Friday, April 5, 2024
Our kids have been married 16 years today. Congratulations, T and M! We're cheering you on. W and I had been married 30 when they got started. I'm in a meeting for an hour before sunrise at 6:00. It's a hazy morning in the mountains.
W and I walk around the block and spot this critter on the street. Its buggy eyes wave around watching as our camera comes closer.
This beetle is impressive whether buzzing around in flight (taking off above) or googling its big eyes at us (below - 1.5" - 3+cm lines). I am curious: what are the brown sacks under their wings? I look it up. Oh, those are the "real" soft wings for flight, protected by hard-shelled wings above them. How cool is God's engineering ... even for bugs.
We have breakfast at #WaorungEthnic, running into friends who are eating together. It's a favorite place for good rice and beef rendang (spicy stew.) The beef is cooked repeatedly in coconut milk and spices until it is almost dry but flavorful. It's one of my favorite Indonesian feast dishes.
A few strands shaved off the beef can flavor a heaping spoonful of rice. Rendang is not eaten by the chunk but by the sliver. It looked like stew so I took an American-sized cube in my mouth the first time - and I had to chew it a long long time before it was malleable enough to swallow. How embarrassing: later I realized that my forkful was an entire person's portion
Saturday
It's another hazy morning. The streets are empty though the playground rings with laughter and shouts. The preteen and teen boys kick a soccer ball in an oddly-shaped triangle between streets. The kids are wearing flip-flops on the uneven pavers.
Someone sends the ball out of bounds and another boy races toward the 4' wall and the drop-off to the street. The ground under the tree where the ball catches is topped with slippery leaves, and he's going at full speed. He skids toward the ball, hooks it with his toes, kicks it back into the center, and the game continues as he runs back toward his fiends. All in flip-flops. We watch in wonder.
Many houses have a garbage bin that open in the yard for disposal with another opening on the others side for pickup.
This house is being built around the former house's walls. So interesting to watch how people think about building here. I'm wondering when they'll redo the roof. For now, the workers sleep inside.
At home, I make the Sunday flower arrangement, grazing in the garden for berries, ferns, and flowers. There are a few still-green leaves and the lilies from Easter have just begun to open.
On the Porch, I watch a new-to-us betta (65c on fish street) cruise around. This fish becomes aggressive when swordtails or platys come near. Settle down: you're the new guy in town. (Maybe he's had his fins nipped before?)
I fill a 5-gallon cylinder and set it on my desk, adding a betta with 4 swordtail fry and plants from the garden ponds. As I work, they swim circles and pick at the greens.
W and I restructure the IES Bandung talk because it's Family Sunday with kids in the hall. How does the story relate to them?
I download and review 10 books that are coming to publication in the next months. What a mix: business, art, leadership, and fiction. I only thoroughly read those with content that teaches me something. On the side, I'm enjoying some "clean" family fiction by Karen Kingsbury.
Sauerkraut for lunch? Why not. The jar sitting on the counter is ready to expire. I rinse the cabbage, chop an apple and a sausage, season it with black pepper, and add cloves from our garden. It goes into the oven for a few hours with small whole potatoes on top. We eat it with radish sprouts and ricotta cheese because we don't have sour cream on hand.
The dogs get groomed - old Mr Bailey looks pretty smart for his age! Good boy. The dogs love to be at their "spa" - the groomers come to the house to take care of nails, ears, and hair (everywhere on a poodle.)
SundayOne of the wonderful parts of leading is the privilege of adding to the DNA. One of our core values is inclusion, and this works itself out in many ways. A diversity of ages, heritages, and gifting ... everyone belongs and can contribute. Today we have a young reader for one of the scripture passages. He dances with excitement when he's done.
After, we have lunch at #Narapark. The table settings are simple and elegant.
We order a Ramadan special: rendang lasagne. Very spicy!
W and I spend an hour on the swinging chairs in the backyard, watching the turtle climb up to sun itself and slide back into the water when we move. The dog sprawl nearby. The solar fountains bubble up to aerate the bathtub ponds.
Oh oh. A strip of wood paneling has fallen from the Porch ceiling. The weight of the bird cages is not the best thing for the paneling but that's not the only factor - age, termites, and 40 years of animals in the ceiling are hard on the house. W rehangs the cage into a rafter, a handy man to have around.
*I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create woe; I the Lord do all these things. Isaiah 45:6-7
*But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Romans 3:21-26
*[Jesus declares,] I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever, and I have the keys of Death and of Hades. Revelation 1:18
Moravian Prayer: Creator of all things, we see you in everything. Your presence is felt in times of joy and sorrow. We praise you for breaking the bonds of death and for raising us to new life in you. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
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