I make this disclosure up front – I am not a woman. I’m a man. I don’t take this lightly or for granted and I sincerely doubt I could fake otherwise even were I so inclined, which I am not. So allusions and metaphors and similes that involve strictly female things such as childbirth are… Continue reading Romans 8:22 For a Dude
Category: Vocation
Book Review – The Lost Temple of Java
The Lost Temple of Java by Phil Grabsky For a while, I was trying to make my way through a series of books on sociology and anthropology and missiology. All good stuff to be sure, but the cumulative nature of these books was a bit overwhelming and pretty detached from the logistical challenges of planning… Continue reading Book Review – The Lost Temple of Java
Tickets Booked!!!!
After over a week of wrangling with our bank’s travel portal, today I obtained the number for their travel service department, and a very capable woman spent over an hour with me on the phone locking in our tickets to depart (and return) from Indonesia. We’re so excited! Our plan is to depart Friday, February… Continue reading Tickets Booked!!!!
A Lot to Learn
As we prepare to exit 2021 and enter 2022, I reflect on how much I have to learn. I have to learn how to deal with the bank and get our tickets ordered I have to learn a new language I have to learn how to adjust to a new culture I need to learn… Continue reading A Lot to Learn
Frustrating
The messed up credit card charges from earlier have finally cleared up. Despite the bank portal giving me error messages as though the purchases hadn’t gone through, they actually *all* went through. Fortunately within 36 hours, as per the bank’s representative’s suggestion, all of the transactions were cancelled. So I figured it was safe to… Continue reading Frustrating
Watching & Waiting
The bank still hasn’t cleaned up our credit card purchase of our airline tickets. So, to date, still no tickets, and still four separate, identical charges for one set of tickets! Hopefully this gets sorted out soon! In the meantime we continue to watch and wait. Mostly I’m scanning the news for Indonesia trying to… Continue reading Watching & Waiting
Who Gets the Last Laugh?
So I’m sitting here waiting for our bank and the airline we’re hoping to fly on to Jakarta to sort out the purchase I tried to make. Granted, five international tickets is much larger than our typical credit card transaction, but I have to admit it was more than a bit anticlimactic after multiple error… Continue reading Who Gets the Last Laugh?
Some Good News!
To be honest, the past week or two has been hard. We’re settled into our temporary digs in Arizona again. It’s nice to be back in somewhat familiar territory and close to family. But to be honest, the wear of constantly having to figure out our next living arrangement so we don’t lock ourselves into… Continue reading Some Good News!
Back in Phoenix
Two months almost to the day after leaving Phoenix for the Pacific Northwest, we’re back in Phoenix through the end of December. We made the roughly 1600 mile trek over the course of a week. In Santa Barbara we were able to connect with friends from our nearly 11 years living in the area, as… Continue reading Back in Phoenix
Visiting ‘Home’
Yesterday we were blessed to worship with my former congregation, Emanuel Lutheran in Santa Barbara, CA. I admit it felt a little strange to be in the pew instead of at the altar, but what a wonderful time it was to say hi to old friends and give them a first-hand update of what has… Continue reading Visiting ‘Home’
The Nelson Family Indonesia 