6 a.m. – I wake up and get the first load of laundry going. Christmas music is already blaring from a pondok Natal in the valley below us. I set out breakfast and sit down to read the Bible. I go out to check on the laundry and see one of our neighbors, Pak Pilipus, at our gate, asking if he can come in and catch his duck that flew over his fence. He and David chase the duck around for a few minutes before Pilipus catches it.
Pilipus and his duck.
7:15 a.m. – It’s my day to drive the MAF carpool so we load up and head out to pick up the Berg kids. After I drop off the kids, I play basketball with some other ladies for about an hour, then collect my kids from the school library and head home.
8:30 a.m. – After a shower I toss in another load of laundry and then turn my attention to my two younger kids, who are being homeschooled this year. They work on math, then practice music.
9:45 a.m. – I head to the MAF office to organize a “mannequin challenge” video I’ve been wanting to make. (Silly videos are one of my love languages). The guy who was going to help me is sick, so we scramble and David films and we get it all in one take. Phew.
10:45 a.m. – I race back home in time to see Zoe off to piano lessons. The power is off, which stinks, but the good thing is we get a reprieve from the pondok Natal music.
A pondok Natal, decorated for Christmas and blaring Christmas music.
11:30 a.m. – I head back down the hill to pick up lunch for all our pilots and mechanics who are in town for the Indonesia Ops Reset meetings. While I’m waiting, my son Carter tries to call me from America, but the restaurant’s generator is too loud for me to hear him, and we give up after a few frustrating minutes.
Noon – I deliver the lunch and take time to sit and chat with David for a few minutes.
2 p.m. – After a quick nap at home, I take my son Luke over to the school where he joins other middle schoolers for band class. On the way home, I stop by the ATM to get cash. In Indonesia we almost exclusively use cash, so I am frequently stopping at ATM’s.
Zoe wrapping up gifts.
3 p.m. – Zoe helps me wrap Christmas presents for some of our special Indonesian friends who live in Kalimantan.
3:30 p.m. – After the kids are home from school, I head back to the MAF office to hear a presentation by Dave Fyock, MAF’s VP of Operations.
Meeting with out-of-town MAF staff.
5 p.m. – David heads out to eat with some of the out-of-town MAF staff, while the kids and I head to the school for a meal and to watch the high school teams play soccer. I sit and chat with a friend about our plans for our first Bible study with a group of Papuan girls that will start next week.
7 p.m. – We head home and the girls and I settle in to watch “Sense and Sensibility” and relax a bit. It’s the end of a busy week and we are ready for a break.