Relief and reflections

Sunday, December 4, 2022

In an international congregation, you are always saying hello and goodbye. Today, two people are moving back to their universities abroad.

Josh and Clau speak at IES Bandung. A few days later, I'm still contemplating the responses of various people to news of the birth of the Savior (from the scripture accounts of Matthew and Luke):

• Mary - submissive obedience to an uncomfortable calling (angelic visit)
• Joseph - protective obedience to care for his young wife and child (angelic visit)
• Shepherds - active obedience to see what the angels told them (host of angels)
• Wise men - an investment of time and resources to pursue the mystery of God-with-us (followed the sign of a star in the heavens)
• Herod the king - an ambitious attempt to kill off the threat of God's promise to his people (the wise men asked for his help)
• The scholars - were happy with information but no action (tasked by a wicked king, they had read the scriptural prophecies and only pretended to look forward to a messiah)

I'm thinking about it because I wonder how I react when God speaks to me - perhaps sometimes you and I have the same responses. Yet I want to be obedient rather than willfully antagonistic or merely cerebral about God's plans.

Teti has crocheted a lap blanket (or shawl). It has pretty pastel colors, matching the IES Christmas banner.

We invite those who are leaving and newcomers to lunch. A few with Nov-Dec birthdays come, too. The group swells to 19 people, including some who are strangers to us. The servers keep bringing chairs and tables and serving-ware.

Monday

Lisa comes for tea in the morning. The porch table says what happens here: games, food, insect repellant, and company. Today the porch is quiet.

For lunch, IbuS makes rice with meat curry, which I put on a salad as usual. (Have potatoes in that? You still need rice.)

Friends pick up supplies donated for the earthquake zone.

I don't often have time to appreciate the work of volunteers. The hall is quiet but beautiful. With last week's painting complete, both ends match. 

I love to pray in the spaces in anticipation of what God will do as people gather.

For supper we wander down to a student food court for dim sum and rice+chicken.

 It's good and cheap.

This little boy plays around us, ducking into the stalls with his ball.

It's definitely Christmas around here, a peaceful place with its lights and colors.

Tuesday

The yard man comes to clean up - the constantly falling leaves get caught in trees and plants. The ants have made hills where the doggie doo hasn't been scooped up. (We thought they were moles at first.)

As Christmas carols chime on my computer, the memories of Christmas past come to mind. Family - from grandparents to grandchildren, friends, and guests ... what a great celebration of God's love.

Wednesday

On date day, we walk down the street to Pino Terrace. I have HOT sauce, noodles, and vegetable broth.

We order some non-alcoholic rum balls to go.

It's a week of afternoon thunderstorms. Gypsy plants himself outside the sliding door, hopeful that we'll let him in.

The bromeliads are blooming red, just in time to look festive.

I find out that the big tree in the backyard is a bay tree. (Remember bay leaves in cooking? That's what it is. Hm. Who knew.)

I pull out a blank canvas and lay down a colorful backdrop, spreading a few drops of yellow and blue, plus 1 drop of red with a 2" housepainter brush. I squeeze some black acrylic from the tube onto the wet brush and dab in some tree-like shapes. I could have left it here.

Later in the day, adding more yellow and blue (=green), it turns muddy.

I daub on some white with the same flat brush. I pick out loose brush hairs from the acrylic paint: what a cheap hardware tool.

I can't think of what to do with it next, but I am wrapping gifts for the White Elephant exchange. Would have been nicer if I were a calligrapher. I'm not in the mood for more. That will have to do.

Leftover paint on the brush? Pull out a fresh canvas and start another (12"X16"). I don't know what I'll do with this yet - it's literally just brush-cleaning.

Along the street, there's a 5' wide wall being mortared in front of an empty lot. We continue to watch its progress, day by day.

Thursday

Walking day: I add 2 T of hot water to the scrambled eggs (2 eggs beaten with 2 T milk, 2 T flour, fried in butter) after I top them with New Zealand cheese. Cover until it puffs up = a fluffy breakfast.

The plumber comes by at 7:30 to have a look at installing hot water in the kitchen. We bought a point-of-use tank at a yard sale months ago. Later in the day, W measures the tank: the plumber will hook up water and power tomorrow. The helpers are as happy as I am. Though dish soap is formulated for cold water, it's easier to clean up with hot water.

At 8:00, it's time to leave for the walk. The dogs love it - Juno waits patiently for a drink partway up the mountain. We go over 8 km (5+ miles) up and down.

There are several wipe-outs on the trail where the mud is packed, overgrown with algae or moss, and steep. Luckily I'm not one of them.

The Dutch war forts on the hill are our destination, at the top of the loop. You can imagine the fear of the soldiers inside and out of these 12' (4 meter) concrete walls.

Unclear in the picture below is the damage that all-terrain Jeeps make in the mountains. This  road has eroded to 2-3 meters deep with high walls and pools of water in the ruts. We choose walking paths beside the trench. (I'm standing in the middle of the 9-foot (3-meter) -wide road.)

The reward as usual is lunch together. A few who had to skip the walk join us at Nara (Pinetta). today we are from Indonesia, Germany, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Canada/USA.

I'm in the mood for pasta with chicken and capers.

Paulina, one of the owners, treats us to strawberry-chocolate pizza. It's good! with cheese tucked into the crust.

We also sample a butterfly-pea coconut drink with a lychee garnish. Very refreshing.

It's mid-afternoon when we get home, tired but happy. We pull out our computers and get to work.

Read more:

*Woe to those who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent. Isaiah 5:22-23 NIV

*Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8

Moravian Prayer: Lord, we sometimes struggle with our place in the world. At times, we haven’t done that which you would have us do. Forgive us, please, and guide us in what is true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, and commendable. Amen.