it's (almost) Christmas!

"This is my third Christmas time without being around my family." I shared this to a friend whom I go with to the service at Southeast Christian Church today. I was surprised that apparently this is his first Christmas time without his family. I can see tears dropping in his eyes a while after we sang "Silent Night" at the church. He's an international student too and he's been studying in US quite longer than I have but this year is the first time he couldn't go back home for Christmas. There's more to it, he won't go anywhere but to stay at the dorm because he has to participate in his church for Christmas day and also studying.
I sympathize to him. He's left with almost nobody and couldn't go anywhere but he seems to be very grateful, still. I still can picture myself vividly in 2005 when I just came here and had my first Christmas. I was so grateful that my friend, Pastor Yandi, from Philadelphia drove all the way to Lynchburg to pick me up to spend Christmas with his church and family. Earlier I thought I was gonna "die" (exaggerating mode). That time, I was somewhat grumbling... why Christmas time feels like this???? Hehe.. silly me. I should learn from this friend who anticipate Christmas with a different attitude although he might experience the same feeling.

Now, I'm grateful that tomorrow I will get a chance to meet my long-time no see friend from Bandung: Hery, who's now in Indianapolis. Then I'll also get a chance to visit my newly-graduated-doctor friend, Pink, at Morgantown, WV. There will be a lot of driving... of course, but it's not too bad. Lots of driving will be balanced with lots of "eating" .. I suppose (???)
I'll still have two Christmas services on Sunday (tomorrow morning and evening) to accompany before I can leave for my vacation. I'm now at home, by myself, did some cleaning work around the house, run errands, and reading a book. Yes, I know, I will miss my family, and in fact I had already. But this is the time where we actually learn to appreciate and cherish our moments with our family because the reality is, there will be a time when we could not be with them for Christmas. The message of Christmas is simple, it happened in a family and among friendships of people: the shepherds, and the wisemen. At some point, they too, can be called: a family. A family of believers, believers of the news. May the Christmas season this year strengthen our ties with our families and friends.


Merry Christmas everyone!

some update

Achtung! Akhirnya project book translation gue yang pertama jadi jugaaaaa. Fiuhh lega.. rasanya kaya "punya utang" besar banget. Buku ini resmi direlease di Indo 2 bulan lalu, seminggu setelah libur lebaran. Penerbitnya, LLB, is only a "tiny" publisher among all giant publishers in Indo. Buku ini banyak menelan kerja keras dan lebih utama lagi: doa.
Kita udah deg-degan apa bisa direalisasi soale terbentuk faktor duit, beruntung agent royalty disini bersedia kasi kita perpanjangan waktu. Akhirya setelah tertunda kira2 1 thn lebih, jadi juga ni buku: BOY MEETS GIRL by Josh Harris.

Gw dapet info dari penerbit di Bandung, dari cetakan batch pertama sebanyak 1,000 exemplar, dalam waktu kurang dari 2 bulan, stock di gudang tinggal 300. Dari sudut persentase, ini rekor tertinggi sepanjang sejarah mereka. Wow! Praise God! Jadi buku ini cukup booming. Di toko buku yg gua tau, VISI, buku ini langsung laku keras sampe mereka pesen lagi.


Ok, itu cerita ttg buku. Update lainnya mengenai ministry gw di gereja lokal. Udah kira2 sebulan lebih ini gua resmi bergabung dgn New Heights Baptist Church as a pianist di praise team mereka. Gereja ini gak begitu besar tapi sangat welcome dan friendly. Pastornya ternyata lebih muda 1 taun dr gue, tapi keliatannye dia jauh lbh dewasa drpd gue.. hehehe... jauhhh...
Well... kita pasti udah berkali2 denger bhw dimanapun melayani pasti jalan tidak akan selalu lancar dan mudah... Tullll banget. Well, so far, gue blm dapet "tantangan" yg cukup berarti. Jemaat NHBC ini semuanya appreciate dgn pelayanan musik kami. Belakangan, gw dikasi tau pendetanya bhw sbtlnya ada yg "agak sinis" dengan kehadiran gw sebagai pianis. Orang ini ternyata bukan org lain tp "nyokap" dr si "worship leader" di praise team ini. Well, minggu ketiga gue disitu, ada satu ibu2 yg "menginterogasi" gw pagi2 sebelum kebaktian mulai. Gw pikir cuma ngobrol biasa, eh ternyata pertanyaan2nya itu ada "maksud" tertentu, katanya.
Well, tp gak apa2, wong gue melayani bukan untuk dia. Yg pasti dengan adanya hal ini, gw jd selalu diingetin utk apa sebetulnya gw melayani.

Stay tune for the Christmas news.