Sorting and building

Sunday, November 23 2025

The last "Ordinary" Sunday of the year. We remind everyone that Advent starts next week. Titik provides a beautiful arrangement of flowers.

It's a marvel of creative shape and colors. We have a good crew of volunteers today.

After lunch, W and I hang more sheet-curtains in the Project. Slowly the backdrop is coming together. The dogs race around the yard, ensuring it is cat-and-rat-free. We've haven't seen the pool snake since last week, when it was digesting a frog.

On the way home, I marvel at the "rotten teeth"seeds lying in these almost-done flowers (zoom in).

Monday

After a walk and meetings, we head to the Project to work on details. I inventory the stash of Christmas decor. W starts to put up the picture rails. We hang drapes, pause for lunch, check how the transplanted garden is doing (some great - some looks dead), and talk to the workers. We're worn out by late afternoon; sure don't have the stamina we had at 35! haha

An old school cabinet has become an upper cabinets in the kitchen. We'll need doors on the other (former) bookshelves to keep out rodents and cockroaches, too. Might have to have someone build them. Shall we try to match doorknobs? These aren't very even.

We haven't watched a movie in months but we landed on Family Plan last week when we needed a break. It was so full of "action" that we stopped halfway through (had our fill) and didn't finish until today. We read books and write emails as we watch, missing the extended shoot-em-up scenes.

I play fetch with the dogs as I work on the Porch and am grateful when the sun goes down.

Tuesday

Mom calls at 4AM. It's been a short night already, but she's worth picking up the phone for. We talk and pray together. She calls again with good news at 6:30 during our morning walk. She is beyond thrilled: someone has committed their life to Jesus at her place. Mom reminds us that no matter what the age or circumstances, God works through people. He wants to draw everyone to himself through those who know him.

After working on Advent resources, we pick up home supplies, which takes most of the day. We find shelving for storage, office hooks, cabinet pulls, and curtain rods -  all very exciting, right? We're tired when we get home in the late afternoon.

Meanwhile, IbuS waxes the floor tiles in the pantry, which go from this ...

to this.

Someone swings by in the evening but he forgets to remind us he's coming. We don't hear him at the gate.

He writes: "Sorry to miss you. Can I come see you after work tomorrow? I'll be there at 6:30." Sure. When you get up at 4AM, 7PM seems late.

A cockroach scrabbles across the bedroom floor at 10PM. I flip on the light but he crawls up the bookcase by the bed. That doesn't help our sleep. I spot it and try to smash it (nevermind the stench - I just don't want it alive!) but can't catch it. W can't find it after it disappears into the bookcase. We're up until after 2AM.

Wednesday 

We wake and walk early. Anton gets a hard training session of leash work - he's smart and does well. For breakfast, we try a stollen made by Dutch bakers. It's not like Mom's. It's heavier and wetter and the marzipan is grainy with sugar. Was a good try.

When the helpers arrive, we stop by the supermarket on the way to visit Nicole. She is having surgery later in the day, which is successful but painful. We bring her a banana bread to share with company.

W walks miles from the hospital to run errands downtown. He's searching for latches, exploring CCTVs, and doing our banking.

I get a call as PakG is driving me home. "There are now 25 people coming to the Thanksgiving dinner. Can you make those fingerling potatoes you offered earlier, in addition to what you're bringing?"

Oh brother. We loop around the mountain roads on the way back to the supermarket. Apparently the owners have noticed that I buy 6-7 net-bags of those cheap potatoes each movie night. I've encouraged others to buy them as well. They're now packaged in styrofoam trays and much more expensive. I take four packages to the cashier.

Back home an hour later, I sort shoes, give away a half-dozen, tag some for washing, and bag up the rest. We're getting things ready for storage and use. Big garbage bags are filling up with things to move. The Christmas stuff will go up as soon as we move in. Movie night guests and others enjoy the decorations with us.

In the afternoon at the Project, I assemble bathroom shelves while W screws in cabinet knobs. He brings out some anti-rust solution for the old kitchen sink. We're repurposing as much original material as we can. The local inclination is to toss everything and start over, but Indonesian garbage dumps are already overflowing. We go from this ... to a sparkling clean surface.

It's like having a new sink. "Good thing the rust didn't corrode this sink," remarks the building manager. It's made of decent stainless steel. Around it, the old stone counters are stained but beautifully functional.

It's astonishing to see how far the Project has come. They've screened ventilation openings above windows, pulled more wiring, and are wrapping up plumbing projects. There's still quite a bit left to do: install hot water heaters, laundry hookups, connect 2 sinks, and install the rest of the lighting.

W notices water damage on the soffits of the new roof in 2 places. He walks around the Project with various workers. We'll do a walk-through with the boss on Saturday. Hopefully things will be finished by then.

Internet goes in today. The young men are quick and efficient but the sun is going down when we walk home.

Our young friend says he's on the way at 6:30PM. We're fading fast after 7:15 as we wait for him. W asks, "When is he coming? We have maybe a half hour before we fall asleep." Oh oh.

He comes at 7:20. "I had to take my friend to the hospital. He was hit by a fast-moving car as he left work."

Oh my! He stays for a while, sharing the work he wants to do in the world: boosting children from poverty and stunting to broader opportunities. He needs advice on writing an admissions essay to an European university. We enjoy hearing God call young people to do his work and fulfill their purpose = loving God and loving each other.

Read more:

* As an eagle stirs up its nest, and hovers over its young, the Lord spread his wings, he caught them, he carried them on his pinions. Deuteronomy 32:10-12

* Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:10

* The Lord said, “I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Isaiah 49:6

* My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. John 10:29

* During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. Acts 16:9-10

Moravian Prayer: God of light and truth, you are a light unto the world. Give us a willing heart to be beacons of faith, love, and hope to those in darkness. With thanksgiving, we pray in your holy name. 

Gentle Shepherd, bring us close to you to comfort and calm our fears. Through the unexpected struggles we face, you have always been there to provide for us. May we fully trust in your amazing care. Amen.

Small creatures who love art?

Friday, November 21, 2025

The liturgy sets us in the 33rd Week of Ordinary Time. There are only 34 "Ordinary" weeks in a year ... which means Advent is just around the corner. As kids, around this time we'd start learning carols and verses for the children's program on Christmas Eve. Our reward was a goodie bag and a present from our Sunday School teacher.

Christmas Eve was one of the most exciting evenings of the year, and not only because of the performance. Afterward, when we got home, we opened our Christmas presents. We followed that rhythm with our kids too. No dashed dreams about Santa as they grew older - it was a party celebrating the birth of Jesus, complete with gifts for everyone. (As a bonus, the children had toys to play with on Christmas Day so didn't wake us.) I'd get up at 6AM to prepare the feast and stuff the turkey - usually the size of a small child at 25-lb/11kg - and put it in the over for 5-6 hours to cook. Ah, memories.

Today most of the art in the house comes off the walls. There are paintings and pictures from the West, Africa, Asia, and S.America. Nothing from Australia or Antarctica ... yet.

We have everything from prints to originals by local artists and students.

There's even a 30"/80cm target we found at the neighborhood dump. It's one of my favorite things to mix in with "real" art. IbuS gives everything a cleaning in preparation for moving.

In lieu of wallpaper in the powder room (which gets hard use at movie night and other events), I took sharpies and wrote dozens of sentences to stir the imagination into stories. We've had a lot of comments over the years; "What did you mean by ...?" and they're quote something from the walls.

I don't know. Nothing? I just got one sentence after another and wrote them down in various colours. I could easily write paragraphs, short stories, or books with them as prompts.

On the second floor, I decided against a guest book, though we use one for downstairs dinner and movie guests. Upstairs, many overnight guests have left a signature and note on the wall behind the dining table. It makes me smile every time I read what they've written, complete with dates of their stay.

I spot a folder of unframed art on an upstairs shelf. Oh oh. I'm tying up loose ends as things start to shift. Ages ago, we found red frames on sale in As-Is IKEA. Might as well fill them up. I frame a watercolor sketch Clau bought from a street artist in her hometown in Brazil. 

I hot-glue the discarded washers, bolts, and saw blades from the construction site onto an acrylic background. Each time I saw a circle, I put it in my pocket until we got home. We have quite a collection.

At the Project, we hang some curtains to check lengths. I can't finish because we run out of curtain rings. I'll be happy when all the windows are covered.

They're installing mosquito screens in the gaps that ventilate the house. With mild tropical weather, we don't need air-conditioning or heating. Afternoon breezes flow across the mountain slopes to provide relief, even after the hottest days.

Termites are eating their way through several window sills. Those will have to be sprayed and patched or replaced.

Saturday

W takes shelves and mirrors off the bedroom walls. I empty one surface to place things on another. We're not yet moving but want to do some "moving day" things in advance, even when it's temporarily inconvenient. 

I write a dozen book reviews - and find 21 more pages of books awaiting reviews in my NetGalley account. Oh oh. Better get reading! I like browsing what's out there, whether that's new ideas for class, design concepts, how-tos, or good stories. This one was a bit thick and unusual in that it didn't approach Lewis from his base of faith.

Someone drops by to pick up a table and chairs for their children. They change their minds, "Not what we expected." No worries: it's also too big for their SUV.

We enjoy brunch at Maxis with George and Karissa, who are planning their wedding next year. 

Someone else is having a wedding this afternoon - look at the flowers!

It pours as we get ready to go home. The drain grates catch needles, leaves, and street garbage, but there's no flooding at the Project.

There are so many quirks and corners at the Project. Today, workers are providing a cover for an empty pond that captures the runoff from the roof. Without that, mosquitoes and other creatures will make it their home because it has to be manually drained as water comes in. The left space beside the narrow pond has a drainage pipe so it doesn't need to be covered; we'll fill it with a gravel base for pots with fish and plants.

In the afternoon, we continue dismantling the current house. 

The shelves around our bed are lifted off. Casters are unscrewed from too-tall shelves that will support my office desk. I measure and measure again: what is going to fit where in the new spaces?

Rugs need cleaning. This one sat on the Porch for the past few years. Coffee stains, dirt from bare feet, and grit from dog paws have changed the color.

Fabrics come off the walls. This beautiful sari from our daughter hung in a guest room. (She found it in a secondhand shop in Korea.)

You can only imagine how dirty it gets behind picture frames and bookcases in homes that are not closed off from the outside. Unsealed gaps around hand-built windows and doors let in house lizards, roaches, and ants. We've found garden frogs inside the house after they've squeezed through the narrow openings, too. Today, a big (luckily dead) roach topples out of a suitcase holding new shower curtains and pillowcases. There's fresh lizard poop on some of the just-washed fabrics.

I pull out a book after reviewing tomorrow's work and sit down with a cup of peppermint tea. Ahhhh.

Read more:

* "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Cry out, Save us, God our Savior; gather us and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, and glory in your praise. Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting."

Then all the people said “Amen” and “Praise the Lord.” 1 Chronicles 16:34-36

* Rise up, come to our help. Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love. Psalm 44:26

* The God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. 1 Peter 5:10

Moravian Prayer: Lord, we are grateful that you call us to your eternal glory. When the time is right, we will rise up and come. Until that day, may our resolve to create your image here on Earth never waver. Amen.

The whole house smells like banana bread ...

Monday, November 17, 2025

I'm up from 2AM. My watch and phone are in the hallway. I work for a few hours but before I know it, it's time to walk. There's only one meeting. The other two are postponed.  W's in a study but I crash and fall asleep for an hour. I catch a call from K who's made it to Doha.  We're out over noon to do some grocery shopping.

One of our stops is Papaya, a fruit and packaged food grocer. I look up when I see movement: a rat is bounding along the top of the produce section. Ugh.

At lunch, we sit in the Saka Bistro courtyard. We're surrounded by interesting plants.

I order gnocchi, one of our favorite items on the menu.

A breeze blows through and rustles the palm fronds.

A squirrel has trapped itself inside by running along the roof supports. We watch it run back and forth until it figures out the exit. Seems to be a small-mammal day.

At the Project, we hang another set of sheets, these floral ones. Mice have chewed big holes in the bottoms of them so I use an iron-on glue to patch them with a leftover piece of floral fabric.

The fabric is not the same, but similar. Can you spot the repair on the hem? Maybe when I open them up ... For now the pleats are taking shape.

Someone asks, "How are you setting up that as a closet?" I send the sketch from a collection of "we could," and "maybe this," and "how about that if it fits?" Each room has a page or two of possibilities so that I don't have to sort through random piles when we move.

This is an economy project, that's for sure. These old library tables will become the kitchen island. There are 4 shallow drawers on each side and we'll put baskets across the base.

The dogs are happy to take another walk to the Project. In the serving area, there's lots to do. W drills holes for cabinet knobs in the reworked cabinet doors. The electrician has lowered the shop lights that we painted with motorcycle spray paint. When they're level, they'll look good.

The sinks are rusted but we asked the contractor not to replace them: they're old but solid. Boy, are they dirty!

I scrub them with Bar Keeper's Friend (as per Google instruction). I tucked a bottle of BKF into our luggage from the USA. You never know what stuff comes in handy.

More scrubbing lies in the future - but it's already much improved! We stopped in at Daiso earlier, where I grabbed a cereal bowl organizer. It looks like a little pail with slots and holes in the sides. With the base ridge cut off, it fits the 6" wide, 7" deep sink drain. Daiso sells little nets to catch food scraps, too. I pull one over the pail's sides - perfect size.

We picked up baking supplies, bleach, and chicken livers at the big grocery store. W pours five litres of bleach into the pool, hoping to kill the frogs and their foamy clumps of floating eggs. "It wouldn't hurt also to kill some algae," notes W.

I cook the chicken livers with a clove of garlic and cut them up for dog training treats. Tomorrow will be a baking day for the helpers. Christmas cookies are coming! This year we need 2000 instead of 5000 like last year.

Tuesday

Up again at 2:30AM and I feel rested. No watch, no phone by the bed; I check the time on the kitchen clock. When my body is ready, I guess I wake up. Hmmm. I get some work done in the wee hours and have a one-hour nap before getting up to walk.

Today the house starts to unravel. If you ever doubt the power of art, here it is before ... 

And after the art and art shelves come off the walls. That feels like we're saying goodbye. The same shelves will be mounted in the Project.

All kinds of art hang on the walls and are stored in the attic. We've been given paintings and portraits. We've lucked out in finding $1.50-$30 originals. We've repurposed canvases that were being thrown out by painting over them. It adds up to a variety of styles, mediums, colours, and sizes.

A friend drops by to ask if he can host an event in the Project. Why not? We're happy if it blesses others. By the time they get around to the date in the next year, the yard should have filled in with creeping grass (Axonopus compresses) and look less scruffy.

Everyone's working today. Between dog walking and sweeping, PakG transfers a few dozen potted plants to the new yard. Veronica sends 6!!! hands of bananas, which will make their way into banana breads on Thursday.

Today the women bake cookies toward Christmas giving.

We run the robot vacuum for 3 hours in the new pantry. We change to the wet cycle and run it for another 2 hours. The floor gets soapy with Dawn detergent in the water tank = oops, too much soap. I have to push a clean wet rag around the room with my feet a few times, mopping up the foam.

I walk back and forth between properties so many times that I have to change shoes to ease my soles. We have no trouble reaching 8-10,000 steps every day, even when only half that is from our morning loops. They've been promising a strong downpour for the past 3 days. The wind kicks up, the banana leaves and bamboo fronds rustle, the chimes clang ... but so far, no tropical deluge.

Kirsten has a few good things happen on her three flights from Malaysia to Austin, including a premium seat for the longest flight. However. she also encounters flight delays and 2 unexpectedly rude Qatar attendants, one in Doha and the other in Dallas. (Cmon Qatar, you can do better than that. They're rated in the top 5 airlines in the world? Not this trip!)

"Go up the ramp and walk to see if you can find a wheelchair," says the Dallas Qatar employee to K, pointing to a passenger slope, not once but thrice. She's watching dozens of passengers being pushed through immigration and then walking away miraculously healed. K has fused ankles among other joint challenges. Slopes are difficult. She reminds the attendant that she's booked a wheelchair. The attendant shrugs and after the third brush-off, K gets up and tries to limp toward the ramp.

The attendant sees how painful it is and says, "Never mind. Sit down again." That's only one of the strange and unhelpful things K encounters in the Dallas airport. We're relieved when she makes it home, safe and sound. Her house-and-pet sitters welcome her to a clean home and a happy Mika (toy poodle).

W and I notice many fake disabilities on Asian flights. People demand a wheelchair to get on the plane first, then are apparently healed mid-flight ... unless they have to go through immigration. Then the healing miracle only happens after their passports are stamped. Sigh. Such abuse prevents care for those who truly need help.

After everyone has gone home and the kitchen is cleaned, we have an online team meeting. Our help lives nearby but for travellers, we're trying to avoid the rainstorm that arrives about 3PM. When it pours, the danger of flash floods and overflowing gutters is great. The lightning flashes and thunder rolls but it's over quickly today.

Wednesday

Middle of the night, I'm up for a few hours thinking about the goodness of God. Finally I get up to I write Sunday's talk and finish other tasks. Then it's back to sleep.

"God in his mercy doesn't show us the future," says my 90-year-old mother. I look at college photos from the 1970s and 80s. Now these students are 50-70 years old.

Those young hopefuls had no idea of how wonderful and how difficult their lives would be. They looked like today's students - maybe a little more optimistic without social media and lawsuits warping their prospects. But they were just as energetic and dressed the same. After graduation, they spread across the planet, raising families, working, and traveling to serve or for pleasure. We still know many of them.

When daylight comes, we read through Sunday's talk, order a few things online for the Project, and walk with the dogs. We stop in to measure open cabinets for doors (from IKEA's As-Is, the next time we go.)

We return the dogs to our house, then go for our date breakfast at #NaraPark. We live in a beautiful part of the world. We talk to K while we wait for out food. She catches us up on her travels and arrival.

I have an hour-long appointment. The topic is transitions. We're in more than a few right now. W and PakG head off to pick up some furniture while I work from home. They're delayed by a flat time and eat out - so when they come back, the prepared food gets packed up for another meal.

I sort my closet in preparation for moving. I pull out things I have worn and begin passing them on. Four people sort through them separately, choosing what they'd like.

Thursday

We're off to the mountains for the first time in a month. First, a breakfast of spicy sauce along with leftover spaghetti and eggs.

We are committed to this group - it's wellness for us all. Between one thing and another, we have missed the past 3 times. I miss the opportunity to support another friend but can't skip more with these friends. We start down the hill we usually end on. Tea roots stretch downward on either side of the broken paving.

We do the trail in reverse, turning around to the starting place from where the trail is under water. We squeeze by on the sides elsewhere. But where the path is completely submerged, none of us wants to get any dirtier or wetter than we are (= the dogs running by give us mud showers.)

Anton is funning full steam, playing with the other big labradoodle. He slams into me and knocks me off my feet halfway through the hike, twisting my ankle. Luckily my ankle is bruised but not sprained. It's not a long hike today: +7 km (4.5 miles) of paving, rocky trails, and overgrown grasses. The view over the volcanos and tea fields is spectacular.

The sides of the mountains are stacked with tea bushes in this area. They flourish in the volcanic soil and cool air. I take a picture as we head down from the mountains.

We choose Mike Pizza for lunch, with its attentive servers, good food, and ambiance.

As usual, we start with bruschetta - fresh tomatoes on hot bread.

Today we even meet Mike of Mike Pizza, which is the best Italian-style restaurant in the city.

Even construction debris is beautiful. I've picked up circles at the Project for the past months. Maybe they're meant for this painted backdrop. What do you think?

The helpers bake 8 more loaves of banana bread and 4 boxes of ginger cookies, which are taken to the hall in the afternoon.

Read more:

* Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Psalm 90:14

* The aim of such instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. 1 Timothy 1:5

 Moravian Prayer: God Almighty, we trust that the sun will rise in the morning and set in the evening, but we do not always trust in the things we cannot see or feel. Help us to trust in you—the rock on which our faith depends. Amen.