A Lesson

I spent several hours on Thursday afternoon sharing with a friend about an area in which I'm struggling to trust. She then shared what Dad has been teaching her recently. After coffee and a quick eyebrow threading stop, we went our separate ways. At this point, it had just gotten dark, and catching an auto alone at night is not one of my favorite things. Eventually I found a driver who knew where my neighborhood is and was willing to go by the price on the meter, which is pretty rare for an American at night :)

I noticed pretty quickly that we weren't taking the normal route. The coffee shop is pretty close to the school, so I know the easiest way to get from that area home, but he wasn't taking it. This is when panic begins to set in. I ask him to make sure he is headed to the right place, and he assures me that he is taking a short cut and we are almost there.



At this point, I have a choice to make. I can choose to let go and trust that this driver knows the city better than I do and will get me where I need to be, or I can make him stop and get out of his auto. I went with the former.

When I got to my destination, he had gotten me there so quickly that it ended up costing about half the price that it normally does. And he was one of the kindest drivers I've had. Turns out he did know so much better than I did, and because I trusted him, I was blessed.

It was such an amazing picture of learning to trust my Father. So often, I don't understand the path He has me on or the turns He is taking. But He is in control. He knows what is ahead, while I have no clue. I have to simply surrender to His guidance and trust that He loves me and has great things in store. Trust that He wants the best for me. Trust that He desires my sanctification, regardless of what it takes. Trust that this will bring me closer to Him.

I choose to trust.

This song by Ginny Owens says it more beautifully than I can, so I'll let it convey my heart tonight...

The pathway is broken
And The signs are unclear
And I don't know the reason why You brought me here
But just because You love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley
If You want me to

Cause I'm not who I was
When I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet
so if all of these trials bring me closer to you
Then I will walk through the fire
If You want me to

It may not be the way I would have chosen
When you lead me through a world that's not my home
But You never said it would be easy
You only said I'd never go alone

So When the whole world turns against me
And I'm all by myself
And I can't hear You answer my cries for help
I'll remember the suffering Your love put You through
And I will go through the valley If You want me to

A Few More Reasons

I can't believe I've been here almost two months! Time is flying by, but I am loving it. Every day is an adventure, and I'm seeing Him at work both in my own life and all around me. At the school, we're staying busy getting ready for the spring musical. Pretty sure it's going to be a hit :) The kids are working so hard, and Dad is being glorified in their praises! Can't wait for their friends and family to get to see their fruits of their efforts.

We're also still working on language, which has turned out to be a bigger challenge than I expected. Most people that we meet want to practice English with us, so convincing them to speak another language takes some effort (and sometimes some compromising!). We're trying though! Be lifting this up when you think about it.

In one of the papers this week, there was an article listing 60 reasons to love this country. I found it very entertaining, and since I heard you all enjoyed the last list, I thought I'd share a couple of my favorites with you. Enjoy!

2. FAITH AND SPIRITUALITY
Tell someone you don't believe in God. Go on. You'll find yourself arguing so vehemently to make your case that you could well be accused of having a severe case of faith faith in no God in this case. Because that's what we do believe. Hard. With passion. In anything we want to believe. Which is why practically every faith known to God is right here in India, and we're not above inventing several more if we think we haven't enough.

3. THE WAY WE ARE SO FLEXIBLE
Checked anyone's filofax lately? Know anyone who has a filofax? We may set off in the morning expecting to follow a strict schedule of assignments and appointments, but we are always happy to chuck all our plans at a moment's notice, particularly if the alternative involves partying.

5. CHAI
It's raining. We need chai. It's cold. We need chai. It's hot and sweaty and miserable. We need chai. Yes chai, not tea. The over-boiled, over-milked and over-sweetened stuff that could rot our teeth and turn our insides into shoe leather, yet never fails to put life back into our tired frames. Then there's also tea. Darjeeling, Assam, Nilgiri, Kangra... Mmmm, the fragrance.

7. WEDDINGS AND FAMILY OCCASIONS
Our weddings are attended by family, relatives, friends, past and present neighbours, people who invited you to their or their siblings' weddings, past and present colleagues, random strangers because we had 300 wedding cards extra and didn't want to waste them, plus gatecrashers a guestlist so long it rivals the population of the whole of Africa. If however, our homes are filled with the population of only one small country, like Bangladesh, we're just having a family dinner.

11. DESI HOSPITALITY
Atithi devo hava... and we will be devo-ed till our stomachs burst. When we step into anyone's house we are fed, watered and pampered so much, we'd never believe there was a single nasty person on this planet. The only difficulty is getting away if they could, our hosts would adopt us on the spot.

29. SINGING
What do you get when two of us, even if we're perfect strangers or deadly enemies, are hanging around with nothing to do? A sing-song, that's what. Because we luuurrrve singing. We sing everywhere and anywhere, we have contests for bathroom singers and enormous national-level singing contests called antakshari whether we can actually sing or not.

46. THE WAY WE HAVE A NAME FOR EVERY SINGLE PERSON WE MAY BE EVEN REMOTELY RELATED TO
Ma, baap, dada, dadi, nana, nani, taya, tayi, chacha, chachi, bua, phupha, mama, mami, beta, beti, potaa, naati, poti, naatin, behan, jija, bhanja, bhanji, bhai, bhabhi, bhatija, bhatiji, pati, patni, saas, sasur, damaad, bahu, jeth, jethani, nanad, nandoii, devar, devarani, saali, salaa, samdhan... And that's only in Hindi. Need we say more?

From the Hindustan Times

A Huge Thank You...

... to everyone who helped make my birthday so special! It was a great day and lasted much longer than 24 hours!

To friends who Facebooked or Skyped sweet messages.

To new friends who celebrated with me here.

To the mailman who delivered packages from home.

To Uncle Dan, Mimi and Poppie, Mimi and Gramps, Ms. Ruth, Ms. Fran, and Ms. Arlene for beautiful and encouraging notes.

To Mom, Dad, Lindsey and Bryan for an incredible box of goodies. I'm trying to wait at least an hour before I make cupcakes :)

And to my Father. For another year. For opening doors. For constant guidance. For peace and strength. And for loving me unconditionally.

I love you all more than I can express.

My Favorite Things

One day last week, my teammate and I rode home from school with two of our students. We somehow started talking about musicals and discovered a common love for "The Sound of Music", then spent the rest of the ride home belting out its songs. This was one of the highlights of that day and got me thinking as I looked out the car window. As we were singing "Favorite Things", I began listing my favorite things about South Asia one month in, and I thought I'd share a few with you.

1. People stare. If you know me at all, it probably shocks you that this is the first one on the list. I did hate it for a while, but then started having fun with it. Since it's inevitable that I will get stares, I make eye contact right back. The women typically have wary looks on their faces, but when I smile at them, they have time to process this and smile back before we pass on the street. Then we are both happy :)
2. Things are cheap. Pretty self-explanatory. But if you need an example, I bought three tomatoes for the equivalent of 2 cents today. And an $11 meal was ridiculous. I almost walked out of the restaurant.
3. Clothes. They are colorful, modest, cheap, and you get to design your own. It doesn't get much better than that!
4. Animals. I greet cows, dogs, goats, chickens, and the occasional monkey on my daily outings. I've even had cows outside my building to welcome me home. Almost like Brody....
5. Autos. The best way I can describe an auto rickshaw is a three-wheeled scooter with a roof and a bench on the back. We play "How many Americans can we fit in an auto?" often. I believe the current record is six, but we can do better than that. The drivers don't like this game as much as we do though.
6. Food. I have always liked a little kick to my food, but South Asia overwhelms my taste buds at times. And the freshest fruits and vegetables. Pretty amazing.
7. Our guard. There is a very nice man who stands outside our building and helps out with anything we need. He also practices Kannada with me, even though he spends the majority of the time laughing at my attempts to sound like him.
8. Birthdays. In this culture, you give gifts to your friends on your birthday, instead of the other way around. I think this is how it should be, so I'm going to try it on Monday.
9. Two-wheelers. What I like to call "scoot-scoots". It blows me away how many people can fit onto a small motorcycle. I'll see families with a child up front holding onto the handlebar, a parent driving behind the child, another squished child, and a mom on the back holding one or two more children. Typically only the dad has a helmet. I'm not saying this makes sense, but it's hard not to smile.
10. Chai. Incredible conversations happen over a cup of tea.
11. Lack of shoes. I hardly ever wear them here. And there are a lot of people who never do. Anytime you enter a building, you leave your shoes at the door. My feet feel so free.
12. People. My neighbors. Becoming my friends. Seeing my Father at work in them.

It will be interesting to see how this list changes over the next few months :) Thanks for your encouragement and support so far. Know that your prayers are felt, and He is continuing to meet our needs. Please fill me in on what is going on in your lives. I would love to be lifting you up as well! Love to you all!

Precious

I got to go spend an afternoon last week with some sweet girls from a slum area near my house. We worked on English with songs and rhymes for a while, but got a little distracted when the camera made an appearance. Had to capture the moment though!


After the tutoring, we got all of the younger kids together to play a game. It took a while to explain, but I think "joose, joose, guck" is much better than the original :) I can't tell you what a gift this experience was!

Settling In

What a week! I have been in my city since Monday, and it's starting to sink in that this is home for the next few months. Thankfully, this is a place that is easy to get used to! The city is gorgeous! Even though I have been here before, I didn't realize how nice it was until I had visited another city in this country. The weather is perfect, there are trees everywhere, and I heard birds chirping as soon as I stepped off the plane. Such a great welcome!

Then I got to the apartment.... I can only tell you that Dad has done so much more than meet my needs here. He has been so gracious. It is beyond anything I could have imagined! I live in an bright and airy apartment with two great girls. And get this... my room is orange and blue! I feel right at home :)

The name of our neighborhood translates to "City of Joy". While I love the name, it's not accurate right now. My neighbors are missing out on the true source of joy. Each morning I hear a call to prayer and walk by temples on many street corners. I see people bowing to idols and offering incense to gods who don't hear their cries. Though these sights and sounds break my heart, they are such an incredible reminder of the reason I am here.

We sang a song the other night that asked "How long before your glory lights the skies? How long before your radiance lifts our eyes? How long before your fragrance fills the air? How long before the earth resounds with songs of joy?". I find myself asking these questions often, but then I see Him at work. He is here. He has not forgotten this country and this city. He loves these people so much more than I ever could.

Resting Place

It seems like we have been in this so much longer than four days, but I mean that in a good way! Things are going well and I am getting more and more comfortable, but also more and more excited to get to the place I will be for the next six months. At the same time, I don't want to miss out on what I can learn and experience here. I read in Joshua this morning about the crossing of the Jordan. That was not their destination, but a resting place. In that place, however, Dad did a mighty work, and they were able to look back and remember His faithfulness. I'm confident He can move the same way here. We are being sent out on community projects later this week, and that will be a great opportunity to use some of the things we are learning to impact this city. Be lifting us up during that time!

I am so thankful to be surrounded by such a great group of students. We are having an amazing time getting to know each other, but also learning from the other's experiences and gifts. Part of that fun has been exploring the city together. I thought I'd share a couple of pictures of it with you.

The first couple are of a "less busy" market we visited last week to shop for clothes. I thought it was crowded until I visited another on Sunday to look for a sari for a friend. I don't have words to describe it, and unfortunately, the camera didn't make it to that one. You'll just have to use your imagination :)






The last one made me smile when I saw it in a grocery store. Hope it does the same for you! I'm sure it will be the first of many. Love to you all!

Made It!

I am here!! Everyone and everything made it into town safely last night, and we are having a wonderful time of training before heading to our cities. We also spent some time today shopping for traditional clothes, which was quite the adventure. Be looking for pictures soon!

Thanks for your encouragement so far! I love and miss you all, but have no doubt this is exactly where I need to be right now! More to come....