Thanksgiving Indonesian Style :)

Wow...i am writing on my blog again...what a shocker! Today was our Thanksgiving Celebration-we did it on Friday instead of Thursday because we still had a half day of school on Thursday with a short teacher in-service. I definitely did not have the energy to do a full dinner after a day of work. But i did manage to get the pies made and for the first time ever, i put the turkey in a brine. I did the turkey a new way this year and i think it did really turn out well... :)

When it was time to gather around the table and give thanks, Jeff asked us to share one thing that we are thankful for this year and it struck me of how many things i had to be thankful for. My heart just was kind of overwhelmed...i am not sure why it hit right then...it wasn't anything new to think about what i was thankful for as this is a tradition we all do, but as i looked around the room today, i thought of each of the people that were there and the many years we have been overseas. This is our 13th year here in Salatiga and we have spent Thanksgiving with a variety of people. While i will always miss our family, i am always so thankful for the "family" that we are blessed with here. Every year there are old faces around the table that we have celebrated this day of thanks with before, but then each year there are also new faces at our table. Even though family is far away, we are blessed with "family" here that make these holidays feel special. We have been here so long and you would think

that i would be totally used to baking and making turkey in the hot humidness of Java but i still think back to the many Thanksgivings of being in cold weather and watching my mom do the cooking. :) I guess no matter how long you have been somewhere, we always look back with fondness at what once was! So as i reflected today on all the years spent here as well as in the U.S., i am full of thanks and just in awe at how blessed i truly am!!

Somedays....

November 19, 2009 will be a day i will remember for awhile. It has been one of those surreal days where you just wonder what is going to happen next. A friend described this as one of those days where you are floating a river in a canoe and all of a sudden you hit the rapids and you get going faster and faster and you better just hang on for dear life or else you won't make it. (Tks Mary for the description). At 6:30 Mary called me and let me know that Kim Linegar, a good friend and someone whom we have served with at Mountainview for many years was going to have to be medivac-ed to Singapore because of some complications from an illness. The last time that happened to someone here was 4 or 5 years ago and it was because an older lady had broken her hip. So, we were all shocked by that. It was also then that i found out Pak Tukiman, a dear Christian man who had served faithfully at the school had passed away last night. His daughter, Ester, had passed away a couple of years ago from most likely leukemia (she was the elementary school secretary). On top of all this news the school was having a Service Day where we all would be heading out to different areas to hopefully bless and encourage others in our community. Mmm...how does one take in all these things in one day?

I guess you just get up and you get going. I had a school full of children waiting to go to the SLB school to put on a carnival for the students there. SLB stands for Sekolah Luar Biasa which translated means The School for the Out of the Normal or Ordinary which means students with handicaps. So we loaded all of our elementary students into cars and headed up to the school and spent the next 2 1/2 hours hanging out with kids from elementary to high school

age who had a variety of disabilities. The time began with the usual speeches at the beginning of any program... since i am the principal i had the privilege of saying one of those speeches - ugh, this is not one of my favorite things to do. After the speeches were made we set up games and the craziness but fun began. Our students mingled some with the students from SLB but mainly just had fun running the games and giving away the prizes. I had one girl that continued to come up and talk to me and she especially liked giving high fives :). It was fun watching a group of hearing impaired girls as they signed away at break-neck speed. All these students were very sweet and i think it was a great opportunity for our students to reach out and see things from another perspective.

So then the contrast to that was an hour later after returning from the SLB school we were heading to the funeral of Pak Tukiman. Hesti, Pita, Mary, Nick and i went together and I am always thankful to go with an Indonesian friend just to be able to watch their cues on what to do. We arrived and the funeral ceremony had started but we went in to where they had the body laid out and the family was standing to say our condolences. Before moving to this country i had never seen a dead body before and now several funerals later, i have become more accustomed to this cultural practice. My heart still sank today when i looked down at Pak Tukiman, memories of being in the same home, looking down at Ester, flooded my mind, along with the feeling of sadness of not being able to see Pak Tukiman again. I know that he is at home with his Creator and for that i am thankful, but my heart aches for those he and Ester have left behind...Mrs. Tukiman, Wiwik and Yanti. Please pray for this family and many other loved ones who will definitely be missing him.

So, that is my surreal day, hanging on and just hoping all comes out okay in the end. We still are waiting news about Kim and what the tests/labs have shown to be the problem. Her husband and daughter are with her now and her son should be flying into Singapore tomorrow. Please continue to pray for them as well.

Worst Blogger on Earth

I have decided that i am literally the worst blogger that ever lived. My last post was in May...ugh sigh. I could resolve that i should just quick this blogging but i always think someday i will get better at this. Maybe this will be the start of keeping better updates for all of you. So, here i am again, trying and we will just see how long it lasts. :)

So what is the latest news with the Armstrongs? I will just go ahead and update each of us.

Nick: Last month an earthquake shook the island of Sumatra again but further south than Aceh, in and near the city of Padang. Nick went there just 2 or 3 days after the earthquake hit to

access and see what CRWRC could do to help. There is now a team set up there and they are working with a couple of different local organizations to do a disaster response which

involves distributing relief supplies such as rice, blankets, tarps, generators, etc., WASH projects (Water, Sanitation and Health) and the reconstruction of Core Houses. There were areas that were hit by the earthquake but also the earthquake also caused landslides that totally wiped out several villages. One story that Nick told that was impressed upon my heart was the story of a 3 year old girl whose family and her were swept down in the landslide. When she stopped, she dug herself out of the dirt and filth and found herself totally alone at night. She then crawled her way up out of the landslide to a ridge and walked several kilometers, all night long, until someone from another village found her. Her family was lost in the landslide and she is now living with some relatives from another village but it still boggles my mind how this little 3 year old had the guts and will to keep going all night long. Another story Nick told was of a school that had two sessions running...one in the morning and one in the afternoon because there was not enough space for all the students they had to serve. The

earthquake hit in the early evening when the second session was going and one boy was able

to get out of the building, but then remembered his sister was still inside. He ran back in

trying to find her but could not so he ran out just seconds before the whole building collapsed.

Nick met the mother as she was waiting for rescue workers to find the body of her daughter

in the collapsed building. Her story was heart wrenching...thankful to have her son with her

but mourning the death of her daughter. These are just a few of the stories that Nick has shared...i honestly don't know how he is able to go into these situations and listen to heartbreaking story after story. Please continue to pray for the work there: for Marvin and Lorraine who are working as the Relief Managers for CRWRC in Padang for the next month, for the South Sumatran Reformed Church that is working alongside CRWRC-there has been recent resistance by an organization of the majority religion accusing Christians of only wanting to proselytize in these villages, pray for God's peace and wisdom to continue to guide and direct all that CRWRC does in these villages!!

Laura: What's new with me is really that there is nothing all that new and exciting.

I basically have the task of keeping things running at home, serving at the International School and just trying (not always successfully) to make sure we are all keeping up with what is before us. I am in my 13th year of working at Mountainview ICS, my 9th year as principal here. The elementary teaching staff is wonderful and there just seems to be a real calm to how this school year is going. I have much to be thankful for-a great, very sincere staff, wonderful students who are fun to interact with and just many day to day blessings. :) My favorite job, of course, is being mom to Annaliese and Luke. Somedays i definitely realize that being a mother of teenagers is not the easiest thing to do...there are times where i miss the toddler or young elementary ages of getting the crafts out, having friends over or just watching a movie together. Our time as a family is much different now...kids are on the go, have many activities and would really rather just be with their friends than hanging out with their mom and dad. But, i do love the talks we have-both the serious and the absurd, funny ones, and getting to know our kids for the wonderful people they have become. We are truly blessed with two great children. :) Thank you Lord! Here are some pictures from our Book Character Day!

Annaliese: Annaliese is in her Senior Year. She is a beautiful young lady, both inside and

outside. She has kept very busy this Senior

with a full load of classes, along with being Editor of the school paper. She and her class are also busy doing fund raisers for their Senior Trip which will happen in March. She is also applying for University (1 in Oregon, 2 in Washington, 1 in Arizona and Boise State) and just has to finish essays on a couple of her applications. Now we just have to pray through this and trust the Lord with where she ends up. :) Some of her favorite things that she loves to do is take photos, play guitar and watch tv series all in one day.

Lukas: Luke is in his Sophomore year of high school. He spends most of his time playing

sports and hanging out with friends. He does school because he knows he has to but i don't think it is really his favorite thing to do in the world. :) He played Varsity soccer and managed to not dislocate his shoulder until the semi-finals of the end of the season tournament. That was a major bummer especially since he dislocated it just jumping up and cheering for his teammates making a goal!!! Oh well. As many of you remember he had surgery in June for dislocating his wrist as well as breaking it and tearing the ligament. He recovered well from that but we knew we were facing another surgery because of the shoulder dislocations. So that just happened last Monday and so he is now recovering from another surgery. Crazy kid. We hope this is it...but one never knows. He hopes to be able to start playing basketball in January but it will depend on his recovery. The damage in the shoulder was more extensive than what we had realized.

So...now that catches you up on us.