"People Watching" or "Profiling "

Have you ever seen people that you just want to know more about? Sometimes I'll catch myself making up stories about people and their lives just to feel some sort of connection with them. It's weird I know but it makes travelling way more fun.

So we're staying in our hotel, and I notice a lady wearing an "Atlanta" shirt. I think,"Wow, I've been there. Wonder if she's been there?" The guy with her was tall with lots of bracelets on both wrists. Tan with a ballcap on.

Next day, I see the same couple at breakfast. He is wearing a Texas A&M hat. Now I'm starting to wonder (and make up stories) about their life. Are they from the States? Maybe from the South? Definately in the know about some BIG college teams down south. So at breakfast I drag Josh into my "game". We talk about why they might be in Malaysia and where they're from.

After making some predictions:

**Josh's Prediction**
They are from Europe, spent some time in the States, and are here on vacation.

**Amber's Prediction**
They are from the States, maybe he works as a youth minister (because all my old youth minister's were from the South), and here on vacation.

Soooo I wanted to know. Who are these people- that I don't know, but I might want to know, because we might be great friends... so I asked. Yes, I did. I went straight up to their table (which was next to the coffee, so if I needed to abort missions I could rendezvous at the coffee) I asked where they were from because I noticed his A&M hat.

**Reality**
Australian? (Didn't see that coming!)
Vacationing. (Points for both of us)
Travelled to the States. (One Point for Josh)
He works for the government.
She works in telemarketing.

So ironically my husband's predictions were closer than mine were. I think he's learning from me how to read people, or atleast make up entertaining stories about their lives.

Today we had breakfast together, and the husband of the couple was wearing a Dallas Mavs hat. Atleast he has good taste. It's been fun eating getting to know them.

This is our vacation.

First Leg of the BIG (but not as big as before) move!

Wow soooo crazy, that last week was. after the very short notice that the moving company was coming the very next day, we spent our wednesday packing our whole life up!

Here's our life shown in boxes and plastic bins in our last living room.



This moving company packed up everything. They were very thorough and efficient, so far so good. Our things will be packed into a shipping crate and shipped across the waters surrounding Indonesia to our new home. A little different than renting a U-Haul, huh? They had very creative ways of moving big items. This is our mattress boxed up. One guy was lifting with his head...I've always heard,"Lift with your legs!" but this changes everything! Here's the "moving truck" that will move our things to the crate.





So we spent the next few days just resting, visiting friends, and packing our bags to head to Kuala Lumpur (KL). Our main reason for going to KL was to see my dad. He was there this past month for work. We were hoping to catch him for a quick visit, but it's okay because he came to Indonesia! Our other reason was to change our visas from students to worker/housewife. So our cat, Laki Galak Balboa (Mean Boy Balboa) thought he should get in on the action too! He chased some socks right into the suitcase.



We made it to KL, but NOT without some stories to share.

*Story #1*
We had two huge bags and two hiking bags with all our "can't live without things". We had paid for the max amount of luggage. Well... we were overweight, not us but our bags were. They suggest to "shuffle some things around". This could not be done, no room anywhere. The family of four standing behind us had 22kgs. left. They volunteered to check one of our hiking bags (thankfull it was mine, that thing was sooo heavy!) This allowed us to get through baggage claim and arrive in KL with ALL of our things! We know that we were being looked out for.





*Story #2*
Boarding the plane in Bandung is very different. It has a very 1960's feeling to it. I was reminded of the photo of JFK and Jackie O when the arrived at Dallas Love Field in '63. There's no covering, and you walk straight to the plane. Quite interesting.





BUT through all of that, it was a nice flight. KL is a lovely city. It looks amazing at night, and I'm so thankful to be here.



Today our first stop was the Indonesian Embassy for visa paperwork. Normally this causes headaches in almost every country, but we are really fortunate to have a great team that work on organizing paperwork for visas. Our visas were soooooo smoooooooth. Filled out a form, turned in our papers, made some copies, stood in some lines... done at 4 PM this afternoon (hopefully!) Fast and easy... someone must have pushed that "easy button"! OR someone must be praying! Thanks for looking out for us!

-A&J

Moooooooving! Head 'em up, Move 'em out!

So this is our last official week in Bandung. It's so crazy. Have you ever noticed that when it's your last week anywhere, you want to sqeeeeeeze as much time as you can with your friends into that last week? It's our last week. So it's jammed pack full of sweet times with friends from here.

In all of the "jammed pack-ness" of this last week, we have elected Thursday to be our offical packing day. No plans are allowed during the day but are allowed that night. The moving company comes on Friday to pack up almost all of our things into a crate that will be shipped from here to Papua... moving is much different on this side of the world. Moving Companies use boats instead of U-Hauls. Friday night we'll take one last trip to the hot springs with some friends. You'd be silly to go during the day, the weather has been warmer than normal. Sitting in a hot spring with the sun beaming down on you doesn't sound very appealing. Who knows what will happen Saturday? A new chapter will begin on Sunday. We'll offically leave Bandung and head to Kuala Lumpur for one week to sort out our visas. We'll arrive in Sentani on March 29, after a few hour flight from Jakarta.

We've just started watching LOST, too. This isn't bad, but it's during our "jammed packed" last week. We've paced ourselves. Lots of people love that show. After only watching a few episodes, I guess I can understand why. I think it's different when you watch them on a dvd, because you don't have to wait in suspense for a full week you just hit play all and watch the whole thing. So, I'm not sure how I feel about LOST, yet. I do think JJ Abrams is really talented. He can make shows like Felicity (and we all know what that show is!), Alias, and now LOST. These shows keep our attention throughout a whole season or seasons, even when the plot turns weird or too sci-fi. That's talent. So, thanks JJ Abrams for making television shows that keep us hooked and entertain us at home of far away.

***EDIT***
So literally about 15 minutes after writing this, our moving company has a rep knock on our door. I don't recognize the guy, so am careful when opening the door. He asks for Josh and tells me he's with the moving co. I gave him Josh's number, and he hands me a sheet of paper with our "updated" shipping date. The date the ship is leaving has been moved ahead, and tomorrow they will come to pick up our things! TOMORROW?! we were expecting FRIDAY! so we were... what's that word?... oh yeah,
f l e x i b l e. :)

"But the LORD's plans stand firm forever; his intentions can never be shaken." Psalm 33:11

"We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps."
Proverbs 16:9

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11


Here's a great quote that I will leave you with:

"Christians are supposed not merely to endure change, nor even to profit by it, but to cause it." Harry Emerson Fosdick

Amber's Thoughts.

You know, I thought I would be so excited when we finished language school. Well, it's here. We finished (Praise the Lord!) but I don't feel "freedom". I have mixed emotions. This is the first city that we have felt settled. We knew it was a temp position, but I wasn't expecting to connect to people the way we have. At some point, all of our friends here will move to other countries or other islands, so in a way it's probably best that we leave first. Our teachers became like family, you know the rock that will always be there. They were there every day, rain or shine (trust me in Indonesia sometimes there is more rain than shine!) and always willing to invest into our lives. It's a bittersweet mixture of emotions for me.

Here's some examples of the mixed emotions I have:
happy, sad
anxious, nervous
excited, cautious
willing to move, clinging/grasping for life here

I feel what I felt when we made the move here from America, but now we know a little bit of the language. You can fill in the blank on the word you think fits best for how I feel.

Now we're turning to these next two weeks in Bandung. We'll go to Jakarta for a night, because Josh has a pilot test take. The week after that is strictly reserved for packing. When we moved, we had four suitcases, 2 hiking bags, and a backpack. That's our whole life. We've expanded since we moved here... adding a car and motorcycle to our family. A moving company will come next week to ship our things to Papua. We'll leave Bandung and head to Kuala Lumpur for switching our visas and "vacation" before going to Papua. We'll arrive on the morning of March 29. Terlalu cepat (too fast!)!

Once we get "settled" (does this ever happen in the Christian life???), I should have more time to update to fill you in on all our new adventures! Thanks for going on this journey with us.

A&J

Long Over Due Update

Wow, it's so crazy how life can totally distract from updating this thing! So much has happened these last few months. I'll try to recap it without boring you.

December:
The month flew by with language school. Our friends celebrated a holiday called "Idul Adha". This holiday has lots of different meanings, but here's the gist: an animal is sacraficed and the meat is passed out to the poor. The night before the "big day", the kids were hanging out in front of the mosque. They were so friendly, which is different than normal!

We were super busy, because there was a new group that came. Three new families moved to Bandung. They spent the month in orientation. We spent the month juggling language school, helping with orientation, helping them get set up in homes, and life in general. The highlight of the month was our Christmas day trip to the beach! It was soooo beautiful. It was only about 130 miles but in Indonesian time that means 6 hours on winding roads. We were there for almost a week. A couple of our friends came too. We also checked out a place called "Green Canyon". A beautiful cave tucked away on the island of Java. When we got home, we had a visit from a great great friend!














January:
We had a great New Years experience. We've celebrated 3 different times! The Islamic Calendar ends 11 days before January 1. We celebrated our normal new years. This past Monday we celebrated the Chinese New Year. Now we are almost finished with unit 5. We will only study through unit 6. So right now we're looking for plane tickets to leave the country for our visas!! Can you believe it?! We'll be moving to Papua in a couple of months. Wow. I can't believe it. This month has been a sad month too, because we just recently found out that my grandma has cancer. This was a surprise, because we weren't expecting news like this. God has been so faithful to us, and we know we are where we need to be. That knowledge doesn't make it any easier being on the other side of the world.





What an interesting time this has been. I believe we've grown alot. Hopefully when we meet again you can see even more clearly the light of Christ reflecting off our faces. We've met with Him, but we're not veiling our faces :)




P.S. we still have the cat. his is still naughty! Hope you're doing great. We love you and miss you all!

Thanksgiving

I’m thankful that Josh and I are here in Indonesia together. It would be really challenging to live here alone. I’m thankful that God has put us together to experience the adventures of this live with one another. Fifty years from now, we’ll be talking about that time we were in language school.

I’m thankful for my parents. It would be really hard to accept the fact that your only child has decided to pack up and move to another country that is FAR away from home. I’m so thankful that God has continually protected them from worry and that has given them ability to accept that we live here. They were really supportive of all the travelling and random summer jobs that had a point for advancing Kingdom work.

I’m thankful for Josh’s family. They are such an encouragement to us. Again I’m thankful for God and the peace that He gives to our families while we are far from home. I’m especially thankful for the cookies that you send us! They are literally a taste from home.

I’m thankful for both old and new friends. You have been there for me through some crazy times. I think God gives us friends, because He knows we need other people. As much as we can try to be independent, we are very dependent on one another. We need each other. Indonesians understand this. Our neighbors know that they need each other. We face difficult times together, we rejoice with one another. We carry each other’s burdens. Friends are a blessing from the Lord.

I have never been so thankful for health as I am this year. Moving to a new country that has tropical diseases that are passed through mosquitoes and where every tummy ache with fever can be something serious is something that can really wear you out. Praise the Lord that we have had mostly good health. We have had a few days where we had to stay in bed because of upset tummies; nothing serious though.

Even as I write this, I’m reminded of God and His faithfulness. Being so far from family during the holidays for the first time is a sad thing for me. He is my Heavenly Father and will never leave me or forsake me. He reunited us through His Son’s death on a Cross. He is good and never changes. I’m so thankful that He NEVER changes. He is my firm foundation. One day every nation will bow willingly at His feet to worship Him for who He is. He is altogether beautiful and lovely. For that I am truly thankful.


Happy Thanksgiving! We miss you!

Lately, it seems like we have been spending a lot of time learning the language. The more we learn, the more we realize how far we have to go. Now that our vocabulary is starting to expand, we have been accidentally switching words. This means that sometimes there are a few embarrassing moments like when I called Amber a cell phone the other day. After a confused look, I was able to straighten it out.

Every Monday morning at school, we have a one hour devotion called a kebaktian. The hour is filled with students and instructors giving testimonies in Indonesian and singing Indonesian worship songs. Next week I will give my testimony in Indonesian and Amber will read from the Alkitab (the Indonesian Bible). In the picture below, one of the instructors is praying for the kebaktian.



We have eight people in our class right now. Three people are native Korean speakers, two are native Japanese speakers, and three are native English speakers. This has forced us to communicate to one another in Indonesian. Since the school is based on the concept of full immersion, the language diversity isn’t a problem. This is a picture of our class (minus one other American) and one of our instructors is to the far right.





A couple weeks ago, Amber and I went on a motorcycle ride to another town that isn’t too far from where we live. We spent the night at hotel and visited a volcano nearby the next day. It was a fun getaway that gave us a chance to relax and take a break from all our studying. The volcano’s name is Tangkuban Perahu which literally means overturned boat. The name came from a legend about a love relationship that turns upside down. Wikepedia does a pretty good job of explaining the legend. The rim on one side also looks like a giant overturned boat. The crater itself was huge and was equally rank with the stench of sulfur.



Some of our friends back in the States have sent us care packages. (Thank you!!!) We couldn’t have been happier about the hadiah-hadiah (gifts) inside. The food here is a little different, so you would have thought it was Christmas when we received pancake mixes and deodorant! We picked up a stray kitten off the side of the road a couple months back so one of the packages came with toys for kittens. If you look closely in the picture, the cat is attacking the toy while Amber is holding it in her left hand. He is pretty much your typical kitten and plays until he passes out. We couldn’t find cat toys anywhere here, so it was nice to get something that keeps him occupied.