Dear Hannah Pt. 2

for Part One (and an explanation on what in the world this letter is about) see Dear Hannah.

Dear Hannah,

As the time for saying goodbye to my son gets close, I find myself wondering what you thought when you were in my position.  Were you like I am? Did you think..."How could something so good be so painful”?  You had asked the Lord for a baby boy and that is exactly what He gave you.  You had promised to give your boy back to the Lord.  Those are good things:  answers from the Lord, promises to the Lord.  Why, then, could they be so painful?  Did you wonder that?  I do.  My son is a gift from the Lord too.  He is a joy in our family and a wonderful part of every one of our days.  We have also dedicated him to the Lord.  Not in as dramatic a way as you, I suppose, but we did stand before a body of believers and promise to raise him in the ways of the Lord.  Our son is strong and healthy and God has prepared him for this new phase of his life.  I imagine you saw that in Samuel as well.

When I read back over your experience, I see that your husband said to you, “may the LORD help you keep your promise.” (1 Samuel 1:23 NLT)  Wow, this is where the rubber meets the road, though in your time, I guess you wouldn’t have understood what that means...I guess it’s where the horse cart wheel hits the cobblestone?  Anyway, did you have second thoughts about your promise?  Did you regret your promise?  If I had a guess, I’d say probably not.  I don’t have second thoughts or regrets about promising to give my son to the Lord.  But I certainly see now that, when it comes down to it, it’s easier said than done!

Another thing I noticed when reading about your experience is that, when you asked God for a son, you prayed to the “Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” (1 Sam. 1:11a, NLT)  When you said, “LORD,” you were calling on Jehovah, Israel’s name for God. (Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary)  When you said, “Heaven’s Armies” (hosts), you were implicating a war, campaign, or hardship.  (Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary)  It’s as if you were calling on God as the KING and MIGHTY GOD of your nation as well as the CAPTAIN of the armies of Heaven itself to answer the desperate, seemingly insignificant prayers of one small, very average woman praying in the temple.  And what happened when you had the audacity to approach the throne of Heaven with your silly little request and promise?  The KING OF HEAVEN’S ARMIES agreed!  And this same JEHOVAH is Who helped your keep your promise. 

Well, Hannah, I like the idea of an army keeping watch over my son!  So, if you could do it, so can I!  I will keep my promise to God “even when it hurts” (Psalm 15:4b).  I will call on the LORD of Heaven’s Armies to help me keep my promise.  If He gave strength to an average Jewish mom living out in the hill country of Ephraim, I am sure He will do the same for an average American mom living in the islands of Asia!

My son and I enjoy the calm of a Middle Eastern sunset, only about 150 miles from where Hannah and Samuel lived in the hill country of Ephraim.  Taken about 13 years ago.

The Hunt For H2O2

Dad can't hear a thing!  He needs help!  Kris plays pharmacist and tries to figure out the ratio of water to Super Strength H2O2

We are having a fantastic summer with my parents and my sister & family visiting us.  Unfortunately, my dad has an ear infection.  Go to the doctor?  Ummm, well, we decided it would be better just to get advice from a doctor friend and do the treatment ourselves.  OK, no problem, we bought ear drops and then all we needed was some hydrogen peroxide so he can flush his ears.  Our doctor friend tells us to go to the pharmacy and ask for "H2O2" to get hydrogen peroxide.  OK, so we go.  No H2O2.  OK, we try another pharmacy.  Nope.  Another...nope.  Another...nope.  At the fourth one we got a yes!  Yippee!  They were confused and asked me what we wanted it for, then said all they had was 50% strength.  In the US it is more like 3% or something like that.  OK, I figure we can dilute it, so I say I want it.

"How much?" she asks.

Hmmmm, "About this much...?" I say, holding my hands up to measure the height of a small bottle.  She laughs.  And then I ask, well, how do you measure it?

Finally she asks, "One hundred mililiters or two hundred?"  Ah, there we go, something more specific.  I ask for two hundred.  We sit to wait...wait...people come in...wait...people leave...wait...a car hits a motorcycle over in the street...wow...wait...thirty minutes later a pharmacist comes out to tell us that H2O2 was in the computer, but actually, they don't have it after all.  Hmmm, this is the reverse of the spaghetti sauce incident, very interesting.  We struck out.

Eventually (don't ask how) we end up with a small bottle of...who knows...maybe 50% or maybe100% H2O2.  Yikes.  So Kris and Dad sit down and do the math, how on earth do we make it into 3%?  We get out bottled water, our newly acquired melt-threw-steel-strength hydrogen peroxide, a measuring cup...here goes nothing!  OK, now we've got what we think might possibly be about the right mixture.  I hope so because Dad squeezed it into his ear!!

The next day I asked at three more places, still no hydrogen peroxide.  Who knew it would be so hard to find?  You can ask for prescription strength just about anything and have no problem, but hydrogen peroxide is apparently a no-go!

Our city is a Bring-Your-Own-Hydrogen-Peroxide-Zone.  Good to know...

Measuring cup...luke warm water...

Be careful, this stuff is dangerous!  We make our own label so no one will think this is a normal bottle of water...

OK, here we go...

Dad!  Does it burn?

Foreign Language: Piece of Cake!

I love to decorate cakes!  What completes a birthday party better than a great cake, right?  When the kids were younger, I always decorated cakes for their birthdays.  They could choose the theme and then I'd go crazy (and spend hours) decorating their cake.  It was fun and I learned how to do all kinds of great things with icing!  I made a car cake, a computer cake, a Power Rangers cake, a Spiderman, superhero, plane, train, soccer etc, etc.  Notice the boy theme.  But, I also learned to make roses and daisies and swirls and curls and I'd decorate cakes for girls and ladies as well.

When we lived in Africa, a very sweet young lady named Ruta worked for me several days a week.  She was so quiet and sweet and I loved her dearly.  She had seen many of the cakes I'd decorated and one day she asked if I'd make a birthday cake for her son.  Oh, I was flattered!  I was so happy to get to do something like that to help her throw a party for her little boy.  I agreed immediately!  I planned to have the cake baked and decorated on the following Friday so that she could bring it home for the weekend.

http://www.freefoto.com/images/09/05/09_05_4_prev.jpg

I mixed up the batter from scratch and baked it in two round pans to make a layered cake.  I covered the cooled cake in rich home-made blue icing and carefully decorated with contrasting colors.  I had studied the tribal language that Ruta and her family spoke and I thought what a special treat it would be to write "Happy Birthday" in her language.  Now, Ruta's mother tongue is not a common language, not many foreigners at all speak it, and it is written in the Ge'ez alphabet, a completely different script.  But I, Jana Kelley, knew that language and could write that script.  Yes, I have the distinct feeling that I was a bit prideful as I wrote those words in creamy white icing on that blue layered cake.  It looked wonderful!  I prepared a box for the cake and carefully packed it so that Ruta could bring it home with her.  I was so happy with the result, knowing Ruta would be so pleased, and surprised too!

And surprised she was.

"Wow," she said, "did you write that?"

"Yes," I smiled, "I did."  Yes!  This was great!  Ruta thanked me and brought the cake home, amazed that I knew how to write a greeting in her language.  We had a relaxing weekend and it was not until Saturday night, as I lay in bed, that it struck me...

My eyes flew open and I gasped loudly...

OH NO!  I'd written "Merry Christmas" on the cake!

Oh my word!  That's what I got for being so prideful about being able to speak and write in her language!  On Monday, Ruta returned to work.

"Ruta!" I exclaimed, "I wrote 'Merry Christmas' on your son's birthday cake!"

"Yes," she replied.

"I am so sorry!"

"That's ok!  It was really nice."

Ruta was so sweet and never made fun of me.  But I've always wondered what that party was like.  All those people gathering around the "Merry Christmas" birthday cake, snickering at that silly foreign lady who decorated it!  And somehow, when I think of that story, I am reminded of Proverbs 16:18, "Pride goes before destruction a haughty spirit before the fall"!

AyamQu

"AyamQu," served quickly, kosher and healthy. It is a popular restaurant. Funny thing is, after only being open a few months, it changed its name. Why would a new restaurant, that had already built quite a large clientele, change the name and look?

It goes something like this:

One day a man and his little girl came to eat at this very popular chicken place. The little girl looked around at the long metal tables, surrounded by chairs and happily eating patrons.

"Daddy?" she said, "Why is there a little naked man jumping from table to table?"

What?

A tuyul, a mischievous little spirit that people believe can steal and in other ways harass humans.

Really?

Well, the restaurant owner had "no other choice" but to change it's name and look in hopes that either the tuyul would go away, or that the patrons would think that, under "new management," the spirit was bound to depart...

Right?

This story might seem likely in some jungle village or remote tribe. But we live in a city of over 1 million people. It is one of the large cities on the island with bustling malls, streets full of nice cars and a zillion motorcycles. But many of the people are held captive. They are held captive to fear. Their fear is of spirits, among other things. If they do not have the Holy Spirit, then they certainly do have reason to fear.

Pray for people who are held captive by fear, that they will believe in the Greatest Spirit of all, the one Who can save them and make them live in victory over fear!

PS Since I wrote this, the name of this little restaurant has changed again.

Puzzling Pictures: Spoon

It just makes me feel better, you know? To know that my kitchen utensils are food safe.  Thanks for that assurance!

The Museum is NOT Closed...Or is it?

Today we took my sister and her family for a "cultural day" downtown. First we road a boat on the Musi River. Then, hot and tired, we went to the museum. It is a lovely building and we were looking forward to some air conditioning! We walked across the parking lot and up these winding stairs to the doors at the top. When we got there, we were met at the door by a lady who seemed to not want to let us in. She was very sweet though! She leaned her scarved head out the door and smiled at us.

"Is the museum 'tutup' (closed)?" I asked, picking up on her non-verbal cues.

"Oh no, it's not TUTUP," she said, "But the electricity is off so it is very hot and dark."

"Oh, I see," I replied, and turned to translate this for everyone else. Standing on the balcony of the second floor, it was shady and breezy and felt quite nice. We stood there to try to decide what to do next. The lady at the door seemed nervous by our not leaving.

"It is not tutup, but there is no electricity," she repeated, "so you can't see anything inside."

Standing in front of the not closed, closed museum.

"Yes, ok," I smiled at her. We continued to try to make a "plan B."  Should we go to the market? Should we go home?  So far the museum lady had been speaking Indonesian. But this time she broke out in very carefully spoken English, "It is C-L-O-S-E-D!"

I smiled again. "OK, thank you!" We finally decided to walk to the market. Before leaving, we stayed just a bit longer to enjoy the breeze. But as we did, the flustered lady finally shut the big gates on the entrance doors to the museum.

I guess the museum was finally closed in all spoken and non-verbal languages!

Nail Salon

I am enjoying "bonding" with my nieces.  One night, Kayla and I had our own nail salon.

After trying, with no luck, to get my son to let her practice on his fingernails...Kayla paints my thumb nail.

And paints a little more...

And a little more...

Using her really cool nail painting tools.

She paints some super cute froggies on my thumbs.

And helped me add some dragonfly decals to my index fingers, because who wants hungry frogs?

And here I am feeding my frogs.

And here are Kayla's awesome nocturnal frogs.  See the starry skies on her other fingers?

Here's to more fun bonding time with my family!

Dear Hannah

If you could talk to any character in the Bible, who would it be? I've thought of different ones I'd like to talk to, but lately, I've been thinking of Hannah. Of course, I'll never talk to her until we meet in heaven, but suppose I could write a letter that went back in time...here's what I'd say...

Dear Hannah,

I've known you for a long time, from a distance. I read your story when I am praying for someone who is childless. I am blessed to read of your husband, Elkanah's love for you and also touched to read your very raw feelings and grief over being childless. I am so encouraged by your prayer to the Lord that day in the temple, and by the peace that God gave you after you prayed.

But today I am thinking about when you brought your little boy, your very precious first-born child, and left him at the temple. I am wondering about the raw feelings you felt then. You see, while my first-born son is already 14 years old, I am getting ready to take him far away and leave him there. I knew this would happen, and we have been working towards the day for a while now. I suppose you probably were working towards that infamous day too. My son is excited and ready to go to boarding school for his freshman year of high school. My husband and I know this is the right thing, that this is in the Lord's will. But, oh my, did the Lord's will hurt this much for you as well?

The other night I could bear the sadness no longer. I can't imagine family life without him around. I cried. I asked the Lord, "Please, is there any other way?" Did you ever ask the Lord that? Did you ever ask Him a question, even though you already knew the answer? I also asked God for a word, a verse, something... anything! And that has been my prayer for many days now.

Well, this morning I read Ephesians 3:14-18. "When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God." (NLT)

I just knew, this was now my prayer verses for my son. This is what I will be praying for him this coming school year. As I read the words, "your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong," I realized that my son going away to school is part of HIS story and journey with the Lord. Were I to hold him back, when he needed to go, I would be stunting his own spiritual growth! I admit that as a mother, I have often been tempted to overprotect my children. Sometimes God has to wrench my hand a little, when trying to get to my kids. I don't want to do that anymore. I want to free my son and his Lord to go on their journey together. Yes, I suppose even if it means that at the end of the summer I'll be waving goodbye for a little while.

So, I just wondered if you felt that way? Did you dread the approaching day? Did you struggle with your promise to bring Samuel to the temple and leave him there? You probably never dreamed that your story would land a spot in the Old Testament! But it did, and I find encouragement from your life testimony of faith and of following through with the Lord. I am hoping that, when the summer is over, and my son goes to boarding school, I can say, just like you did, "My heart rejoices in the Lord! The Lord has made me strong." (1 Sam. 2:1a)

23 Years...and 2 Years

It's been 23 years since my older sister has been to Indonesia, our home for 16 of our childhood years.  Tomorrow she is coming "back home" with her husband and daughters!  To say we are a little excited might be just a tinge understating it!  It has also been two years since our families have seen each other, so it is a reunion for us as well.  As I write this, they are en route, probably in the Taipei airport, or getting ready to land there.  In about 14 hours (yes, that's 4am tomorrow morning) we'll head to the airport to pick them up! But the trip is not done yet, we are actually in the capital city at the moment, so we'll pick them up at the airport and then we'll all fly back to our home in Sumatra.  I can hardly wait!