It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...

...or maybe it isn't feeling much like Christmas at all.

How will we celebrate our first Christmas here in Indonesia?

Right now I am empathizing with the Whoos in Whoville after the Grinch stole their Christmas stuff.  Is it still Christmastime when we don't have any snow, real Christmas trees, cool weather, and red or green clothing?  Can we celebrate without an abundance of decorations and presents?  How do we celebrate Christmas without a Christmas eve candlelight service at church (my favorite church service of the entire year)?  It is hard to even find the ingredients to make the foods that we usually enjoy this time of year (molasses for cookies, roast beef, etc.).

In town searching for baking ingredients.

The parallel between my first Christmas here and The Grinch that Stole Christmas is not a perfect one.  I think that the point of that story was that, for the Whoos, Christmas was not about stuff (decorations, toys, food) but was about people.  I don't have the stuff or most of the people who are important to me.  My Christmas traditions have always centered around spending time with family.  Now I live half a world away from these people who I love.  How can we celebrate Christmas without being able to be with our parents, siblings, and extended family?

Christmas is a celebration of Jesus' birth over 2,000 years ago.
"Joy to the world, the Lord is come.  Let earth receive her King.  Let every heart prepare Him room and heaven and nature sing..."

Jesus wasn't born into a snowy climate.  There were no Christmas trees, and the presents came from the wise men about 2 years later.  Jesus didn't get to meet his grandparents and aunts and uncles when he was born.  His parents had traveled far from home.  Yet, his birth was celebrated by angels and shepherds.  "Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord" (Luke 2:10-11).  The point of Christmas is that Jesus left his beautiful home in Heaven and became human, was born as a baby, so that He could be the Savior for all people.  I have also left my home and moved far away.  I am obviously not the Savior, but I am here to be a blessing to people and to hopefully point towards the Giver of Life.

So I am hoping this Christmas that, while I know I will miss my family, friends, food, decorations, and traditions, I will also have a new understanding of the real meaning of Christmas.  I will post later about our search for Christmas decorations and the Christmasy things that we do get to participate in.  But for now I am encouraged to think about how Christmas is about the Incarnation...God becoming like us.  And by trying to live a different culture I am in a small way participating in a God-activity right here and now.


Please teach me the meaning of Christmas, Jesus, and help me not to be sad about what I am missing but to be thankful for the joy that you bring to the world...

My Parents' Visit and Thanksgiving

I have sooooo much to be thankful for!

My parents made the 40 hour trip to come and visit us here in Indonesia for two weeks!  Zoe, their first grandchild, was the main attraction.

Zoe meeting her grandparents at the airport

They brought all sorts of presents and treats.  Dad, Daniel, and I played over 100 hands of 3-handed bridge.  Mom helped Zoe learn to roll over (on her 4 month birthday) and do other tricks.  Having my parents here made me feel like the world is not such a big place after all.  My familiar people, my family, were able to intersect with my new life here.

As an early Christmas present my parents paid for the 5 of us (well, Zoe was free) to go on a little vacation to a beautiful island North of here called Karimunjawa.  Daniel already wrote 4 blog posts telling all about our trip: one two three four.  The snorkeling was amazing--It was like seeing the Discovery Channel in real life.  And it was great experiencing it all with my parents and having them help take care of Zoe.

My parents are looking for shells on this beach

We took a small boat out for 2 half days of snorkeling

Dad came up with the idea of feeding fish cashew nuts

On Thanksgiving Day we celebrated at my house here in Salatiga with my parents and with friends (the other MAF families, another friend from language school, and Ibu Santi who works at my house).  What a lot of fun!  The only food item that I missed was cranberry sauce.  We made pumpkin bread/pudding/pies out of a real pumpkin...no canned pumpkin here!

Our 4 MAF families here have 5 babies (4-7 month olds!) and 6 more children (ages 2-6).  Lots of fun!

My parents left on Friday and it was hard to say goodbye.  Sometimes I feel guilty to live so far away with their lovely grandchild...but I know that we are where we are supposed to be.  We all talked on skype already and heard about their trip home.  Zoe stared intently at the computer screen and even "talked" to them a little.

Do you have any suggestions for long-distance grandparents?

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

Becoming Brave (Overcoming Fear)

For me this year has been about being courageous—in Indonesian, berani.  It has taken a lot of courage to move halfway across the world, learn a new language and culture, and birth my first baby in a foreign country.  I need courage each day to drive my scooter to language school because I still am afraid to drive here.  I need courage to try to communicate with people in a language that I am not yet proficient in.  I also need courage to allow friendly people—even strangers—touch and hold my baby. 

A little more on the topic of my baby being touched: Zoe is very popular here.  Girls walking home from school want to touch and kiss her.  Indonesians at restaurants ask to hold her and have their picture taken.  Most people who come near her touch her hand, clap near her face, or poke her cheeks.  She is generally friendly and tolerant.  What a blessing to have an outgoing, smiley baby in a culture where babies are highly valued and always touched!  Zoe opens a door for conversations with new people every day.

So where does the courage to smile when potentially germy people kiss Zoe, drive my little scooter, try to communicate even though I often get things wrong, and generally live so far from “home” come from?  I am encouraged by God, my friends here in Indonesia, and by people who love me and pray for me back home. 

When Joshua was going to lead the Israelite people to the land where God wanted them to live, God told him “Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).  I am encouraged because I know that God is just as present here in Indonesia as he is in the United States, in my parents’ home, in my churches, and in any other place on earth.  I do not need to be afraid to live here.

In July I was in labor in the hospital for a full two days before Zoe was born.  When I was exhausted and wondered if I would be able to finish, God reminded me of a verse in the Bible that I memorized as a child: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).  I am so thankful to be following a God who is alive and who helps me in the times of my deepest need!

This morning I was reminded that I am not the only one who needs help overcoming fear daily.  In fact, I think my experience may be normative for a lot of people (or at least women) here (and probably in other places too)!  At my small group fellowship meeting this morning we read Luke 12:6-7 "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?  Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.  Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."  Two other women mentioned how this encourages them not be afraid...one even talked about trusting God to protect her children and when driving a scooter! 

What about you?  Are you often afraid?  What helps you to overcome fear and to live your life courageously?

Two Things

Two things about today stand out to me.

1.  I drove my scooter to school for the first time.  This was a big accomplishment for me (with lots of gentle prodding from Daniel) because I have been scared to drive in Indonesia.  Here I am leaving for school:

My drive was pretty uneventful, except for a little help from a guard at school when I was trying to get the scooter up the steep ramp to the parking area.  Yes, I stopped on the middle of the ramp.  And yes, he pushed on the back of my bike so I wouldn't go back down.  But besides that, it went fine!  Daniel affectionately named my Honda Scoopy "Zippy."  This may not be the most fitting name for her when I'm driving, but that's ok!

2.  This evening our roof leaked.  This is not the first time we have had a problem with the roof in our living room.  Our roof also leaked in a slightly different spot last April, on my birthday.  But today I did not notice that the roof was leaking until Zoe started fussing in her pack-n-play and I looked in at her and she was all wet!  Ooops!

The leak did get worse after these photos were taken.  Hopefully we can get it fixed tomorrow!  Now it is raining again, outside and inside.  I feel a little nervous about what I will find in the morning, though it is bedtime now.

I hope your day has been fun!  Funny to be here in Indonesia with it raining inside the house when I have family and friends in New England enjoying a foot or more of very early snow!  It does not feel like fall (or winter) here at all.

Gratitude

I want to be intentional about cultivating a heart of gratitude.  Living far away from what is familiar it is so easy to complain about the things that I do not like, or long for the people and things that I miss, but gratitude is much better.  

This weekend I am thankful for:

-one of my birthday orchids which is blooming again!

-other flowers too!

-the privaledge of being Mommy to the cutest baby in the world! (I may be a little biased)

-a washing machine and drying rack so that I can keep Zoe in clean diapers.

-my fun, handsome, thoughful husband who is also an amazing Daddy for Zoe.  :)

-friends here in Salatiga.  Even though there is only one family here who I have known longer than 7 months, God has provided us with lots of wonderful people to be friends with.  It's so great to be doing life with these like-minded people!  Quite a few of them are pregnant and/or have babies and small children.  Yesterday we went to our friends' son's 3rd birthday party and had dinner with other friends. 

-fellowship.  We go to an English-speaking fellowship on Sunday mornings and I am in a Wednesday ladies' Bible study and pray with the MAF women on Thursdays.

-butterflies.

-skype, so that I can talk with my family and friends who live far away.

-my parents, who are coming to visit in 2 weeks!

-good rain gear.  It's rainy season again here!

-a store here called "Sweet Shop" that has clothes made for export to the US but that somehow got left behind here.  Daniel took me shopping Saturday after lunch and held Zoe for me and even found a shirt that I really like.  He does not especially enjoy clothes shopping, so it was really nice of him to help me to do it!  And we got home from shopping less than a minute before it started raining.

This is just a few of the things that I am thankful for right now.  What are you thankful for?

"Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's willl for you in Christ Jesus."  I Thes. 5:18

Three Months

Zoe was three months old last Saturday!  I weighed her (using a luggage scale and car seat) and she is 13.8 pounds.  She is growing well!  I am so blessed to have this baby girl to care for.  It is very true that children are a blessing from the Lord!  Zoe is teaching me about patience and love.  And it is so fun to watch Daniel when he makes her laugh!

Climbing the Elephant's Back

Today we took Zoe on her first hike.  It was also my first hike in many months.  There was something amazingly wonderfully great about being outdoors in the sunshine exploring a small mountain! 

Daniel navigated us there on our motorcycle with the help of his GPS.  We only turned around three times.  He even asked a couple of men for directions when we got close.  We drove the motorcycle up the first 100 meters of the trail to see if we were in the right place.  Then we met a family who insisted that we park our  motorcycle inside their house!  They invited us in, and, while I nursed Zoe, Daniel ate the vegetables and rice that they eagerly served him.  They were sure that Zoe was too small to go on a hike and would get very hot and they tried as hard as they could to convince us to leave her with them while we hiked the mountain.  We wanted this to be a family hike, though, so we politely declined the offer.

All the way up the mountain we walked on a small footpath.  This was a cultivated mountain--it was terraced and people grew vegetables there.  We also saw people harvesting grass and sticks which they carried down on their backs, heads, or on scooters.  The views were wonderful on our way.  We saw several other beautiful and bigger mountains, including Mt. Merbabu which Daniel has already hiked once and hopes to hike again.  That hike is too difficult to do with a baby.  But this hike wasn't!  I was full of energy.  The air was cooler there than at our house because of the higher elevation.  It felt refreshing!

On top of Gunung Gajah something-or-other (Mountain Elephant's Back, but we can't remember the Javanese word for back) there was a rock marker that is a virtual geo-cache.  We took our photo with the rock and then headed down.

Zoe slept for most of our hike.  We put a thin blanket over her when it was sunny to protect her skin.  As we neared the base and the house of our new friends, we were made sure the blanket did not cover her head, so they would not worry about her ability to breath.  We visited again for a little while, and then headed home for lunch.

Here is our adventure in photos:

Starting up the mountain

Note the ladies carrying grass and sticks

Mt. Telemoyo

Family photo!

Mt. Merbabu

This is the marker at the top of the mountain.  Daniel is showing off his GPS,

Zoe slept a lot!

Mt. Merbabu again. 

Daniel parked the motorcycle inside this house

The kind people who asked us to park at their house and offered us food and water.  This is a husband, wife, and their 5-year-old granddaughter.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures.  I think that hiking is going to become a regular family activity for us!  On the drive home I realized that today I wore the same shirt that I wore when I hiked up Mt. Washington a year ago August.  That was pre-Zoe, pre-pregnancy, pre-Indonesia.  Somehow it was comforting in my life that is filled with changes to see that I still am hiking and wearing the same shirt.

I was so happy all the way home that I wanted to dance and sing (but I didn't, because that would be dangerous on a motorcycle).

What has made you feel happy and grateful lately?  What do you enjoy doing with your family?