This & That

Jogjakarta
Last Saturday Amy went to Jogjakarta (or Yogyakarta) for fun with a few friends from the International School. Where is Jogjakarta?  It's south of here :)  It is a city about 3 hrs by car one way from Salatiga, and it is kind of a cultural epicentre of Javanese culture (so I've heard). It actually has it's own Sultan or King type figure, although it is considered a district of Java.  It is the 2nd most popular tourist destination in Indonesia behind Bali, making it a good place to find foreigners walking around in tropical attire looking to purchase trinkets for the folks back home. Banyak orang asing! (lots of foreigners!)

That means...I'm sure I would fit right in!  (We hope to spend 2 or 3 days there as a family in a couple months)  I'll make sure my camera is always around my neck, and since I'm a 30-something-year-old Dad of four, it is high time I invested in a good fanny pack - The most shunned article of clothing yet possibly the most useful. If it lacked any sort of practicality, I'm sure you'd have already seen one on the front of a fashion magazine long ago. To top off the outfit, I will be wearing shorts to accent a pair of sparkling white tube socks neatly pulled up to my knees. I'll get Amy to snap a couple pictures, one for her wallet and one for the blog :)

Unlucky Gecko
Although the rat population is thinned out around our home, there is still the odd perpetrator  that seems to have a very good nose for unattended garbage. Last night, the rats stayed safe, but my rat trap managed to catch a poor little house gecko who had a hankering for chicken. It is amazing he could even trigger the trap, but he did, and it was the last thing he did. Nope, no pictures this time.

Satu Tahun (One Year)
Our little Charlotte celebrated her birthday on the 7th! That means, our little sweety has spent 1/2 her life in Indonesia, 1/4 in Canada, and 1/4 in the US. What an adventurist spirit! And the funny thing is - to her it is all normal - she doesn't know any different. We thank God for the blessing our littlest lady has been to each one of us. It is hard imagine all the ways her upbringing is and will be different than mine or Amy's. But, the unknown is not to be feared, and this is especially relevant to parents - not just in a foreign country & culture.

Just this morning on the way to school on the scooter Simon broke out in a scripture memory song from a cd we play now and then (quite rare for him). It was almost word for word this verse:

"Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you;

He will never let the righteous fall."

Psalm 55:22 (NIV)

So often we want to ensure the protection and provision of our children. And, we want it so much that walking into the unknown is the last thing we'd want to do. From a North American stand point that means a lot of things, a way of life, quality of education, guaranteed health care - just around the corner, soccer, hockey, violin lessons...What we want for our kids and will work so hard to guarantee.

But more than once Amy and I have felt God ask us: "Do you trust me with your kids?  Trust me."

Charlotte is now walking full time & keeping us all busy. Amy had Charlotte try out some new sandals...still a little big!

When Mom was gone the boys made some brilliant costumes with paper, tape, & some scissors. Simon's costume got ripped off before Dad could take a picture. That is supposed to be a handlebar moustache but I think the tape missed the mark.