checklist that's been growing in the past few days. I write it down. My DuoLingo language assignments is accomplished for the day, too.
At 6 AM, my favorite monthly meeting starts. This Mastermind, a co-mentoring group led by
coach Kim Martinez, has been life-giving to me for years. Today we welcome a new member, a high-capacity young leader living in Jakarta.
I'm happily surprised to get Mom on a call, though it's later than usual for her. She prays for peace, thanks God for his faithfulness, and asks for blessings over the family and those we encounter.
W and I have our date breakfast, this time at #WarungEthnic. I am craving rice with oncom, fermented something-something that has a very peculiar taste. We sort plans and schedules. A hectic month lies ahead.
Afterward, W and I sit on the Porch for the Sunday read-through. This one's a doozy: wives submitting to their husbands and husbands being prepared to die for their wives. (Which one do you think is harder?!) It's going to be a Round Table Sunday, which means noisy discussions around the tables.
We track the sun at the project to check where plants will thrive. I take pictures at various hours.
The women's group is a joy.
The meeting I hurry home for is delayed and then cancelled.
Thursday
We're on the way to Lembang by 7:30 AM for a hike through the forest up to the Dutch Fort.
Every tall pine is being tapped for sap. Many trees have toppled, weakened by repeated scarring.
Some parts are steep or rutted by motorcycles.
It's rained so the air is clean and we can see across the valleys.
There are entry gates to the forts.
It's hard to imagine those young men killing each other and being killed because of the ambition and aspirations of others.
There's a memorial to the fallen soldiers above the forts.
I look down the deep air shaft above the center fort.
Some campers have left a heap of empty coconut hulls.
We have more dogs (5) today than people (4.)
Lunch at Balibu is good. I pick the salted /fermented fish off my rice before I eat though. The dogs will go crazy for those later.
The oncom is not as good as #Ethnic's.
The restaurant's handmade bamboo chairs are a work of art.
On the way home, we visit Daesy in the hospital.
We drop Veronica at her place, have a quick shower, and head back down the hill to visit Chandra and Titik at Boromeus. The kids are headed home from school on the angkot, little van-buses.
Some boys hang onto the open door and then jump off when they reach their stop.
After our dirty dogs are brushed out and fed, we relax into the evening. W and I watch My Dog Skip, looking for a film for the next movie night. Most people in Bandung are afraid of dogs so we don't show many dog movies.
Read more:
* [A poem about the value of scripture:]
Your word, Lord, is eternal;
it stands firm in the heavens.
Your commands are always with me
and make me wiser than my enemies.Your faithfulness continues through all generations;
you established the earth, and it endures.
Your laws endure to this day,
for all things serve you.
If your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
I will never forget your precepts,
for by them you have preserved my life.
Save me, for I am yours;
I have sought out your precepts.
The wicked are waiting to destroy me,
but I will ponder your statutes.
To all perfection I see a limit,
but your commands are boundless.
Oh, how I love your law!
I meditate on it all day long.
Your commands are always with me
and make me wiser than my enemies. Psalm 119:89-98
*If you obey the Lord your God: Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.” Deuteronomy 28:2-3
*You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:3
Moravian Prayer: Gracious God, teach us to pray aright. Grant us humility, sincerity, and faith as we come before you. May our prayers align with your will and bring glory to your name. Amen.
