Update: October 2007

Here we are, in October of 2007.  I will post what's been going on these past few months in the weeks to come.  As far as what's been going on now:

Issac turns 1 Tuesday!  We're having a party poolside here at our apartment.  It's amazing to wonder at the fact that he's already that old!  It wasn't that long ago that he was just the tiniest little critter one could ever hold in their hands.  He's already walking - in fact, he took his first steps on September 11, of all days!  He is so cute!

Judah looks like a kindergarten student!  He is as tall as many of the young students running around the campus I teach at.  Judah is currently enrolled in the Nursery (we'd call it preschool) program here in Jakarta.  He's talking quite a bit; much of it's English, sometimes Indonesian, and other times it's "Judarish," where he's just making the sound up. :)

Mimi and I are teaching!  Which is why I couldn't post about it for the first few months.  Here, we have to worry about visas and such, and if the occupation on my visa doesn't match the one I'm doing, then it causes big issues.  We had to wait for all the paperwork to be sorted out and propperly documented before we could openly talk about it (like here on this blog).

Mimi is teaching music, and I'm teaching English.  its fun; I'm teaching the same curriculum I grew up using in Broken Arrow Public Schools.  I'm taking care of both 2nd and 5th graders - about 120 students.  It can be quite interesting at times, switching between the grades, though!  You have to teach at completely different levels!

I'm taking college courses!  I'm continuing my educational career, taking some courses at TCC at the time being.  I can take them all online - all the essays, quizes, classroom discussion can be done from thousands of miles away!  Please be in prayer about that!  I'm already a week in, and my books have still not arrived.  I'm making do for now, pulling info off the internet, but it would be so much better to have the same materials the rest of the class has.  Its like eating dinner without your silverware.  You can get the job done, but its a pretty messy process!

That's the news to date.  I'll talk more about what else has gone on, and what ministries we are doing in later posts.  Hopefully, I will have a few photos posted as well.  See you all soon!

The Prodigal Blogger has Returned

My, how time flies. I honestly cannot believe it's been almost a year.
To be honest, I haven't posted on purpose the first part of the year
because there were so many things that could've happened, I didn't want
to post anything until I actually knew. To be honest, I was applying a
few places, both here in Indonesia, as well as back home. By the time I
actually got the job, I was so busy doing it, as well as being with my
family, I barely had time to post. It was always one of those "if I
have time next time I'm online" sorts of things.

Again, I know it's been some time since my last post. For my friends
and family out there that have been checking this faithfully the past
few months, I am terribly sorry. I have a new system set up where I can
more freely post (even from my cell phone), so these will be coming much
more often in the days and weeks to come.

Started using Twitter

By the way - for those interested in an integrated SMS-IM-Blog interface, I started using Twitter.  Click on that link, and you can check out the automatically created blog.  You can also create an account, link me as your friend, and get updates on your IM client (AIM, Google Talk, MSN Messenger, etc), or by email.  Let me know if you set up one, I would love to hear what's going on with you!

New Youth Group Blog Created

For those who really want to know, Eltolad in 3D has a new sister blog - ::relevant youth. I will be posting sermon notes, and relevant information for English speaking youth living in Indonesia.

Currently, we are studying the Chazown Small-group DVD curriculum. It's an awesome series based on the Life Development Plan series. It also has a great (free) web tool for searching out God's vision for your life. Look for the discussion questions on the blog!

THR3E - Highly Recommended Movie

I have been a fan of Ted Dekker since I discovered "Blink" - everything I've read by him has been excellent. Another note, he grew up as a missionary kid in the jungles of Indonesia! His novels are paced with precision, with superb character development and plot twists. THR3E was my second Dekker novel - and I can't wait to see the movie!

It's raining in Singapore. . .

. . . and how do I know that?  Because I’m here!  I’m taking a short trip to reset my visa (Americans cannot stay in Indonesia for more than 6mo without a special visa).  I left Tuesday morning, and was supposed to return Thursday afternoon.  No such luck.  I found out the hard way that you can only drop off a visa app at a certain time, and pick it up the completed passport/visa after a certain time.  Needless to say, I won’t be returning until Saturday afternoon.  I try to look on the bright side – an extended vacation; however, I only took clothes for two days. This will be the first short vacation I have to do laundry. ^_^

 

Singapore is a unique and wonderful place.  It’s much cleaner than Indonesia, of course, but some smoke still remains from the forest fires on Sumatra.  At least the air quality is a bit better than Jakarta.  There are tones and tones of shopping centers – every one unique.  There’s upper class malls with your Versace, Chanel, D&G stores and the like.  There are, however, a lot of low cost shopping centers.  These places are loaded with stuff made in China or Indonesia.  In fact, there were a number of kids clothing stores that had same/similar styles as the wholesalers carry in Jakarta.  It’s fun looking around – there are a ton of computer accessories (i.e. USB powered everything – lights, vacuums, USB adaptors for every known kind of data transfer, etc.).  There are even USB phones for use with Skype.  You can get full suits made for US$30.  I even picked up a pair of sandals for S$.50 (about US$.33).  That’s right – 33 cents!  A lot of the stuff is tempting to buy – but I didn’t take a lot of cash with me, so I pretty much just have enough for my room and food.  And, of course, a little bit left over to find something nice for my wife.  ^_^

 

Culturally speaking, there are people from every walk of life here.  I didn’t know there was both a Chinatown and “Little India” here.  The crazy thing: most signs are quadra-lingual – in English, Mandarin Chinese, Bahasa Malay (similar to Indonesian), and Hindi.  I even walked by an open grassy area – about 300 by 300 meters – with a sign stating “City Land – Enter at Own Risk.”  It was a well kept, open, plot of grass.  No bars or bushes to set it off from the sidewalk.  Too bad my camera’s battery died, I would’ve taken a photo.

 

I need to go eat – it’s past 7 on Wednesday as I write this.  I’ll post more experiences soon!

 

God bless!

 

 

 

 

Mimi and Judah, before Isaac was born!

This photo was taken the 23rd of September; exactly a month before Isaac was born! This is below the mango tree next door to the Domba Kecil office. ^_^

Isaac Ethan Morton warming up in the incubator!

By the way - I did the math - 4.1 kg is just over 9 pounds! That makes Issac bigger than his brother at birth, but Judah was a bit taller!

Isaac Ethan Morton is Born!

The good news is finally here!  On Monday, 9:20 PM Jakarta time (9:20AM CDT), Isaac Ethan Morton was born!  He weighed 4.1 Kilograms, and is 52cm long!  I haven't had time to convert that to standard measurements - I only have a few minutes to hop online and post.

He was born via C-section, and both Mimi and he are doing well.  Thank you all who were praying for us!  Don't stop!  I'll post more (hopefully photos if I have time) when I can get on again!

God bless!

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