eight months

I did not realized that two days ago, Jove turned 8 months old. Only eight months have passed since he came out, yet I feel I've loved him forever.

He has two lower teeth, a sweet sweet smile, and super loud cry the instant he wants something. He is more of a toddler than a baby now.

His crib has been turned into a playpen now. Looking at him sitting inside it, playing by himself, made me feel somewhat happy and also sad. Hmm, must get used to this mommy feeling and just be grateful for this wonderful miracle God has planted in my care.

prayer

Why, O Lord, is it so hard for me
to keep my heart directed toward you?
Why does my mind wander off in so many directions,
and why does my heart desire
the things that lead me astray?
Let me sense your presence in the midst of my turmoil.
Take my tired body,
my confused mind,
and my restless soul into your arms
and give me rest, simple quiet rest.

Henry J.M. Nouwen
Show Me the Way: Readings for Each Day of Lent

***
P.S.
Today is a special day for someone!
Happy birthday, Cousin dear! :)

hospitality

Then the king will say to those on his right,
‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father.
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
a stranger and you welcomed me,
naked and you clothed me,
ill and you cared for me,
in prison and you visited me.’ ...
‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did
for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Matt. 25: 34-5, 40

I am living in Jakarta, Indonesia. Whenever I am in the car driving somewhere in the city, I see hungry and thirsty people begging for money near the traffic light; some of them are ill. Naked guys with mental illness walk pass my house. I watch and read criminal being sentenced to prison almost daily. Yet I have to admit, sadly, I have never done anything.

The most I have done is giving little fraction of my money to the beggars. That is closer to nothing than something.

Mother Teresa lived this gospel reading to the letters. She fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, clothed the naked, nursed the sick, welcomed the dying to die on her lap.

Should I do the same? Could I? Or would I?

I have heard and read this gospel reading a lot of times, but I have never give it enough importance to be done in my life. I find it difficult, mostly because I have a lot of fears.

Welcoming a stranger to the house is close to impossible to be done. I have watched enough real-life crime to be able to do that. Or maybe I am not poor enough to do that (blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven).

But I should be able to do the rest. Yeah, I could do them.

And of course, I would.

away from home

Today is my husband's birthday. We woke up slightly before 4 a.m., ate our breakfast cum birthday noodle at 4:30 a.m., then hubby left to the airport at 5. He had a morning flight to Singapore, two days one night business trip.

Happy birthday, Daddy!

what to give up

Give up complaining
focus on gratitude.
Give up pessimism
become an optimist.
Give up harsh judgments
think kindly thoughts.
Give up worry
trust Divine Providence.
Give up discouragement
be full of hope.
Give up bitterness
turn to forgiveness.
Give up hatred
return good for evil.
Give up negativism
be positive.
Give up anger
be more patient.
Give up pettiness
become mature.
Give up gloom
enjoy the beauty that is all around you.
Give up jealousy
pray for trust.
Give up gossiping
control your tongue.
Give up sin
turn to virtue.
Give up giving up
hang in there!

ash wednesday

Meménto, homo, quia pulvis es, et in púlverem revertéris

Remember, man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return

cute cute goddaughter

My goddaughter and her mom just visited me! Oooh, the most awaited event of the month! :)

Rielle is a super cute-cute-smart-smart little girl. I didn't get to see her often, so I was always amazed with her growth every time I saw her. The smartest kid for her age I've met so far! So proud of her. He he he. So proud of her mommy too. :)

And silly me, I forgot to take picture!!!!! I've recharged the camera, prepared it on the table, and forgot to use it altogether in the excitement of meeting them.

If you read this, Rielle's mommy, please remind me to take picture the next time we meet. :)

gong xi fa cai

a painful episode

Someone bit me while I was feeding him! Ouch, ouch, ouch!

My mom told me to pinch his tiny nose when he bit, I did just that, but he bit even harder and pulled away (still biting), resulting a bloody blister that stained my pad.

Not too big blister, but the pain lasted for a good two days. Partly because of the engorgement, then because I fed him again with the still-blistered-bitten breast at night.

I found this inside the medicine cupboard, from Mom's friend on her pilgrimage. I like to use this better than the nursing cream.

Unbelievable as it may seem, this is the culprit:

flood

Jakarta is flooded. Badly.

My in-laws' house is flooded up to an adult's thigh and they spent the almost the whole of Friday in the car trapped in a very bad traffic jam on their way to a relative's house. My father and almost everyone else could not work on Friday. My husband went to work in the morning, but went home shortly after because the water level was rising everywhere.

There were thousands that lost their homes, stranded with wet clothes and no food on the rooftops. Some lost their family members in the flood. Today, most of them started to get sick. Thousands of people also trapped in their houses with no clean water and electricity since Friday. The clean water and electricity were cut off in the flooded area to prevent water pollution and possible short disaster. Today, my sister-in-law and her family moved to stay in a nearby hotel. With two children under three, it was a wise precaution.

These past three days, watching the news about the flood gave me weird kind of feelings. I'm thankful that all of us are alive and healthy, can live well with clean water, electricity, and enough food. I'm horrified and sad knowing about those poor people losing their homes and cars and belongings. My heart's gone to pieces looking at those sick children and babies in the measly shelters. But I'm also slightly glad that my husband is at home and not working.

For precaution, we're staying in my parents' place again. My sister just got an sms tonight, informing that her lab session was canceled and those who has found the required kutu beras (rice flea or rice bug?) for the experiment, should try to keep them alive till next week.