BUSY SUNDAY!!!

Miduk was up early and out on the driveway playing soccer in his pj's while the rest of us were getting ready for church!  He told me he didn't sleep much last night so I guess he's having a hard time getting used to the 14 hour time change.  We went to the early church service and he did great!  Early service at Creekwood Christian Church is informal and has a Praise Band with contemporary songs.  Miduk recognized a lot of faces from bible study earlier in the week, and everyone was so great about saying hello to him and making him feel welcome.  He got lots of hugs and high-fives!  When my friend Becky said hello and asked him "How are you" he replied "I'm fine, and you?"  Blew me away! :)  He sat quietly in church (as quiet as someone can sit when they are sitting next to Wesley).  At the early service we come forward and take communion by intinction, that is tearing off a piece of bread and dipping it into a common cup of wine (grape juice).  Just as it was nearing the point in the service for communion, Kasey turned to me and reminded me that Miduk does not like bread!  I wasn't sure what he would do, but he watched as Kasey took the bread and dipped it in the cup and he did the same. :)  This morning over breakfast Miduk told me that there is a big church in his village.  He is Catholic and was baptized as a baby.  When we pray at home he always makes the Catholic sign of Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  I told Miduk that we have been praying for him and for his family for over a year, and that lots of our friends and family have been praying for him too.  He told me he has been praying about coming here too. 

We did not stay for Sunday School today, because the Dallas Cowboys were playing at noon and we had  tickets!!!  How exciting is that!  Aunt Kelly gave us 4 tickets to the Cowboys game yesterday, and although Miduk had no idea that he was going to an NFL game, Wes and Kasey were really pumped! I was equally excited for them and managed to secure an appointment for a much needed massage while they were gone.  :)   Shelby said they got a ride on a golf cart from the parking lot to the gate since Miduk was on crutches.  Score!  And it was quite a game, as the Cowboys beat the Buffalo Bills 44-7.  Miduk had a blast and they said he was just looking around in awe the whole time.  They left at the end of the third quarter and Miduk came home and crashed.  Thanks so much Aunt Kelly!  :)

Tonight we ate dinner outside (it was 84 degrees) and Shelby grilled salmon and asparagus and I baked potatoes.  Miduk had a great appetite and ate it all!  He said he loves fish.  Up until tonight, one of us has always prayed before the meals and tonight I asked Miduk if he would like to say the blessing.  He was willing to do so, and prayed quite a lengthy prayer in Indonesian!  It was so cool!

After dinner my friend Pamela brought over some ice cream birthday cake from her son Ben's birthday today.  Miduk enjoyed the cake and started whistling the Happy Birthday song, whistled it during his quick 2 minute shower, and when he was finished I asked if he could sing it in Indonesian which he did!  I videotaped it and I'm hoping to figure out how to attach it to this blog.

This afternoon I sat down with the laptop on Google Translate and asked Miduk a bunch of questions.  I told him I wanted to know about his life in Indonesia because I think it is interesting.  Here is what I learned:

He does not use silverware at his home, nor does he use chopsticks.  He said they eat with their hands.

They wash their plates with water from the mountain, and they wash their clothes with mountain water also, and hang the clothes to dry.  And, this is also where they get their water to drink.  He does not put ice cubes in his water here.  The first day I put ice cubes in his drink and after that he told me NO ICE!  He prefers water to be room temperature.  Last night at Cristina's restaurant they brought him water with no ice.  :)

They cook their food over a fire INSIDE their house with a hole in the roof for the smoke to escape.  Maybe this is why his clothes smelled like smoke when he arrived.  Linley had told me that you can wash the clothes 1,000 times and still never get the smell out.  When I asked what they did with their trash, he said they burned it.

His mom gets some food at the local market, but they also have a garden and grow tomatoes and potatoes and other things that I couldn't figure out what he was saying.  He said he helps his older brother to water the garden.  And said he loves tomatoes (he eats them like we would eat an apple)

I asked what does he do all day while sister is in school and brothers and parents are at work, and he said he watches TV and helps his grandma sell crackers and drinks.

He said he misses his friends.  He told me they were very excited that he was coming to America!  I told him that when he returns home we will send some things with him for his friends.

I think Miduk is very brave.  16 years old, never left home and never really left his village very often, flying on a plane for the first time from Jakarta to Singapore, flying overseas for almost 24 hours to get here, not speaking English and going to live with someone he has never met. Not to mention, he anticipates having surgery and some pain. Not seeing his family and not talking to them very often.  Now there's a leap of faith!  I also put myself in his mother's shoes.  Can you imagine letting your son go halfway around the world to live with someone you've never met, and knowing you may not see him for perhaps six to nine months?  And that he will be having surgery and you won't be there to comfort him?  I think his mom is very brave, too.  I know she is praying for him every day and obviously is wanting what's best for her son. I know it would be extremely difficult for me to put Wes or Kasey on a plane to go have a medical procedure in a foreign country without me being there!  As my sister Mary Ann said, "A mom is a mom no matter where they're from".  Don't we all want the same thing for our kids?