Answered Prayer

Have you ever prayed for something for years and then suddenly got what you prayed for and didn't know how to handle it? After decades of praying for a godly man for my sister, God has answered all in a rush. Certainly to Him it is not rushed; He has been preparing things behind the scenes all this time, but we are suddenly getting to see His work for ourselves.

(photo taken December 2011––before ANY of this had begun)

In March, prompted by my dad through a friend, Cah began an email correspondence with Charis. Although they didn’t know each other well, they had known each other for 5 years, 3 of those years in Papua, where Charis taught grade one and Cah facilitated a Bible Translation project.

On April 4, Cah flew to Singapore to spend a week with my family with the express purpose of getting to know Charis better. Three days later they knew they wanted to marry each other. Their communication was open and uncomplicated, and they treasured what they saw in each other.

Wedding plans are in the making, but first on the agenda are the details of closing/redirecting their individual paths. Charis is in the process of resigning from her teaching job in Singapore and will be returning to Papua to join Cah in his ministry once they are married.

Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us . . . (Eph3:20)

Easter morning in Singapore, moments after Cah announced to mom and dad and me (present on skype) that he and Charis had decided to get married!

Frick & Frack

My flatmate saw a post on facebook that someone had found 2 kittens needing a home. I dropped in to see them and couldn't walk away from their sweetness. Frick and Frack are inseparable.

If Frack drinks milk, Frick does, too.

If Frick takes a nap, Frack tops him off.

If Frick goes potty, Frack decides it's time for him, too.

If Frack plays in a box, Frick joins in the fun.

Frick shot 40 feet up a tree and Frack was right behind him. Getting down was not so easy. Ha ha!

We drink water together, too. So what?

Oh yes, we fight, too. But in the end, we're best buds.

Frick and Frack were the first names that came to mind, but I decided to name them Manis (Indonesian, meaning "Sweet) and Zanmi (Creole, meaning "Friend"). Then looked up Frick and Frack and decided to stick with those names.

Nothing Like Mom

The last couple months have been rough for me. I have been overwhelmed and emotionally fragile. My family decided I needed someone with me, so they put mom on a plane to come be with me from Singapore. It was MUCH needed.

Mom's presence and help around the house was a huge boost in getting more settled. While she was here, cool furniture arrived from Malaysia that they had shipped over, and we bought a sofa and loveseat from Salvation Army. Woohoo! By the time she left I was ready to make some decisions about the upcoming months. THANK YOU for coming, mom! And THANK YOU for sending her, Charis and Dad. You guys are the best family ever.

Psalms

These past 5 weeks my church has been going through some Psalms. Each week our pastor has given us assignments to respond with a psalm of our own mimicking the style of the one covered on Sunday and then post it on FB (if we want to) by Friday. It has been such a neat activity. Last week was Psalm 147. In the freshness of Vitri's passing away, this was mine:

Praise the LORD

who sets out the times and seasons––

for birth and death;

for weeping and laughing,

mourning and dancing,

silence and speaking.

Praise the LORD

who breathed HIS breath in us

and gave us LIFE;

who determines

the number of breaths we have in us;

who knows the number of our days

and the dust from which we came

and will return.

Praise your God, Sarahjoy,

the Great Three, yet One,

seamlessly dancing.

We're assembled in His likeness

and must have companions.

Rejoice in His supplying

of friends.

Praise the LORD

and sing a new song to the King

whose ways are not our own;

whose Kingdom belongs to

the poor in spirit;

to meek and to children;

those persecuted for righeousness;

those who lay down their life;

and die to self; and

those certain of things unseen.

Exalt the King

whose life revolved around

uneducated fishermen

unpopular and unfair tax collectors

untouchable sick

stonable prostitutes

the hopeless dead and

those with untamable, unclean spirits.

Praise the LORD all you people--

who turns sorrow into joy

and mourning to dancing

who uses trials to bring perseverance

and for perseverance gives the crown of life!

Praise the LORD.

"You Give and Take Away"

Not many minutes after opening a facebook message heralding wildly exciting pregnancy news from friends on the other side of the world, another message popped up on my screen: a skype chat with a crying face from another friend (green shirt). It was early Sunday afternoon for me, but for her it was 3 am Monday morning and she had just found out that our sweet friend, sister, and 36-year-old co-worker went home to Jesus a few hours earlier (blue shirt). I worked with these 2 girls the 7 months I lived in Jakarta.

Today was the first bout of rain we've had in a long time here. I stayed home from the office, drained from yesterday's news. The rain was a little bit of comfort, as if God were bringing sympathetic tears my way. It is SO HARD to be on the opposite side of the world from where all my friends are grieving.

The rain has stopped now but I can't seem to just yet. I wish so much that I could be in Jakarta with my friends! In my mind I keep shouting, "It can't be! It can't be!" Last night I wrote in my journal:

I can't believe it. I just can't believe it. It can't be true. I must have heard wrong. Misunderstood.... But Vitri's FB page confirms it. Oh my friends. 2 of your treasures are gone [last month another friend was killed in a motorcycle accident]. Your group is full of treasures. Strengthen them through these deaths, Lord. It's so hard to be left behind. For their sake it is wonderful and we wouldn't wish them back, away from your presence, but we long to be there, too. With You, with them. One day... What a glorious day it will be!

Kak Vitri, I can't wait to dance before the Throne with you and those whose lives you have touched. I praise the Lord that your pain is over, but in the meantime I ache!!! Love you, kak. You are missed. Hug Jesus for me.

No "Control+Z"

Do you ever find yourself thinking, "Just click 'undo,'" and then remember that that only works on the computer––not on real life?

Normally I drink out of a mug, regardless of the temperature of the drink. That way I can keep track of my drink and don't keep getting out glasses. I have been SO COLD today. So I just boiled some water on the stove to SIP on and warm my insides. I poured the boiling hot water into my mug, picked up a plate of food with it and started walking out of the kitchen. I had a fleeting thought of thirst,

accompanied by a temporary memory relapse that I was not carrying the normal room-temperature water in my mug. I took a gulp. And promptly spit it out on the floor. And dropped to my knees. And set my plate of food and mug on the floor. And in my mind was shouting to myself:

"Go back! Go back! Rewind! WHY did you do that???!!! Undo! Undo!"

But life has no "Control+Z".*

My mouth has been numb for the last 30 minutes, with a slight stinging sensation. Now I can feel a grand blister growing steadily on the roof of my mouth that feels buttery smooth to my tongue (as buttery smooth as my move). Recovery will not be fun. But I can't complain when I think of the spectrum of possible pains caused by stupidity and that this is at the top of my stunts. I don't care to ever top this one, but that is an unlikely reality.

*control + z is the keyboard shortcut for "undo"

Off to IL

Before flying to IL for Christmas, I got to see Rachel and be treated to Indian cuisine. YUMMY!!!

It was good to see grandma, even though she doesn't exactly know who we are.

A white Christmas! Ok, this was several days after Christmas, but it's the Christmas scene and we woke up to a blanket of snow the day before we left IL. Woohoo!

SC 40th Anniversary Celebration

On December 16 I picked Charis up from the airport and the next day we headed to our Aunt and Uncle's 40th wedding anniversary celebration. SPECIAL night.

Renewing their vows, Aunt Alice surprised us by coming out in her wedding dress!!! It still fits. Maybe even looser than it was 40 years ago. Probably because of the master's degree at 60 and running a marathon at 63. :)

sisters. :)

Cousins. :)

Family celebration at Lara's with her amazing culinary & decoration skills:

Ahhhhh...

Memory lane.

On the Road Again: GA, TN, NC

Singleness

My former roommate came over for a quick lunch on my birthday and started a good chat on singleness. It got me thinking I might write a blog up about it, but she beat me to it! Take a look at her well-written piece on writing to be real.

Then I was talking to a good friend on the phone who is at a crossroads in her life. She said,

"I could pretty much do ANYTHING! Is that weird or what?"

"No, that's not weird at all," I laughed. "It happens to me all the time. It's called singleness."

"I know!" she groaned. "Why can't I just get married and have 5 kids? It can't be THAT hard! Tons of people do it! The only conclusion I've come to is that I'm not married right now because the Lord doesn't want me to be. Why not???"

Why am I not married? I hear this longing in so many of my single friends––who are NOT, may I add, the "single for a reason" type. You know what I mean. Married people and older people ask me that a lot, too: "Why aren't you married? You're a pretty little thing. How come you haven't been snatched up?" As if ugliness were the only excuse for not being married.

Been having lots of thoughts on singleness lately, and maybe I'll get back around to the topic, maybe not. We'll see....

OSAAT

Trying to get myself to bed at a decent hour tonight, but I wanted to quickly repost the Mennonite doxology I grew up with (posted Oct 1 but in case it got lost in all the text, here it is again). Posting it because my heart is full of praise as I crawl into bed tonight.

Tonight I am thankful to announce that I have a flatmate. I've had a few scary evenings here, so I'm glad not to be alone anymore. Yesterday I was thinking, surely we can't handle knowing our future––good or bad––it's too much information for us to handle well. It has been good to watch things unfold one step at a time and to be mostly comfortable with not knowing more. And God has been so faithful and so good in His provisions, why do I ever feel a need to know more than one step at a time? I am also enjoying so very much to be settling in somewhere indefinitely. I am weary of travel (but will be on the road again for 4-5 weeks). One. Step. At. A. Time.

Sleepover

One does not need to be completely settled before one starts having visitors. That's what I think, anyway. Take away entertaining and I can't survive! Thursday night I reunited with my dear friend Aileen after 5 years, and Friday night 3 teenagers joined our sleepover.

Fun times. Some of us were up a little later than others. :) Ok, Anya and I were.

Left: Friday night.

Below: Saturday morning/day.