Family Time

We can't get enough of it these days. 

Despite the long school days for Brandon and me.

Despite nightly homework for Bailey-Boo.

Despite swim practice, gymnastics, basketball coaching, cross-country runs, half-marathon training, and weekly futsol games.

Our evenings are not hurried. We aren't running ragged as we scamper from event to event. 

And most weekends we float from one activity to the next with little in the way of an agenda. 

Last Thursday (a national holiday and non-school day), we literally stayed at the pool for six hours. You read that right, six hours. We arrived at ten, lunches and snacks in tow, and the girls swam their little hearts out as Brandon and I tag-teamed supervision. Other families came and went (and then came back), but we stayed the course. 

On Saturday afternoon, we were at the mall, waiting for lunch with friends, and we just sat. While the girls climbed all over two little-tikes type slides on the third floor, Brandon and I simply sat. 

Sitting. 

Talking. 

Enjoying each other's company. 

We watched and laughed and mused over the girls and their make-believe play. 

While I miss Target, Stater Bros., and Victoria Gardens (never thought I'd say that!), there's something to be said for not knowing where things are. There's no pressure to go anywhere. No sale to get to. No "need" to run a quick errand that ends up taking up the whole afternoon. We have what we (really) need, and if we don't, we're not sure how to get it, so we'll improvise. 

And we'll go on enjoying the time we have together for as long as this carefree schedule can withstand.

And I'll start praying that I didn't just jinx things by hitting the "publish" button... 

The Map That Made Me Cry

It was a simple map. A basic, chicken-scratch, mess of a sketch that had me on the verge of tears.

It made no sense!

All the lines swirling about, intersecting at various points and trailing off the edges of the board. It might as well have been a treasure map drawn by Bailey. Maybe then my mind could have made something of it. I've gotten pretty good at decoding her silliness. 

But no. This was a map of Jakarta. My home. 

This was my home and it didn't compute. 

Our lecturer was trying to make a point about how "we" use landmarks in Jakarta to navigate the roads because one can't depend on street signs or mapquest or gps. So he drew these swirly lines (supposedly the toll roads around town) and all around the room, people started calling out items to add to the map.

"Lippo campus is there!" 

"Right over there is the statue of such-and-such."

"And don't forget the big power lines!"

The what? Who? What's going on? 

All of a sudden I was overwhelmed with a feeling of lost-ness that sucked the air out of my lungs. I couldn't have spoken, even if I dared.

What's going on?

Where am I?

I've been in this country nearly two months and these landmarks that are supposed to orient me to this city are as nonsensical as the Mandarin work that Boston brought home a few weeks back. 

What does it mean when the very things that everyone uses to guide themselves from point A to point B mean nothing to you? How do I make sense of this? Where do I go, when I literally don't know anything that's not along the path from apartment, to school, to church?

And still...

Be still.

Be still and know.

Know that He is God.

And this is where He wants us. 

Because that feeling of being lost was a fleeting, momentary - even if overwhelming - flash that was immediately replaced by Him.

By His peace. 

His comfort. 

His sufficiency. 

And I will cling to Him when the swirly lines and nonsensical landmarks threaten to take His peace. 

When the taxi takes a different way home and I'm suddenly lost in my own neighborhood.

When I can't find my way to anywhere that isn't somewhere along the path between home and work.

He is good. He is God. And I am His. 

I'm Back

I think.

I'm hesitant to start this post, because I feel that by writing it, I'm committing to years of posts. And to be honest, this is the first time in the past seven weeks that I've felt like I have enough time to sit down at our home computer and write. 

Don't get me wrong, I've been mentally composing and editing and deleting and revising blog posts about our time here in Jakarta since we left for LAX back in July. But then, that only compounds the problem because there's no way I can go back and do justice to our experiences these past almost-two-months. So do I throw in the towel and give up documenting the rest of our time in Jakarta simply because I'll have to do a weak-sauce summary post of the whirlwind that our time has been so far? Or do I tentatively start what might end up a train-wreck of a blog; one that started with great expectations and intentions, but quickly unravelled into an abyss of nothingness after a few hastily posted ramblings? 

What to do.

Well, there's a three year-old begging to have "dance class" with me, and a five-year old asking to go to the pool. I suppose I have a few more hours to decide. 

Then again, I just finished my first post, didn't I. ;)