Unusual Christmas Guests

“They are gonna rob you blind,” someone said. I couldn’t argue because they voiced the words I was already thinking.

“We’ll lock the bedroom doors,” I offered.

I glanced around the living room. By American standards we have a simple home. But we do have a bookcase filled with books and curios from around the world. I imagined myself welcoming our guests by saying, I’m sorry you can barely feed your family, but do you see my beautiful blown-glass vase from Egypt? With the money I paid for it, you could have a new set of clothes, or buy dinner for all fifteen people crammed into your tiny home. Yeah, I better clear off the bookshelf before they come.

We are inviting a rather poor family to our home during the Christmas season. It’s not just a poor family: it’s a poor family with some unsavory habits and characteristics. That’s why we’ll need to lock the doors. But here’s the thing, Jesus didn’t come for the well, He came for the sick, right?

So  my “to do” list to get ready for our guests is:

1.      Find a place for our dog to go for the day. Dogs are dirty in their religion.

2.      Find a place to cater some rice and meat. My kitchen is not halal since I cook with pork. I’ll need to buy food from a halal restaurant.

3.      Find the keys to all our bedroom doors. Seriously.

4.      Bake cookies and lots of them.

5.      Find a carpet to put on the floor so guests can sit on the floor as well as the furniture. That's how we roll in this part of the world.

This list is a little different from your basic “get ready for Christmas” list right? You aren’t gonna find this one on Pinterest! But here’s the other thing. Because this family is…well…because they are who they are…here is what WON’T matter:

1.      If the house is clean

2.      If the house smells nice

3.      If the Christmas tree is big and beautiful

4.      If my hosting skills are perfect

5.      If my furniture matches

Just the fact alone that they will come to our house is special enough for them. Nothing else matters, everything else is “icing on the cake”…I guess in this culture we might say “Everything else is extra servings of dried fishies on the rice."

And I got to thinking…

When God invites me to Himself, to His love, to His will…am I a cleaned up proper guest who evaluates everything He does for me? Or am I just an unworthy sinner who is so happy to simply be invited?

This poor…can we even say unsavory?...family is teaching me a lot about how to be a better servant for my Master.

Pray that this family will feel loved in our home and will have ears to hear the Reason for the Season.

God's Christmas To Do List

It's Christmas season and people are shopping and planning and bustling about. I got to thinking about the very first Christmas and all that God did to make it the amazing day that it was. He had quite a TO DO list y'all. Here is what I found:

GOD'S TO DO LIST

            WHEN                                    WHAT

            42 generations before              Begin lineage: 3 groups of 14

Isaiah 7:14                               Have Isaiah  prophecy virgin birth and the name Immanuel

Micah 5:2                                Have Micah prophecy Messiah’s birth in Betlehem.

Hosea 11:1                              Have Hosea prophecy Jesus going to Egypt

Jeremiah 31:15                        Have Jeremiah prophecy the deaths of many young boys (because of Herod’s greed)

Long ago                                (Matt. 2:23) Have someone prophecy “He will be called a Nazarene”

Years Before                           Make sure Zechariah and Elizabeth have no children

Year or more before                (Luke1:8-11) Make Zechariah be chosen by lot to go into the temple then send Gabriel to speak to him and foretell the birth of John, who will prepare the way for Jesus.

In Elizabeth’s 6^th month          Send Gabriel to tell Mary what will happen

6 months before                      Send angel to tell Joseph what will happen

Several months before            Have a star appear, visible in the East. Prompt men there to see it and instill in them a desire to follow it

“In those days”                       Have Caesar Augustus decide to take a census of the entire Roman World

Just before birth                      Luke 2:4,5 Have Mary and Joseph go to Bethlehem

A few days before                  Make sure all inns in Bethlehem are full.

The day of                               Make sure there are not too many animals in the stable.

The day of                               Help Mary safely give birth

The night of                            Send the angel choir to the skies outside of Bethlehem to sing for shepherds.

After that                                Matt. 2:9 Have the star guide Wisemen from East to the exact spot

After the visit                          Matt 2:12 Warn the Wisemen in a dream to go home a different route than before.

When they are gone                Send an angel to tell Joseph to escape to Egypt.

After Herod dies                     Send an angel to tell Joseph to return

After Joseph hears about

Archelaus being king              Send angel to tell Joseph to go to Nazareth

Maybe you can find more in Scripture. If you do, write it in the comments so I can add it to the list!

A Conversation on Hell

MK strained to hear E over the din of noise in the house.

"So we both agree that everyone sins. What do you do about the sin in your life?" E asked.

"I try to do good things to outweigh the bad things I do," MK replied.

"Oh, like a scale?"

"Yes, at the end of our life, there will be a scale. You know, for every sin we commit, we will have to go to Hell for 70 years."

"Wow, that's a lot of years for just one sin. And I heard that you believe that the fire of Hell is ten times hotter than earthly fire."

"Imagine! You know how your hand hurts if it is burned in the fire. You put medicine on it and you take care of it, but it still hurts, it's all you can think about. Imagine what Hell's fire will be! Plus, God makes it hotter every year." MK leaned forward to emphasize her thoughts, "It's good for us to think about this every day."

"But MK, even if we sin just one time a day...and you know we do more than that...that is 365 sins a year. Multiply that by the years of our life..." E shook her head..."It's so many sins."

"I watched a TV show once that said we only needed to do three things. First, we must not fight with our family. Second, we must honor our parents. Third, we must be kind to others. Then we can go to heaven."

"Do you do these three things?"

MK looked around at her family and shook her head. "No, no one can."

"You know," E replied, "I used to believe like you...that I had to do enough good things to make up for my sins. But then I discovered that God loves us so much that He made a way for us to be with Him in Heaven. Not because of anything we have done, but because of the way He made for us."

"This is my sister's house," MK said. "You should come to my house where it is more quiet. Some day you can come to my house and we will talk more about this. It will be easier to think when it is quiet."

E smiled. "I'd like that."

I Hope I Never Need Him

A ballroom filled with stylish crafts, expensive handmade jewelry, and organic soaps: not exactly my cup of tea, but I was curious enough to step in. I listened to a lady try to sell Moroccan oils to me just to hear her French accent; I perused the more-than-I-could-afford leather purses, and eyed the beaded jewelry from a distance. I sampled some chocolate cranberry candy and thought about buying some, but when I read the price chart, I opted to hope my taste buds had a good memory, because that’s the only way I’d be enjoying that flavor again.

Finally I found a booth with some creative pictures made out of flowers and leaves. They were intricately designed patterns and a decent price too. I couldn’t seem to pass it up, so I stood there, admiring each design. I noticed a lady beside me who also appreciated the pictures.

“Aren’t they beautiful?”

“Yes!” She agreed in a heavy accent. “They are just wonderful. I can’t decide which design I should buy. Do you think I should buy the framed picture or the ones without a frame?”

“Hmmmm,” I began.

“I think without the frame. I don’t really like the frame, do you? I think I can buy a frame myself. Which of these do you think I should buy?”

And the conversation continued like this as I pretended to help her choose the pictures she would purchase. Really she seemed to have her own confident opinion. I mostly just agreed with her.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, my name is Paree,” the woman stopped shopping and held her hand out in greeting. “Like ‘Paris’ without the ‘s’.”

“My name is Jana, so nice to meet you.” We shook hands and it was then that I stopped to examine my new friend. She was an older lady, heavy set and tan, sophisticated, and carried a kind expression on her face.

“Your accent is lovely, where are you from?”

Now I have never been accused of having a lovely accent, so I was appreciating this lady more and more. “I’m from the United States.”

“Oh! There are so many accents in the United States, and not all of them are nice, sorry to say. Take Texas for example…oh!” She brushed the ugly thought away with a sweep of her hand. “What state you from?”

Well, this is going to be awkward.

“Texas.”

“Oh! But you don’t sound like it.”

“Well, I haven’t really lived there that much. So where are you from?”

“Iran.”

“Wow, really? Why are you in Penang?”

“My husband works here. And you?”

“Because of my husband’s job as well. My children attend school at DIS.”

“Oh! All three of my children went to DIS.” She grabbed my arm. “DIS is a very good  school. You know, we are Muslim, and everyone wanted to know why we sent our children to a Christian school. But it was no problem, it is such a good school. You know, it’s the cheapest American school in Southeast Asia.”

“So they were kind and accepting of your family?”

“Oh yes. And you know, they don’t have a lot of facilities, but they teach the children the value of money. And the students, they are not spoiled American children…sorry…like in other American schools. They are a very good school. Don’t worry, your children will be fine!”

I asked more about her children, who graduated in the 90s. They attended universities and found employment in the United States and in Australia. Paree continued to rave about DIS and encourage me that it was such a good school.

When we parted ways, she handed me a business card. “This is my husband’s card, I hope you never need it.”

What a curious thing to say. I looked down at the card. Neurosurgeon. Paree is right, I hope I never need him.

Thanksgiving

I love to improvise, I think that's why celebrating holidays overseas is my favorite. 

I grew up in a little town in Indonesia. Making traditional Christmas and Thanksgiving meals took a lot of work on my mom’s part. One year (I don’t know which holiday it was for, let’s say Thanksgiving since it works so well in my line of thought) my parents decided to have turkey. No big deal right? Butterball turkeys in the open market, right? Well, perhaps we named him Butterball, but I don’t think so because the live turkey running around our back yard was not that fat. Maybe we named him Beanpole. But he had to be caught, killed, de-feathered and gutted, well you get the picture. I don’t remember my parents ever deciding to do that again. I suppose that’s why having turkey is not a big deal to me. Chicken is just as good, thank you.

But it's not always overseas. Sometimes you have to improvise in good 'ol United States too. One of my favorite Thanksgiving memories in Texas is the time I ate at a Chinese restaurant with my Grandmother. The restaurant was empty, since everyone else in Dallas was at home eating turkey and dressing. Grandmother and I had a quiet and relaxing Thanksgiving dinner with no cleanup. If you love cashew chicken and a plate of rice, you can't beat that deal.

A third favorite memory is the year Kris and I lived in Eritrea and I invited my two English students to our house for Thanksgiving Dinner. They wanted to help, so I made all the "fixins" and they brought zighini: the traditional super spicy chicken dish. Maybe not quite the traditional turkey, but it worked. In retrospect, it was a bad idea to invite just the two of them because one was my closest friend and the other was a married man whose wife lived in a different city. Honestly, I think the two of them liked each other, so it didn't help that I invited them over and it was like a double date. That should have been super awkward for me, but I think I didn't even realize how weird that was until it was too late. It was still a fun day with yummy food. 

This memory probably explains why yesterday, after twenty years of never attempting to replicate it, I decided to make injera: a tricky-to-make-but-yummy-to-eat Eritrean bread. So yesterday, while preparing for our big Thanksgiving celebration for today, I was also attempting to make a sourdough starter for injera. It's sitting on the cabinet fermenting today. A grey stinky mixture, slightly less than it started out because who knew that the yeast was so potent? And the whole wheat/rye mixture grew like a giant wet blob and spilled all over the cabinet. But I only lost a portion of it and the rest is safely back into a larger container and rotting (oops I mean fermenting) on the counter-top.

This evening, while eating a “proper” Thanksgiving meal with all the accoutrements, I’ll be smiling as I think of the turkey running around our back yard in a little market town in Indonesia, I'll be remembering Grandmother sitting across from me in a booth at the Chinese restaurant in Texas, and I’ll be reminiscing a make-shift Thanksgiving dinner in Eritrea (and wondering if my gray blob of fermenting dough is getting a life of its own again and if it will have taken over the kitchen by the time we get home tonight). I’ll be feeling thankful for the Thanksgivings that were traditionally perfect and all the ones that were perfectly un-traditional.

And I’ll be thankful…so very thankful…to have celebrated each one.

 Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

To The Lady in the Pink Hat

We saw you at the edge of the water as we finished dinner at a seaside cafe.

A lady in a pink hat.

How could we miss it? 

You were covered in black from head to toe. 

You looked like the other covered ladies walking by.

But your pink hat caught our attention. 

A big floppy pink hat. 

With it you said,

"I am here! I am beautiful!"

And I know you are.

Not because I can see past the  black cloth that engulfs even your face.

But because I know your Creator.

And He makes all things beautiful.

We joined you at the edge of the water, after we finished dinner at the seaside cafe.

A lady in a pink hat.

"We love your hat!"

You were covered in black from head to toe.

You looked like the other covered ladies walking by.

But your eyes shone like sapphires.

Under the floppy hat.

Your husband said,

"She is too beautiful for others to see."

We chat for a few minutes.

It's tricky because of the black cloth that engulfs even your face.

But I know your Creator.

And I'm asking Him to make all things beautiful.

You won't be standing there on the beach the next time I'm at the seaside cafe.

Lady in the pink hat.

You'll be back home.

You'll be covered in black from head to toe.

Surrounded by covered ladies walking by.

But God has set eternity in your heart.

So I will pray for you.

The Lady in the Pink Hat.

Touch

In your village today, I held your baby. He is so tiny, so perfect.

I glance around the crazy home he has been born into.

It’s not just the dirty floor we sit on, or the man smoking in the corner.

It’s not just the smell of too many bodies living in one place.

It’s the spiritual darkness that permeates this dim room.

It’s the despair in the grandmother’s eye.

But you don’t seem worried like me. This is all you know.

Your baby: everyone is afraid to touch him. He’s so tiny they might hurt him.

I’m not afraid. I know he won’t break. Not from a gentle touch.

A gentle touch.

People don’t touch very much around here do they?

The first time we met, I was surprised. I shook hands with your mother, but no one else.

And now, as I cuddle the tiniest little baby in my arms, I try to remember.

Do you touch at all?

I have seen people slap…a lot. Parents slapping children. Children slapping each other.

In fact, come to think of it, I myself have been slapped in the face by one of the kids!

Jesus used touch.

When Jesus touched, He healed the broken. When Jesus touched, He blessed the children.

You are broken. How can I show you that Jesus heals?

You have children. How can I bless your children with Jesus' love?

You’ve never felt a loving touch. You’ve never felt His healing touch.

Will you let me get close? Will you let me pat your shoulder, hug you, hold your hand?

It’s a risk for me too you know. The last time you came close, you tried to steal from my purse.

The last time I leaned in close, I think I got lice.

But I am here to share the love of Jesus. And Jesus touched people.

So I will hold your baby, I will hold your hand.

And if need be, take another slap on the face.

Jesus offers you healing and blessing.

It’s a gentle touch.

Will you accept it?

Gideon and the Reset

What do you do when the problem outweighs any solution you can come up with? Do you have the courage to ask God for help? I ask this for all of us because if you have any history of trusting God in a life situation, you know that He sometimes works in “unorthodox” ways. Are you (am I) ready for that? This is what I asked myself as I read Judges 6 and 7. 

The Characters:

1. First we have the Midianites. Judges 6:1-6 describes them and they are quite nasty. A formidable enemy. 
2. Second we have Gideon. He has a personal and active relationship with the Lord. He is the latest leader of Israel’s army. 
3. Third we have the Israelites. They have a colorful past, but a steady history with God. Among the Israelites, we have 32,000 warriors.

The Problem: the Midianite warriors. They are too many to even count (Judges 6:5). They are mean, they are heartless, they are destructive. They must be defeated.

The Solution: Well, it’s not a COUNTLESS number, but 32,000 able-bodied warriors is nothing to shake a stick at. They have a leader chosen by God Himself. The Israelites are ready to draw the battle lines.

It’s at this time that Gideon, this new leader, this man of God who is clearly seeking the Lord for signs, wisdom, and guidance, announces a…Volunteer "Retirement" Incentive? It is entirely optional, but anyone who wants to do so may leave. What? What on earth is Gideon doing? Maybe not too many people will leave. But… more than 1/3 of the army takes the offer! Ten thousand men are left to fight. That’s a very countable number, even if you only have parchment and a bowl of ink. It’s crazy. It’s unorthodox. But even with so few, maybe the Israelites will yet survive.

Wait, it’s not over. Not only does God not want Gideon to rely on sheer numbers, He does not want Gideon to rely on…logic? Seriously. Who chooses an army by their table manners? God did not choose His army by skill or experience. He chose by…ability to lap water like a dog? Are you kidding me? Apparently Israelites had very good upbringing because out of 10,000 men, only 300 had bad manners.

Now 300 men are preparing to fight a countless number of warriors. These men can’t even drink properly. Not only that, they are left to carry their packs and the packs of 9,700 other men (Judges 7:8). That means each man had to carry the provisions of 33 men. The KJV says “victuals” instead of “provisions” and the Hebrew equivalent is “meat”. So food.

The other thing they had to carry for the 9,700 who were “invited to go find a new job” were their weapons… right? They were going to war after all. Surely 33 extra swords per warrior would come in handy. No, not weapons. Their trumpets. Really? If I were one of the 300 lap-like-a-dog Israelites getting ready to go fight a swarm of nasty enemies, I might take the extra meat, but I’m certainly not gonna sling 33 extra trumpets over my shoulder and run to the battle line. But Scripture clearly mentions that the men took over the extra food and trumpets. Why trumpets? Because God had a plan and He was still in control.

Now everyone is a little perturbed at Gideon (ok, I’m reading into the story, but wouldn’t you be perturbed?) and in the middle of the night Gideon gets honest with himself and God. He’s scared. How do we know? Because God tells him, “If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying.” (7:10-11). And Gideon does it. So he must have been afraid.

God encourages him that night. But perhaps not right away. The first thing Gideon sees as he makes his way into the valley of the enemy is that the enemy is bigger than he originally thought. They are described in number as “sands on the seashore”. And that was just their camels y’all. The warriors themselves were “thick as locusts.” Yuk. And Yikes.

But as he gets within earshot, he hears one warrior tell another warrior about a wacked out dream that he had. A loaf of bread knocked a tent over. A loaf of bread. One tent. Indigestion perhaps? One too many slices of garlic bread the night before? No. His friend doesn’t think so. His friend pronounces, “This can only mean the entire army will be destroyed!!!” Or something similar to that. Definitely in a dramatic doomsday voice. Gideon realizes that God whom he serves is already at work.

What does Gideon do? He worships God.

Out of the gracious encouragement he receives from his communion with God, Gideon wakes his army (it doesn’t take long, there’s only 300 of them) and casts vision.

It gets crazier y’all.

Now Gideon orders them to divide into three groups. They are looking at each other and thinking, is he kidding? The best chance we have is to at least stay together. Safety in numbers, right? What are three measly groups of a hundred against the biggest enemy in the world?

Gideon is unfazed. He goes to each group and hands out their weapons. Each man gets a torch, an empty jar, and a trumpet. You’ve got to be joking. I can almost hear Gideon say, “No, I’m not joking. Now, do like I do. We’re gonna sneak up to the camp on three different sides. Then on the count of three we are gonna all yell ‘BOO!’”

But I guess guys who drink water from a spring like a dog are also the kind who will try anything, even if it sounds crazy. Or maybe they trusted Gideon that much. Or maybe God had a hold of their hearts so strongly that they were with him heart and soul.

In the end the Israelites won and no one could say it was because of the Israelites themselves that the Midianites were defeated. God was right all along, it was by Him Alone. It should always be that way. Jonathan told his armor-bearer, when facing the Philistines, that “Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.” (1 Samuel 14:6)

The lesson: God is in control. He always has been. Sometimes His ways make sense to us. Sometimes they are way out of our box. But in everything, all the time, no matter what: God is in control. The enemy doesn’t startle Him. We don’t either. Neither do we mess Him up. He can use 32,000 of us, or 300 of us. It’s up to Him.

Isaiah 46:10-11 I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.

The Power of Forgetfulness

The power of forgetfulness...

Take Joshua for example. He led the Israelites to victory in the Promised Land. What wonderful miracles God performed on behalf of His people when, by His mighty hand, He conquered their enemies and gave them a land “flowing with milk and honey.” After Joshua died, a “generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things He had done for Israel.”

In fact, the Old Testament recounts story after story of the kings of Israel and Judah who left the God of the covenant.

What happened?

They forgot. Forgetfulness is that powerful.

God knew mankind’s tendency to forget. Before His chosen people even entered the Promised Land, God warned them not to forget.

“Impress them (His commandments) on your children.” He said. “Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”(Deut. 6:7-9; 11:18-20). He commanded them to tell their children about Him and His decrees—to weave the words into their daily lives.

God even predicted that after a few years of comfortable living, they would be tempted to forget the hundreds of years of relying on God for their very existence.

“When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” Deuteronomy 8:10-14

One generation. Boom. The covenant was broken.

What happened?

Parents forgot to tell their children.

When parents forgot to tell their children the mighty works of God, they themselves forgot what He had done for them.

When God’s people forgot what He had done for them, they stopped obeying Him. They turned to other things for their security. They forgot to obey.

When they forgot to obey God, they forgot to look to Him when faced with troubles.

Generations of forgetfulness passed and by the time Jesus walked among the people of God, they had no anchor, no direction. God’s people had forgotten so many things and replaced God in so many ways.

No wonder Jesus had compassion on the people. “They were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36; Mark 6:34)

Is it the same for you and me today? Of course! We have that same forgetful tendency that the Israelites had.

Take me for example. Right now I live in an easy place. I live on a tropical island with all the culture and quaintness I could want, but with the medical care and modern facilities practically at my fingertips. What’s not to love about the place I live? In seasons like this, it is easy for me to forget those many years of “wilderness days” when God was literally my only hope. Is it wrong to be here? No. So how do I fight forgetfulness? By recounting the mighty works of God.

Remembering is just as powerful as forgetting. When I recount the mighty deeds of God, I remember all He has done for us. When I remember all He has done for us, I want to obey Him. When I obey God, I look only to Him when I face impossible situations.

David, when confronted with problems beyond his ability to conquer, recalled the mighty deeds of God (Psalm 77) and that’s where He found strength.

The same strength is available for us today. We serve a mighty God. Let’s not forget the mighty things He has done. His works are to be shared with next generation. Let’s be the generation that pointed others to God. It only takes one generation to forget. Let’s be the generation that remembers.

A Koi Pond and Texas Feng Shui

The best sound ever this morning: a scratching scraping sound and the beep beep of a large truck backing up. Why? Because I peeked out the window, hoping against hope, and saw the trash men had hoisted our broken oven on top of all the trash piled in the dump truck and were carting it off. Yay for a great start to the day.THANK YOU TRASH MEN!

Those of you who have read Villa in the Hilla may recall some of my trash woes from Africa. The little village we lived in had no trash pick up service. The residents just dumped their trash in the dirt trench dug on either side of the one paved road that connected our village to the highway leading to town. Plastic bags, old clothes, rotten food, paper, you name it. When the trenches got full, someone lit them on fire. Trash. Even dead animals y'all. Gross. We dumped our trash there a couple of times because when-in-Rome. But I just couldn't do it more than once or twice. I started bagging up our trash (which was significantly more than any of the villagers ever had) and bringing it to town with me and then dumping it in the first dumpster I could find. It made for stinky rides to town.

Other times, when we heard there was, in fact, trash pick up, we tried putting our trash out to be hauled away by the supposed trash men. But the neighbors would get to it first and go through it, pulling out stuff they considered valuable. It's awkward to throw away something and a week later find it decorating your neighbor's house.

Fast forward to life here. We have a large oven that is broke. What to do with it? We dragged it out from where we had been storing it in our outside empty koi pond. (You know you are in Asia when your house comes standard with a built-in koi pond. Like good Texans, we store our broken junk in it. How's that for feng shui?)

What about when you have more junk than fits in your koi pond? Why, you gotta get rid of stuff. So we decided to say goodbye once and for all to the broken oven. But the metal worker guy we found didn't want it. Even after Kris and Aaron drug that thing out of the pond for him to see it. So they drug it to the sidewalk outside our house and we hoped for the best. Surely SOMEONE wants a broken oven, right?

One day passed and someone took the knobs off the oven. It's not really stealing since we wanted someone to take it. It's just that we wanted someone to take ALL of it. Who is gonna want a broken oven with no knobs?

Enter, the trash men. On Day Two, at about 6:30 in the morning I heard the beautiful scraping, scratching noise and the beep beep of the truck. I ran to the window and saw the oven in the back of the truck as it was whisked away to where ever broken ovens go.

Do you live in a place with trash pick-up service? It seems like a stinky and thankless job. But I've lived without it before and I can say that we all need our trash men. If you get a chance, give your trash man a big THANK YOU today!

Out of the Rut

Sunday Morning Breakfast!

My parents' recent visit reminded me to enjoy the things that are available here that I take for granted. I get stuck in a rut and am appeased by the easy rather than making just a little more effort to enjoy what's at my fingertips. Like tropical fruit. Why be satisfied with lengkeng only when I could enjoy lengkeng AND a few pieces of jackfruit? Or why not take the time to cut up some pomelo and mango?

Because of my parents we found tempe and dried shrimp chips. We discovered a market we hadn't been to before and watched a beach sunset we wouldn't have stopped long enough to enjoy. We played a lot of Scrabble. People should take the time to play a lot of Scrabble. I learned the word bivouac. I am ashamed to say that I didn't know that word. We played corn hole and frisbee and 42. We watched movies and laughed. We ate at the oldest restaurant building in Penang and I learned all about Hainanese food by reading the menu. We met a funny man who runs a Minang restaurant and we got up early to eat breakfast served at a neighborhood food stall. Who knew they served yummy breakfast? I picked out the cake I want for my birthday next May and I learned I could buy nuts at the nearby market from a lady who mistook me for a Chinese. Ha! That's a first.

Sometimes it takes fresh eyes to appreciate what is all around us. I loved living in Penang all along. But I think I love it just a bit more now.

If we take the time to try something new, see something different, consider something out of our usual routine, we just may find a treasure or two, right where we live!

Happy First Day of School!

credit www.maryrvogt.com

The other day I sat with three other moms at the lunch table. One mother who sat across from me lamented how long it took her clothes dryer to dry her laundry.

"I think the heating element is broken," she said. "It takes 90 minutes to dry one load!"

"That's nothing," I replied. "Mine takes an hour and a half!"

Awkward pause.

The mom beside me said, "I'm so glad you aren't homeschooling your kids anymore!"

No kidding. It's a wonder they pass their math classes at all. Obviously get their math skills from their dad, not their mom.

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

Bali

You know what I love about Asia? So many places to see! Here is one place we went to recently...Bali. Bali is a little island off the east coast of Java, in Indonesia. Kris and I enjoyed a few days of vacation there while the kids went to camp.

We even got a free upgrade to a pool-entry hotel room !
















We enjoyed the beach... (sorry for the huge pictures lopping over into all my stuff on the right side of the screen).



And some strange sights on the beach...if you look closely you can see a bride and groom posing for a photo shoot, a camel watching (because what screams "TROPICAL ISLAND!" more than a camel strolling along the beach?), and in the tree on the left is yet another lady posing for a separate photo shoot. Seriously? We really just wanted to sit under an umbrella and read a good book. To each his own I guess.



We also watched in fascination as the force of incoming waves crashed into these rocks and sent water soaring into the air...



ok, it was more dramatic in real-life.

In addition to the beach, we enjoyed quaint restaurants, like this one on the edge of a rice paddy...




And what's a trip in Asia without monkeys, right? We went to the Sacred Monkey Forest of Ubud. I'm not a monkey fan, but these bazillion monkeys weren't near as obnoxious as the ones from Java that haunt my memories. Plus we found this really cool old Indiana-Jones-looking stone bridge. (See monkey on the railing in front of us and just to the right...or maybe don't see it. It's a gray bridge with a gray monkey on it, I get that it would be hard for you to see it.)




How's this for a sunrise to wake up to? I never tire of the Lord's artwork in the sky...

Thanks for the memories, Bali!

WINNERS!

Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed Side by Side so far! I'm happy to announce the five winners of copies of the book were chosen.

Congratulations to:

Jen Colson
Erin Riley
Rachel B
Charlotte Perotti
Stephanie Chauncey


Winners, please email your mailing addresses to info@litfusegroup.com, or keep an eye out for an email from Litfuse ( don't forget to check your spam folder just in case!)

Happy reading!

Who Won?

Anyone wondering who won the five free copies of SIDE BY SIDE? Me too! I hope to find out by tomorrow. I will let you know as soon as I know.

In Case You Missed It

Here are a few BLOG TOUR bits in case you missed it:

The SIDE BY SIDE giveaway is almost over, but you can still sign up HERE. The winners will be announced here on May 12.

CLICK HERE to listen to my playlist on Spotify. The five songs included are related to SIDE BY SIDE. I like Leali and Salib Fuadi because they are Sudanese and I love the very Sudanese Arabic sound. Takes me back to Khartoum! Halleluia is in Arabic but not Sudanese so the accent is different. The liturgical sound reminds me of the more traditional churches in the Middle East. I chose the final medley for the song "He Knows My Name" because it reminds me that God knows and loves the Halimahs of the world.

You can see pictures of my writing area where I did a lot of editing for SIDE BY SIDE RIGHT HERE.

Sunday Refreshments is a blog of devotions written by various authors. You can see mine by CLICKING HERE.

And here is a blog post for "The Books Authors Read" HERE.

And don't forget to check out the pictures on PINTEREST. It's like my virtual photo album that goes with the story.

See you on May 12!

A Thousand Words

I love to write.

But I think the saying is true:

A picture is worth a thousand words

It would take me at least that many to capture what some artists and photographers can capture in a picture.

Last weekend I purchased some amazing photos from a talented photographer and I can hardly wait to have them printed and framed.

The hardest part about the purchase was picking which ones I wanted the most. You can check out more photos by this photographer on his Facebook Page Josh Wells Photography.

Isn't it amazing how the Lord gives each of us characteristics and talents that are unique and are obviously from Him? They aren't always what we thought they would be but if we take the time to ask Him, the Lord will show us how to use our gifts for His Glory.

I Figured It Out! (sort of)

So, I figure out some stuff about a Blog Tour! And it's not even over yet, that's how skilled I am :)

I got some links for you...

• You can enter to win a FREE copy of Side by Side! Even if you already have one, you might as well get a free one so you can give it as a gift to a reading buddy :) To do that, you can CLICK HERE.
• Here is "The story behind the story" about the novel. You know, why I wrote it and that sort of stuff. If you are interested in that you can CLICK HERE.
• If you want to check out the blogs on the BLOG TOUR you might find some interesting bloggers to follow. To do that, you can CLICK HERE and then click on the "Reviews" bar under the book info and the bloggers will drop down. You can see their blogs and the posts about SIDE BY SIDE by clicking on their links. More will appear over the coming days, so keep checking!
• Also, you can check out my garden and writing space at Novel Garden. Just CLICK HERE. I am the featured author at the moment, but you can still see my pictures after the feature by CLICKING HERE.
• And finally, here's a cool graphic with a quote from the book. You can see this and more fun stuff about SIDE BY SIDE on Pinterest by CLICKING HERE.

BLOG TOUR!

What's a blog tour?

...

No, it's not a question I'm answering here. I'm asking YOU!

Seriously, what's a blog tour? I am SO walking through this whole publishing thing blindly. Wow.

My answer is: a Blog Tour is something I'm doing from TODAY through MAY 10. Perhaps on May 11 I will post an answer and tell you what a blog tour is. Until then, I'm stumbling and Googling my way through.

For starters though, and you better hurry up and get your name in on this one...you can WIN a free copy of SIDE BY SIDE! As my husband says when I'm trying to find a good deal on something, "Cheap is good, but free is better". That's why I found myself crocheting a rug out of old bed sheets. Yes, really. I don't have time to go into that right now because I'm on blog tour. Remind me to post about it later.

Anyway, ENTER NOW!!! CLICK RIGHT HERE.

If you are a Kindle or Nook kinda person, no worries, you can buy an ebook version. You'll get a head start on the folks who are waiting to see if they win :)

Winners will be announced on May 11.

Giving Up

Mak Cik (pronounced "MAHcheek") cooks onions and spices on her dirty stove. She adds meat and stirs. The delicious aroma fills her tiny apartment. There are fifteen people who live with Mak Cik. Every day she has to cook and clean for them. They are her children and grandchildren, but she does not feel any love from them. She feels like they are only taking advantage of her.

Mak Cik wipes a tear from her eye. She misses her husband. He died many years ago and left her with this selfish and argumentative brood of young people. Then there is her son and daughter: the ones that loved her. They are dead now too. She cannot take a job because she must stay home to take care of the babies. If she doesn’t, no one will.

Mak Cik watches the meat sizzle in the pan. Yesterday she received one-hundred dollars from the government. That much money could go a long way in helping Mak Cik feed her family. Perhaps she would even have money left over to buy some clothes. Not many, mind you, but maybe some.

But not this time. Maybe another time. This time Mak Cik spent the money the best way she knew how. She bought spices, vegetables, and the best cuts of meat in the market. She spent every penny. And now she cooked it. This was a feast; but not a feast for her family.

No, Mak Cik has given up on her family. She is cooking this meal for the leaders at the local mosque. If she makes them a delicious meal, maybe they will pray to the spirits of her husband and son and daughter. If they remember, they will ask the spirits to help her.

Mak Cik has given up on her living relatives and has given up on praying. Will you pray that Mak Cik will have ears to hear the gospel that is being shared with her? Will you pray that her heart will open to the true love that Jesus Christ has for her? Until Mak Cik can pray as a loved child of God, will you pray?



Photo credit "Nasi Lemak, Mamak, Sydney" by Mw12310 - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Monkey Beach

One Monday not long ago, we took a trip to Monkey Beach. We parked our car at this beach (I still can't believe this is five minutes from our house) and hired a boat to take us around to another beach on the island. So we headed around to the other side of the buildings in this picture.

The boat dropped us off near the entrance to some hiking trails. We hiked for over an hour. It was a pretty good hike, one that was a bit too much for my Walmart tennis shoes that I'd purchased some 6 or so years ago. So I had to rip the sole off the bottom of one of them and hike another half hour without the sole. Does it give away the quality of my shoe when I say that the foot that did NOT have a sole was just as comfortable as the foot that DID have a sole? Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say both feet were equally UNcomfortable.


 This is Monkey Beach. I would guess that it acquired its name from all the curious gray monkeys that come out of the forest to check out the tourists. When we first arrived I threw my tennis shoes in the trash and one of the workers of the food stalls burned the trash while we were there. Well the monkeys found my shoes and rescued them from the pile of burning rubble. They enjoyed my shoes much more than I ever did. They kept fighting over them and sticking their heads inside. After such a long hike, I figure the fumes from the insides of my shoes would make the monkeys pass out when they stuck their heads in. But they never did. In addition to the gray monkeys we also saw two Malayan Giant Squirrels and a baby monitor lizard.

The above picture shows the rope swing that we found and took turns swinging on. For lunch we ate grilled shrimp, chicken, pork, and sausages with mango and pineapple for dessert.

Not a bad way to spend a Monday I'd say!

Island to Mountain

Sometimes it's nice to take a break from the usual. A couple of weeks ago we took a break from our little island. So we drove across a long bridge to the mainland and headed up a winding road to the mountains.

Goodbye Island!

And we enjoyed a few days in this cozy little house surrounded by beautiful flowers and an awesome view of mountains and trees.

We enjoyed games, reading, hiking, sleeping, and relaxing. 

Mountain Trails

And we even tried to get a family picture on Easter Morning, but it was a little sunny, can you tell?

Even though I love where we live, it was still nice to get away for a few days. Now we are back in the thick of life on the island, but I sure am thankful for the days we had as a family in mountains.

Dog Lovers

I wouldn't say I'm a dog lover. I like them. I like dog stories. I grew up with a little Japanese Spaniel. But we've lived in Muslim countries for many years and dogs just aren't really an option if we want Muslim friends in our homes. Dogs and pork. They have not been a part of our lives...

Until we moved to this island...

It is such a mix of cultures that there is not one particular prevailing thought here on the island. So...a perfect time to have a dog. A boy should have a dog at some point in his life I think. And since we have three boys then they really should have a dog.

So last summer we adopted a year old female Shih Tzu named Molly (sorry to my sister-in-law, I promise, we didn't name her, she came like that). Molly is a fun little dog to have around. She makes life in the house more lively (as if life with three boys is not lively enough).

Anyway, one of her ears was itchy so I took her to the vet. Because of the countries we've lived in for so many years, the idea of a vet...a real live animal doctor...is still strange to me. It kind of cracks me up. But it is also comforting because since I really don't know the first thing about taking care of a dog, I am glad to know I can pay a lot of money for someone else to tell me what to do.

So this week I took Molly back for her check up. Like most doctors of any kind here, it's first come first serve and I haven't figured out the system of the best time to go. What time will result in the least amount of waiting? It's like tossing the dice. This week I lost.

Molly and I sat in the waiting room for almost two hours. Molly was not impressed because she has a great memory and she remembered what happened two weeks ago. She remembered the freezing cold exam table and the thermometer that got stuck up an uncomfortable place and she remembered the shot and the tweezers crammed down her ear. She sat in my lap and avoided looking at me for two hours. She gave me the silent treatment. She was also unimpressed with the waiting room filled with dogs and their "parents".

One man had a dog that wore a pink ballerina dress. One had a dog wearing a human T-shirt. One had a dog that I swear looked like Gru's monster-pet Kyle in Despicable me, under-bite and all. A lady with a Shih Tzu and a King Spaniel came and sat next to me. She was a talker so I didn't have to worry about being entertained during my wait. She told me all about her six dogs and showed me pictures of them on her phone. While oohing and aaahing over her dog pictures I glanced up and noticed two other people showing each other videos of their dogs on their phones and the thought came to me:

This room is like a room filled with grandparents and their grandchildren. Seriously, that's how they treat their little pooches. It's so funny to me. They talk to them like they are people. They dress them in clothes. This place is a great place to be a dog.

Molly was super unimpressed when her name was called and she had to go to the torture...I mean exam room. This time they didn't attack her with the thermometer, but she still snapped at the doctor when he checked her ear. Then she grabbed on to me like she was a monkey. Good grief.

She got more medicine which I suspect is just a way to get more money out of me. But what do I know? After waiting for so long, I felt like I'd become pretty good friends with the "mommy" of the two pooches I sat by. I smiled and waved goodbye.

I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to how much dogs here are spoiled. But I have to say that it is refreshing to see people that care about God's creatures. Even if they do make them wear ballerina clothes.

Rain!

It's raining. The steady patter of the rain makes me feel cozy as the sky darkens with the approach of night. I made soup for dinner. That's always a great meal for a rainy night. But we live on a tropical island at sea-level, so it's not cold. I had to turn on the air-condition in the dining room so that we wouldn't sweat while eating the hot dinner. We don't usually turn on the air-conditioner downstairs unless we have guests. Electricity here is expensive, so we try to use the ACs and our clothes dryer sparingly.

I never get tired of rain. I think it's because of two things.

First I have great memories of rain as a child. I supposed the wet season was more irritating for my parents. There were always leaks in our roof and the day after a rain, Dad would have to get the ladder and go up on the roof to fix the leaks. Mom would gather all the buckets and pots we'd used the night before to catch the drops falling from the ceiling. I suppose she might have tired of having to wash the pots every time. The other problem was that the rain often knocked out the electricity. I remember spending evenings sitting on our front porch watching the rain in the dark. Sometimes we'd light candles all through the house. We'd joke that just about the time we got all the candles lit, the lights would come back on. The other thing we had to do as soon as the electricity cut off was run to the kitchen and unplug the fridge. When the lights came back on, the electricity would surge through the house at high power for a couple of seconds. We didn't want to lose our fridge in the spurt of power. Good times! Great memories!

The second reason I love rain is because we lived in the desert for so many years. Rain was infrequent to say the least. When it did come, it was not refreshing. It dredged up the muck and stinky-ness of the city and the lack of drainage left countless roads covered in chocolate milk colored water for days. Not pleasant. When we moved back to Asia and had our first rain I thought, "Ahhhh! This is why I love rain!" I love the rain in Asia because it is refreshing.

I know it's hard to get out and go places when it's raining. I know it is gross to have the bottom of your jeans damp all day. I know. But still, I like it.

"I know that the Lord is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods. The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses."
Psalm 135:5-7

#H54F: High Five For Friday

This Friday our family is super happy because...

#1 It's the beginning of SPRING BREAK! Yay! The boys are so excited to have a week free of homework, school work, and busy schedules.

#2 Kris left Sunday night on a trip and returned Wednesday night. That makes for a busy week for him. We are glad to be together as a family for the coming week.

#3 I actually received a copy of Side By Side! I am so happy to get to hold in my hands the product of a lot of work. A dream come true :)

#4 Parent/Teacher conferences this week. I'm happy to report that all the boys are on high honor roll. High Five for the Kelley Boys.

#5 My computer is well again...I think. That's a relief and definitely worth a high five.

What was your week like?

A Little or a Latte

Twenty years ago I wrote our first Kelley Khronicle! It was printed on paper. Copied in a photocopier. Stuffed in envelopes. Mailed (the kind that uses a post office and a real postman) to all recipients. Kris and I had been married less than two years and we were headed to a small four-year-old country in East Africa called Eritrea.

I wonder how many folks who received that very first Kelley Khronicle back in March 1995 are still getting our news today?

An awful lot has happened since then.

We've studied three languages (and two different scripts). We've lived in six different countries. We've had three children. We've been loved and prayed for by so many people. We've mostly-faithfully kept up with writing Kelley Khronicles during all this time.

And we still do send out the Khronicle in email form.

Which means that maybe now, maybe on this 20 year anniversary of The Kelley Khronicle...it's time to get a new name for the blog.

So in the coming days I'll be switching the blog name to "A Little or a Latte". That describes both me and this blog on a number of levels. Our family newsletter will stay the same. My author updates will stay the same. The author page JanaKelley.com will stay the same. And actually, the address for this blog will stay the same. You can still access it in whatever way you normally do. You'll just see a different title when you get here.

See you then!

A Cactus Kind of Day

It was a cactus sort of day. Or maybe I was the cactus. Admittedly, I was a little prickly. Kris was gone so I was running the house alone. It was a wreck. We were running late for school. I missed the turn to pick up someone who needed a ride. An unnamed individual bumped the gear shift and our car went into neutral while speeding down the road without me realizing what the problem was. You know, one of those kind of mornings.

And for whatever reason, I'd woken up with a foreboding feeling. I had Psalm 42:11 on my mind from the time I rolled out of bed. It's my standard "foreboding feeling" verse.

"Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet raise him, my Savior and my God."

Really, what do I have to be downcast about? When my soul is disturbed, I know deep down that I really have everything. A Savior, the Lord of All. What else do I need?

But I still felt down. And then, after the craziness of getting everyone to school semi-on-time I felt rushed and down. I pulled into the carport and something to the side caught my eye.

It was my cactus.

I say "my cactus" but it was really a flower pot that was left from the previous tenant, about 1 1/2 years ago. I wanted the pot but not the plant. It was an ugly cactus. Bulbs of prickly. All crammed into a flower pot. I didn't want the cactus, but I just never got around to digging it out. I never got around to it because I do not have a green thumb. Which explains why the cactus has outlasted most of the other potted plants I own. It doesn't need that much care.

But what caught my eye was not the cactus itself. Didn't I mention that it was ugly? What caught my eye was two BIG white flowers protruding from the needly plant. How on earth did it produce such beautiful flowers? I got out of the car and walked across the cement to check it out.

Sure enough, two flowers shot out of one of the ugly bulbs. They were soft and lacy and smelled fresh, like baby powder. What on earth? It was like a beautiful gift, a reminder from the Lord to keep perspective on Cactus Days. Be the flower, not the cactus!

Why so downcast? Put your hope in God! I will praise Him, my Savior and my God.

It Arrived in the Mail!

Look what has arrived! It's a real-deal book y'all! Sadly, I have not seen it yet. The woes of living overseas. But my family has seen it and I'm pretty sure they are telling me the truth :) These are my advanced copies. I asked my mother-in-law to send me two copies and it cost a whopping $18 in postage so those books better get here because good grief. I can't afford to pay the postage for my own book!

Today I got on Amazon and noticed the book is no longer labeled as "pre-order", but the kindle version is. What? So, perhaps if you order it now they will actually send it to you now!! How cool would that be? Except, so much for a grand "Book Release Day" because apparently it has already released. Oh well.

So, in honor of all of us totally missing release day...whenever that was, you can apparently order it now. And I'd BE SO PUMPED if you would get on Amazon and put a review on there. That would be great!

Now, another exciting thing was that last night I met via Skype with someone from the publisher to record an interview for an upcoming podcast. Wow, that's a first for me. They wanted audio AND video. Yikes. That's unfortunate because I don't like my hair. But it's supposed to be about the book anyway so I decided to get over it and agree to the interview.

Besides the issue of my hair, there was the issue of where to set up my computer. Not in my "office" because it is more of a "crawl space" behind a giant wardrobe. And it's very messy. Not the living room because of three students doing homework and a dog that would want to sit in my lap and I don't want to be a crazy old dog-lady. Well, Kris is gone, so I took over his office.

Next problem. His office.

How to make a man's office look like a cozy living room...amazingly, I sort of did it! Look at this!

Can't you sort of think that I am sitting in a cozy living room or at least in a very cool looking office. I mean, awesome wall-hangings, a fresh ivy, family picture, cool looking lamp. "Welcome to my livingroom, all five people listening to this podcast!"

Look, I even brushed my hair and put lipstick on! I had to hunt for lipstick because seriously, who wears lipstick over here? I was once told (in a very Southern drawl) that "A Southern girl ALWAYS wears her lipstick for a picture..." (awkward pause) "you do have lipstick don't you?" To which I replied, "Does chapstick count?"

So I hunted down and actually found...well, it was more of a tinted chapstick, but pretty darn close to lipstick. I slathered it on my lips and immediately got grossed out and wiped off half of it with a kleenex. At any rate, this is what I looked like for the interview. Cozy, professional. Well, at least decent.

But to appreciate the efforts I went through, you need to see the full picture. This is what it actually looked like in there:

Yea, note the golf clubs shoved over to the left, papers barely out of camera shot. My soccer shorts go nicely with my fancy top, right? Don't you wear soccer shorts and flipflops when you are being interviewed? Hey, don't judge. If you had to do it at nine o'clock at night, you might have done that too. 

I also had to instruct my kids not to play their loud music or talk loud, puleeeeeeez, for half an hour. And I had to steal the dog's new squeeky toy that she carries in her mouth at all times and when she sleeps, she lays on top of it so no one will steal it. So she was distraught for half an hour last night. I shut the office door and could still hear her sniffing through the crack between the door and the tile floor.

Well, thankfully, the internet across 10,000 miles apparently makes the video a tad scratchy, so maybe the scene will look like a cozy living room and my hair will look awesome. I plan to post the link here whenever they put it up. They said it would be closer to the release day. 

Which brings me back to Amazon, who says they can now send it...and today it says only 2 left in stock, more on the way? What? 

Is this part of being a new author? Being in a perpetual state of confusion? At least I'm enjoying the ride!

I hope you'll get a chance to read Side By Side and will spread the word!

P.S. Oh, and I created a hashtag which is hilarious seeing as how I don't really know what to do with it. But those of you who do and want to help me spread the word, you can use #SideBySideNovel.