Fruity Thief

Last year, before we returned to the US, we often had people coming up, looking at Ethan, and then asking us, "Kenapa kuning?" Which means, "Why is he so yellow?" His skin color was really more of an orange-ish yellow color. It came from eating papaya by the fist full. He loved it!

And 8.5 months in the US didn't take his taste away for "pie" as Ethan calls it. The other day, after going on a hunt to find Ethan, Kim found him hovering in the corner of the kid's room, mouth stuffed, having just emptied the papaya container.

Life in Indonesia

Yes, it's hot and humid here, but the rain feels sooo good!

Pray the Word: "Take Words with You"

Praying Scripture brings a burst of unction on a person's prayer life. Martin Luther called Scripture the lighter that warms up the heart for prayer. While it's easy to pick up Scripture and pray away, it's also helpful to use books that have verses organized and ready for specific times of prayer.

I just found this book, "Take Words with You" over the weekend, and it's already been helpful to pray the promises of God. It's from Tim Kerr, a pastor in Toronto, and he writes:

Many years ago I discovered a precious truth regarding prayer: God loves to hear his own words prayed back to him!  . . . It is hoped that the many promises of God written here will be prayed back to God in prayer as we seek to enter into God's purposes accomplished for us through Christ's cross. Sometimes we remember the gist of a promise but cannot remember what was said or where it is found in Scripture. This manual has been written to make that process easier by organizing the promises of God by categories and themes.

 You can go to Tim Challies' blog and click the download button at the bottom of his post to get the book.

Here's the table of contents:

1 Prayer Begins with God

2 The Fuel of Intercession (#1): God’s Promises

Promises On The Amazing Rewards of Redemption

Promises on the Rewards of Redemption: Toward Specific Needs

Promises on the Rewards of Redemption: For The Godly

3 The Fuel of Intercession (#2): Scripture Prayers

4 Scripture: Faith Affirmations

Life in Indonesia

Last Friday, Kim and I had the rare privilege of going out on a date. After a fantastic Rosti meal (a Swiss dish of hash browns with various kinds of savory toppings) at our favorite local restaurant, Bunga Bali, we went shopping. Yeah, I know, not always the best date activity. But around here, it can be humorous depending on where you go. Here's a sampling of things we can get:

Isn't this a case of onomatopoeia? Whoever thought of this name for peanut butter was genius.

This, however, was not genius. Pink pringles? I guess grilled shrimp could be good. But pink? It's the girly chip for sure.

And to top it of, does anybody "want-want" some crackers?

"Cancer is the best thing that has ever happened to me!"

The Story of Zac Smith from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.

Watch this and be challenged to see all things as gifts from God!

Watch this and pray for Zac and his family.

Here's the picture of the rat at Wendys

 This is the picture that goes along with the post below. There's the rat skittering along the ledge above as we enjoy our Wendy's hamburgers. Hmmm . . . what did you say was in these burgers?

Life in Indonesia

Last night, while eating at the local Wendys (unbelievable that we even have one in our little town, considering other larger cities in Indonesia do not), we spotted a rat running along the ledge above our heads. It delicately balanced and spryly walked along, stopping every few feet to gawk at us, nose twitching as if it were calculating an all out jump onto our table.

 

You know you’ve lived a while in Indonesia, when, instead of running away, we all jumped up to take pictures. Is there something wrong with this picture?

Back in Indonesia

We're back! We've been back for just over three weeks. Already, we've set up, Kim's been home schooling, I've been meeting with the language school and learning center staff, and we've been on another trip to Jakarta and Bandung.

I've had grandiose dreams of catching up on blogging, but it never happens. My intentions have been to post pictures and updates of all our travels and events in the US. If for nothing else, the kids love looking through all the posts, but I also know it keeps a few of you updated on our life. Kind of my way of doing a digital scrapbook. Between computer issues, loads of packing and traveling, getting back to Indonesia, that dream has never come to fruition. I haven't had time to do one of my favorite things, and that's keeping up with a couple of my favorite blogs.

So, here I am with the kids watching a previously taped episode of the Duggar family (thanks to grandparents burning DVDs for us) and catching up on the blog. Once I get our digital picture storage figured out, I'll get more pictures posted too.