Our Indonesian life is a life of transitions, goodbyes, hellos, and forward motion. We constantly are looking at the big picture and listening for the quiet voice of direction.
I'm writing this blog update from Singapore. I just had 17 days with my parents. We spent 14 days in Indonesia and the last 3 in Singapore. Other than the fact that my mom became very sick for a week my time with them was a dream. I'm one of the blessed people who love and cherish my parents. Maybe we don't always agree on everything or see eye to eye but when it comes down to it we love each other much deeper than any issue that we don't agree on. Actually I don't think we disagree on many issues either.
I was able to get coffee daily with my Pops. We talked about cultural issues that we see in Indonesia and in America. Where the poverty of Indonesia is very evident here I think the love of money and self is very evident in America. We talked about the goods and the bads of raising my girls in each place. We talked about rather Mom would EVER get better. I spent time looking into his eyes and recognizing the wisdom that dwells within them and the love for God's people. No matter how many days left I have in this life, those daily coffee dates of the last 17 days will always, always be held close to my heart.
On our last morning together I sat on the bed filling out some forms while mom rubbed her fingernails across my back. It is something she says I would ask her to do often when I was younger. We talked about the transition that we, Kaembas, will be making eventually back into the U.S. We talked about things that will be hard and how we can solve those issues. She told me of the family support that we will be able to count on and I believed her. I know that we will not have to make that transition alone. That moment, on that bed, will be the moment that I remember as I look back on this trip in the years to come. The touch of my mother...so sweet, so gentle, full of love.
We did and saw so much. We took advantage of every moment that we had together. However, what I will hold onto this next year that we are apart is the conversations, the hugs, the smiles, the laughter, the togetherness....the relationship.
Our world puts so much pressure on us to own as much as we can. Americans have a "bigger is better" mentality. We like to go, go, go. However, at my young age of 30, I have figured out that what matters in this world is the relationships. Oh God, how I love the relationship that you have given me with my parents. I thank you, sweet Lord, for them and for the past 17 days. It was a sweet time of relating.
My heart aches, my eyes water, and yet my lips smile; for I have tasted heaven in the arms of my parents.....
Mom, Dad know that I will see your face over every coffee that I drink and every ice that I turn down until we meet again
I'm writing this blog update from Singapore. I just had 17 days with my parents. We spent 14 days in Indonesia and the last 3 in Singapore. Other than the fact that my mom became very sick for a week my time with them was a dream. I'm one of the blessed people who love and cherish my parents. Maybe we don't always agree on everything or see eye to eye but when it comes down to it we love each other much deeper than any issue that we don't agree on. Actually I don't think we disagree on many issues either.
I was able to get coffee daily with my Pops. We talked about cultural issues that we see in Indonesia and in America. Where the poverty of Indonesia is very evident here I think the love of money and self is very evident in America. We talked about the goods and the bads of raising my girls in each place. We talked about rather Mom would EVER get better. I spent time looking into his eyes and recognizing the wisdom that dwells within them and the love for God's people. No matter how many days left I have in this life, those daily coffee dates of the last 17 days will always, always be held close to my heart.
On our last morning together I sat on the bed filling out some forms while mom rubbed her fingernails across my back. It is something she says I would ask her to do often when I was younger. We talked about the transition that we, Kaembas, will be making eventually back into the U.S. We talked about things that will be hard and how we can solve those issues. She told me of the family support that we will be able to count on and I believed her. I know that we will not have to make that transition alone. That moment, on that bed, will be the moment that I remember as I look back on this trip in the years to come. The touch of my mother...so sweet, so gentle, full of love.
We did and saw so much. We took advantage of every moment that we had together. However, what I will hold onto this next year that we are apart is the conversations, the hugs, the smiles, the laughter, the togetherness....the relationship.
Our world puts so much pressure on us to own as much as we can. Americans have a "bigger is better" mentality. We like to go, go, go. However, at my young age of 30, I have figured out that what matters in this world is the relationships. Oh God, how I love the relationship that you have given me with my parents. I thank you, sweet Lord, for them and for the past 17 days. It was a sweet time of relating.
My heart aches, my eyes water, and yet my lips smile; for I have tasted heaven in the arms of my parents.....
Mom, Dad know that I will see your face over every coffee that I drink and every ice that I turn down until we meet again
