fasting month is now over and the first day after the end of fasting is called idul fitri. it's kind of like a mix of thanksgiving and christmas... thanksgiving because you eat good food all day and christmas because people get gifts in the family.
my sister was such a good sport coming with us to all our neighbors and saying "mohon maaf lahir batin". people say this to everyone that day to ask for forgiveness for what they had done throughout the year.
so in the morning we got up early and joined our neighbors in the line of all the shaking of hands, kissing of cheeks and hugging. we spent the morning at my "mom"s house. we had our second breakfast with them. it was good to be a part of a family on such an important day.
we then went to church, since it was a sunday. at church we sang songs about victory... how we have victory in Jesus... praying for those who for a month prayed and fasted and say they are victorious. it was such an amazing praise time, knowing that my victory is not by what i have done, but what my savior has done for me.
then we went to our helper's house. we had such a good time there... eating (yet again) and talking, laughing and enjoying our relationship. afterward we came home for a nap... guess what we did after that... went to more houses to eat and laugh and visit. i had a great time sitting and having conversations with people about life and family. (A had a blast because she ate junk food all day - cookies, candies, cookies...)
a lady down from our house, an older lady who was one of the first ones to really give me any physical affection and a widow herself, hugged me like two or three times telling me how she remembered when P came to her house on this holiday and ate in her house... that was really touching for me... holidays you usually think of loved ones... and i was so touched that she thought of P. i told her i remembered and just hugged her, a lady that barely comes up to my shoulders.
the next day we went to my tutor's house and that was a lot of fun. she speaks english and a lot of the people that came to her house that day spoke english, so it was entertaining for my sister too.
our town is like ghost town right now because most of the people went "home" for the holidays. people say it's like that for a week. for some reason i don't remember it being this empty before, but i can't believe how the walk from my house to the front big street (10 minute walk) is basically nothing... no people, barely any motorcycles, one or two cars, shops are closed... it's crazy...
we have one more week with my sister. been having a great time and want to keep praying the Lord bless the time we have together. tomorrow we will be going out with a family from church... the next day i'm hoping to take some kids in the neighborhood to the zoo. i think that will be a lot of fun.
please continue to pray for us, health and safety. pray for our times with people... taking every opportunity we have. my daughter, i love her so much, saw a little girl crying in the play area today and asked me to pray for her, so we took a moment to pray for her, and after we were done, she stopped crying. God is amazing at how He wants to show a little three year old how He answers prayers. that was an opportunity that could have been lost, but i pray that i am more aware of opportunities like that, whether it's with my daughter or a stranger. like my missed opportunity with a neighbor... she was telling me how she was sick and i should have prayed with her... i don't know why i didn't... a roomful of people or what, but i lost it and i kick myself in the butt. but continue to ask that the Lord will never let me go and will keep working on me.
please pray for A and me, even though we have a week with my sister, it's only a week also... we're starting to countdown how many naps/sleeps she has to take before eemo (korean for aunt) goes home. just pray for our hearts... my sister's too.
