Making room for celebration and Good News

Friday, November 22, 2024

Slowly the main room takes shape for Christmas. W spends a few days testing Christmas lights one by one, which takes hours at a time. I'd strip out the sockets and put in new bulbs. He got a deal on hundreds of bulbs after Christmas last year, but he's much more patient than I am.

Someone is getting upgraded internet. We spot young men stringing the wire along the existing cables. They pull a strand, then shimmy up a ladder to fasten it to the next point.

There's a pretty hedge blooming at the Padma Hotel as we walk by.

A satisfyingly domestic day. We try a new recipe of vegan banana bread, cook bean soup, and sauté mushrooms in the kitchen. We're take some rugs up and bring others down. The guys move furniture into place, and the helpers put cushion covers on the Porch benches = between discussions of Sunday's talk, edits of a dissertation proposal, 

and instructions for the new gardener. Look at the lemon tree - dozens of large lemons are ripening.

The "false bird of paradise" are thinned and ready for cutting into arrangements.

Saturday

The tree lights are working so I get cracking on decorating. We walk before a date breakfast at Nara (first in weeks) and break to try a new Chinese-flavored place for lunch. No need for supper!

Daniel and Della come by for Christmas supplies to decorate the hall. W and I shop at the blowout sales after Christmas. We stash the ornaments and garlands away to share the next year.

Della and Daniel are doing a natural theme and want to use one of our 6' tree-trunks, fastened onto an iron base. We had cut the branch off the guava tree years ago and send it to the hall with boxes of decorations. 

Today, as we strip the orchids and bromeliads off the wood, we find a dried-out visitor who got stuck in the roots. 

Cute - I pull him off carefully and lay him inside on a fall arrangement. Someone will find him if they look closely. (My design philosophy is to have a few "What's that!" moments when people look around a room.)

The bargain surprise from last year is 4 strands of 5-meter/16' lights. They turn out to be 15+ meters/50' long! One string covers the nook, tops the bookshelf, and crosses the living room. The other lights up the opposite side of the room.

Sunday

After a broken night's sleep, it's off to the hall for IES Bandung. Today we wrap up the year's study in the book of Acts. It's a Round Table Sunday, with table settings and a stunning arrangement by Titik.

It's also team meeting, so we host lunch when we're done.

Monday

Alice comes for supplies for Art Sunday. Group leaders buy supplies for various projects but we're not a rich congregation. So, rather than toss things, we store them and reuse them. I finish decorating while W is leading a study. He and PakG haul the empty boxes back up to storage.

This 70cm/30" Indonesian pebble game was a gift from Ruth a few years ago. She filled it with flowers and ribbons. We display it at home and at the hall during the Christmas season: such beautiful carving, and a creative idea.

We scored some fake candles last year, too. They act as night lights.

We meet a couple for lunch and head toward town to run some errands. We stall in traffic on a busy street and make a U-turn for home. While I'm: "We're out; let's get it done and over with," W prefers to make another trip tomorrow when traffic  is lighter.

Tuesday

I run into Christine in the third shop. She may become a new Thursday walker, who knows? Two blond heads in one store? That's utterly rare here.

This is the sum total of Christmas wares in a huge department store: 2 one-sided racks. Christmas is not a big deal for most people in a Muslim-majority country, especially with decorating and gift-giving. That said, our guests enjoy it with us.

Read more:

*“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” said the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. Revelation 1:8

*No one shall be found among you who practices divination, or is a soothsayer, or an augur, or a sorcerer. For whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord. Deuteronomy 18:10, 12

*O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me! Micah 6:3

*Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? Romans 2:4

*Sober up, as you rightly ought to, and sin no more, for some people have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. 1 Corinthians 15:34

Moravian Prayer: God, help us to honor your word and to follow your righteous way. We know that our sins are forgiven through Jesus Christ, but we need your help to live holy and righteous lives. Let our lives be a testimony to Christ, so that others will come to know you.

We pray for you to rule over our lives. We give thanks to you for caring for us in sending your son, Jesus Christ. Your kindness and patience have led us to repentance and to our Savior. Teach us to show your kindness and patience to those around us. In Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.