In You

Tuhan, gambaran kuat tentang ‘seseorang’ itu sepertinya tidak pernah lepas dari pikiranku. Aku minta tolong Tuhan supaya aku kuat dan tidak jatuh. Ini seperti duri dalam daging.

Dosa saat ini mulai merangkak masuk dalam pikiranku. Seperti biasa aku membuka pintu lebar-lebar dan membiarkannya masuk. Aku akan membiarkan hal itu, tapi jangan biarkan hal itu terjadi Tuhan.

Tuhan, aku perlu menyelam bersama Engkau, dan menikmati keindahanMu. Aku perlu melihat bagaimana Engkau mengelilingi aku dengan kasihMu. Aku hanyalah seonggok daging dengan harga diri yang tinggi. Aku ingin melepaskan hal itu supaya mataku bisa melihat bagaimana Engkau ada.

Nights At Rio

When I mention about Rio, I bet most of you will think about Rio de Janeiro, one famous city in the exotic land of Brazil.

Well, not this time. The other Rio I am talking about is this simple, little café located in the heart of the famous Kemiri area in Salatiga. This place has been serving many students with its simple student-style cuisine for many years. Although it’s not as cult as the Night Café, this place has been in our hearts for the recent months.

Rio café has become our “Central Perk” of the sitcom “Friends”. A place to hang out and eating out, and it have been a ritual that after the fellowship is over we would stop by at this place. Some for dining, and some others for a drink and a snack. I remember one night. It was rainy, cold and windy. Most of us were chilled and hungry and as soon as the fellowship was over, we ran away to Rio. We would choose a table with chairs or a “lesehan” one, a short-legged table where you sit on the carpeted floor. We would eager to choose the menu, Ellen and Vera loves the banana roasted with cheese on top of it, Dina is addicted to their fried rice. She said it’s the only place in Salatiga that serves fried rice with terasi chili. Jekson is always a fan of their sawi soup. For me, their tea is simply narcotics and their roasted banana with the sprinkling chocolate is a perfect company to go with.

Our night would start with Pita and Santi shared their dumb stories. And then Jeffri would added-up something dry from his experience. Many times we have to wait for quite a while before the food is coming. So these stories became an entertainment while we were waiting. When the food was coming we would still talked. Some shared their jokes and the others talked about lives; love life, a never-ending study, families and Jogja. Mega would always be the one who cheered up the atmosphere with her corny stories, and Mavis and Sakri would faithfully listen to her. When Maria was still around she would showed her ability in playing guitar and sing a song. Some are talkative and some are quite, especially our dear friends who are learning Indonesians.

Sometimes I feel sorry for them for being in a place full of full-mouthed people who speaks Indonesian with so many accents and slang and sometimes so ignorant that there are some people who sit nearby trying to understand what we are talking about. Kubili would smile so mysteriously, and Joanna just plainly looked at us. There were times when we remembered our friends who live in a far away land. We were smiled just to think of how completely lost could Mio be sometimes, or Lisbet with her never-ending complaints about her search for her other half.

One of those nights, I sit with them and watched them in our ritual habits. We sit close to each other that made our body warm to fight against the cold night of Salatiga. I felt being in my family, I felt being at home and Rio café was our dining room. Our times at Rio have always been a good wrap-up after the long and tiring day. This little café is an eye-witness of our cries, laughs, smiles, jokes, gossips and all those things revolves in our lives.

We would complain about the smelly carpets that they have, that it takes a long time to serve the food, that it’s too open and the wind blow so hard, so bored with the food, the banana is too greasy; the fried rice is too plain. But we’ve always come back to Rio. After all, this is our dining room, our family’s dining room.

Count your blessing!

Did you ever wonder that your life seems to be fine, you have a job, family, friends, and your relationship with God is improving but somehow you missed something that prevented you to enjoy those things?

Nearly confused, I sent an e-mail expressing my grievance over my life to a friend. What she said was simple, yet it was profound. Count your blessing! Never thought of having such respond but that really answered this whole situation. I missed to be thankful to God for every little thing He graces over my life.

Back few months ago I learnt about counting my blessing and I even wrote it in a piece of paper and stuck it on my diary. It’s funny how I easily forget one of the most important attitudes that every human being must do.