Putting up with Partial Weight-Bearing

It has now been four weeks since I fell and fractured my right fibula and almost four weeks since I had surgery to repair it. Until this past week I could only put about 50% of my weight on that foot. It has been such a blessing to be surrounded by and now living with friends during this time. I couldn't have survived without people to help me. I have had to do a lot more leaning on people and my Lord Jesus through some tough days! At least now I can manage to get myself dressed and take a shower by myself and do it with a closed (but not locked) door :) It has been quite the humbling experience.

My very valuable backpack! 

One of the first recommendations I got from a friend (thanks Christy Kinley!) was to use a backpack to help me carry things around with. You have to use both hands on your crutches, so you can't carry much of anything! So that is how I get my clothes to the bathroom in the morning and haul pretty much anything that is not liquid around from books to computers. 

We have made a few adjustments to the house where I living, so that I can be as independent as possible. We have a chair that I can use to sit down on while I shower, so I don't tip over or put too much weight on my leg. (Herman family - I might owe you a chair when this is all over as we couldn't find a good plastic one and are using one of your wooden ones, but don't worry it is not one of your nice dining table ones!) We try to put as much as possible in reach but still one of my scariest transitions I make each day on my crutches is getting out of the shower with its wet floor.  

I quickly also realized that if sat on the closed toilet and pulled the small wooden table with many of my bathroom items on it closer, I could sit to do things like brush my teeth without trying to stand on crutches. 

The one room of the house I have yet to master is the kitchen. Thankfully we have a house helper who keeps my water glass filled and makes lunch etc. The Geary family helps me get breakfast and dinner. Although at the end of this six weeks I am going to have some serious dish washing duties to make up for all the times they have washed mine :) 

I have another couple weeks of partial weight-bearing to go. Thankfully, my arms are getting stronger and as time passes I can put more weight on that leg. I have been also been blessed with a walking boot that as the incision heals up, I am hoping to use more and more. 

There are times I feel a bit trapped at home, but have been blessed by friends stopping by for visits, going to church and the occasional trip out for lunch or a basketball game. I am hoping to start back to language school this Friday but some of you may remember the picture above of the stairs up to language school. They are steep with some bigger than others and no handrail, so that is going to be a challenge on crutches. I did my first trial run today with the help of a physical therapist and while I was hot, sweaty, and worn out by the end, I made it! You can be praying for strength and energy not only for getting to/from language school but normally just two hours of language learning can be wearing. We will hopefully be doing an x-ray sometime the end of next week and I will be able to get rid of the crutches around December 3rd!

Seeing the Sites... World Heritage Sites that is

Following Field Fellowship in mid-October we took some time visit some of the amazing historical sites in this part of Indonesia. We went to Borobudur and then to Prambanan. Both are temples from many centuries ago that are still standing today. I had done readings about and studied both of them in language school, so it was fun to see what I had read about in-person. Here are a few pictures from the day...

Borobudur is a Buddhist Temple that was built in the 9th Century

There are nine platforms. The bottom six are squares and the top three are circles

You can climb some very steep and uneven stairs to the top. I only made it to the 3rd level though :)

Borobudur contains approximately 2,670 individual bas reliefs, some that tell a story and others depict life in Java at the time it was built. 

There were also over 500 statues and reliefs of Buddha originally. Unfortunately, over 300 of them have been damaged or stolen. They are all essentially the same except the position of the hands (mudras) representing the five positions - north, south, east, west, and zenith. 

A view of Central Java from Borobudur

 Then in the afternoon we moved on to Prambanan Temple... 

Prambanan is a Hindu temple constructed around the 9th & 10th centuries and the compound originally consisted of 240 temples. 

There are three large temples dedicated to the gods, Shiva, Visnu, and Brahma

There are also several medium temples and almost two hundred small ones but many have been destroyed over the years, in the past by looters and more recently by earthquakes and volcanoes. 

The temple is adorned with panels of narrative bas-reliefs telling the Hindu epic, Ramayana and Bhagavata Purana. 

All in all it was quite the day! Seeing such history in-person was amazing. It is hard to imagine how these places were built without the use of modern equipment. It was also fascinating to me how the different kingdoms and religions that have come through Indonesia each leaving their mark on this land. 

Field Fellowship 2013

 - originally written October 15th but didn't get posted -

We just wrapped up a couple of fun but long days here. Every year about this time we have our annual Indonesia team meetings. This is a chance for all all of my WorldVenture teammates to get together to share and debrief, as well as make plans for the upcoming year.

We started off our time with worship and prayer for several hours on Friday evening. What joy and power there is in praying together! We also had a pastor from the US (he was the pastor for 31 years at a sending church of one of our missionaries) share with us.

Saturday each missionary "unit" (mostly married couples as I am the only single on the field right now) had a chance to share about what was happening personally and in their ministry. Several of these teammates were here when I left in 2006, so I know them. It was good to get reconnected and get updated on what is happening. There is a lot of transition in our team right now! One couple has moved to a new area of Indonesia, one couple is looking at how the Lord can use them after finishing a doctoral degree and in the next 10 years before retirement, one family is transitioning back to ministry in the US, and my teammates who serve at the hospital are splitting time living on two different islands in Indonesia as they balance the needs of their family with the ministry. After each unit shared we spent time praying for them and their ministry.

We also had time to discuss team business and financial matters. For example, we have three new families from the US preparing for ministry here in Indonesia in various locations and ministries and one family on home assignment right now. Finally, we take time to play during our Family Fun night. This year our three youth planned the night, so we had games where you had to chew up but not swallow three Ritz crackers and whoever could whistle first, won. We also played a game that is variation of Telephone, except it uses alternating sentences and drawings. When you have several players from several generations and two different languages, it gets even funnier than when I have played it with my family.

All in all it was a good time and too short! Here are a few pictures...

Praying over teammates, Paul & Becky Geary

Worshipping together as a team

Game Night! They are trying to whistle with mouths full of Ritz crackers :)

Celebrating teammate, Carl Reed, finishing his doctorate