Connections and reconnections

Saturday, October 11, 2025

We walk - untangling the dogs takes some skill when 3 big ones walk on a leash. Little Bailey gets his own leash so he doesn't get trampled.

We pass a group dressed in cowboy hats, jeans, and boots. Hmmm.

For supper I fry mushrooms and corn to make a sauce to go with dumplings. The final ingredient (curry) ruins it but we eat it anyway.

Sunday

What a reunion with the family we love at IES Bandung! Titik's flowers are refreshing to the soul.

Sunday is always feels like coming home but after 4 weeks away, today is even more so.

W and I are weary with jetlag so we go home for an hour to shower and unwind. Shall we eat? Should we order in? Maybe we can go to Homeground for Chinese food? Neither of us can make a decision but we go out the gate and walk up the hill.

It's a God-thing. We meet people we haven't seen for a long time in a happy coincidence. It's their first visit to the restaurant; and we almost stayed home. We pull our tables together and talk about life and God for hours.

"To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else." ~ Emily Dickinson. I often feel that way. We toddle down the hill back home to rest, pondering the mystery of our faith.

Monday

We're on a double loop walk before work starts. After morning calls, my head starts spinning with sewing measurements. We'll use flat sheets as curtains to cover the 10' tall windows at the project. Some windows span long rooms so we need to add a wide drop of the same pattern.

Hopefully I don't need to buy more. I pull out the fabric stash from under our bed and calculate "if they're cut into thirds lengthwise, or halves, or ...?" how much do I have to work with?

A friend comes for lunch and conversation. It's pleasant on the Porch. We'll miss this spot when we move.

We cover numerous subjects, including one of the big scams here: loans. The agreed interest is staggering and several young people we know have fallen into the debt trap.

Tuesday

After the walk come morning calls and texts. I can hardly remember life before we checked in with the world when the day started.

One of the delights of our home is the green spaces. Over 10 years, we've planted and seeded and we've had a mature and diverse garden. Today there are avocados from the tree in the backyard.

On the side wall, orchids are blooming.

When he arrives, the yardman walks with me to the project to discuss the relocation of the gardens. The bushes he replanted while I was napping yesterday? They have to be moved.

When W and I return before noon to see what's been done, he's moved around the transplants as we discussed and added new shrubs. It's a hot day under the blazing tropical sun - the best scenario for the plants would be a solid rain tonight.

 It's time to start compiling the surveys for the new book. I keep losing track of digital files, setting me back whenever I step away and start up. But do I want 500 printed pages? nope. Rethink. W spends hours sorting it out.

The team comes over mid-afternoon for prayer, debrief, and connection. How we've grown to love and treasure these relationships.

In the evening, I talk to A, my spiritual director - she shares a poem (below) that pulls my heart into the Presence.

"What do you want from God?" she asks. Two things: calm wisdom, plus the passionate fire of spiritual life.

Read more:

*His authority would last forever, and his kingdom would never end. Daniel 7:14

* Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Philippians 2:1-4

* If we have died with him, we will also live with him. 2 Timothy 2:11

* Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

Moravian Prayer: Christ, our eternal savior, you speak to us in all times and places. You are our constant, a guiding star for us as we navigate this tumultuous world. Though we change, your works remain our anchor. Let us hear your voice in all our tomorrows and praise your name our whole life long. Amen.

* BLESSED ARE YOU by Jan Richardson (janrichardson.com)

Blessed are you
who bear the light
in unbearable times,
who testify
to its endurance
amid the unendurable,
who bear witness
to its persistence
when everything seems
in shadow
and grief.

Blessed are you
in whom
the light lives,
in whom
the brightness blazes—
your heart
a chapel,
an altar where
in the deepest night
can be seen
the fire that
shines forth in you
in unaccountable faith,
in stubborn hope,
in love that illumines
every broken thing
it finds.