Things I Don't Do...

Ask my local friends here in India - I'll do just about anything in India to fit in- Eat Indian food and enjoy it, wear the beautiful clothes like I was made for it, practice my Hindi with any person that gets to sit beside me on the bus - and LOVE IT!

However there are a few things that I DONT Do.

We all have our preferences - yeah?  Some people don' t like to paint their own nails - they just get them done.  Chosen Luxuries.  Well, these are the things I choose not to do in India.

p.s. These things can be done well by anyone who takes time to do them. ;)

Things I Don't Do: 

1. Buy Meat in the Market  

( I just can't do it)

2. Wash My Clothes in a Bucket 

(I can never get the soap all out. Plus- because everyone needs a job in India - service is so accessible here.  So I kindly give my laundry to the laundry man that comes to my door every morning. :)  Thank-you laundry man.)

3. Use the bucket of water in the restroom

(If you know what I mean)

:)

The Damp Arrival Back to India

The plane ride was lovely, 

[2 hr flight to Chicago]…..(left my camera battery and charger in the CAK airport...Oh Shyla!)

[5 hr Layover in Chicago] - Had a discrepancy about which flight I was on from Chicago to Frankfurt - had to call my Travel Agent - got it worked out 10min before boarding - just enough time to fit in one last Starbucks Vanilla Latte that I enjoyed on the plane.

[8 hr flight to Frankfurt, Germany]… sat by a lovely old lady.

[5 hr layover in Frankfurt] - slept as always in Frankfurt - somehow this layover always ends up in the middle of the night my time and I'm exhausted.  I've mastered the art of sleeping sprawled out on the seats and protecting my luggage at the same time.

[8 hr flight to Banglalore] - still fine.  Read most of the time - lovely lovely many from Argentina - shared Christ with Him.  Arrived to Bangalore with a friend waiting for me - was such a delight.

Slept at CSI - A guest house I know in Bangalore. 

I rested awhile and met my friend, Sathish in the city, spent the day there - lovely time.  I just sat on a second floor coffee shop and took in India again - the beautiful people, busy streets, and my heart melted again for the country.

We rode his bike (motorcycle) to the bus station WITH all my luggage.  Haha.. Yes, just imagine me, him, a 50 pound luggage, and a 40 pound luggage - all on one bike!  We did it - and I felt like a true Indian. :)

  

[Boarded the Bus for Ooty] - Night train should be 5 hrs, I had to pee so bad and thought I would hold but ended up requesting the driver to 'Stop for toilet, please.'  Then got more comfortable but my legs started aching like nothing else, and it was like the weight of exhaustion from the past 30 hours of sitting caught up to me.  When we stopped in the jungle and I discovered that we had not made the 2 bus quota to get through and had to wait 2 hours…. I got really grumpy.  I was tired.

Decided to get off the bus to stretch even though I didn't know anyone - but of course I wasn't lonely for long.  Sweet, sweet, curious Indians came and talked to me - and with one came a crowd, all interested in the foreign girl.  Then the girl who sat beside me came and said that if I am lonely I can come and be with her group.  A group of 5 young adults getting their PHD in Engineering Science…haha.  They were so kind - and we laughed and carried on during the two hours, thank you Lord. 

Finally reaching Ooty - after a total of [9 hours] later!!!  Got to Farley (where I stay) around 9:30am- very very tired and a bit grumpy - but so glad to be there. 

The W.eather is really damp and wet here - beautifully green - but cold. :)

Pray for me as I spend the next two weeks here with the friends I have made here over the past 6 months and prepare to go to Calcutta.

*Total Travel Time: 41 hrs

The Promise of Joy

Sometimes....

Sometimes the joy from our lives leaves.

      The sunshine keeps shining, and the summer continues.... kids splash in the water, laughter   
      continues but not yours.

      Days continue - almost on without you.  And the lack of joy almost paints everything grey - as if   
      nothing is important anymore without the sometime you lost.

      Have you felt this way before?  Have you lost something great or small?  If you have, you know 
      how I feel.

But then sometimes that joy returns.

       You keep walking, keep moving through the grey - sunshine nagging days. One step at a time,
       one single day at a time, believing, hoping, trusting that things will get better.

       Things we lose never can be replaced but there is a deep something in Life that can never be  
       taken.  And that something is the Giver of Joy.


It is a beautiful thing when in the stepping - trusting - that joy returns.

Here, in the midst of pain, we find a wholesome joy - because - we realize that we can have it in the midst of our reality - it never left us - we just forgot that it is not conditional.


Thank-you Jesus for Joy.

Real Joy. 


When you settle into it in the reality of life it is a beautiful gift- because it holds the promise that it can never be taken away.

Thank-you Jesus for Joy and Thank-you Jesus that I can hope for Bigger things too!  I'm glad that joy protects me and supports me in my hoping.

Harvest Time

A few thoughts and beliefs....

It's Harvest Time

Get READY

Just wait - the fruit you have been waiting for WILL produce.......that's a promise *

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"He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.  In all that he does he prospers." - Psalm 1 

"But I am not ashamed for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me." 2 Timothy 1: 12

"Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes.  For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities." - Isaiah 54: 2-3

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It's Time to 'JUST DO IT'

 There is a time to learn grace and understand that God does not condemn us when we mess up and return to Him and then there is a time to understand and act. 

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"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God.  you need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.  But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil."  Hebrews 5: 12-14

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Things we need to DO:

(scripture shows that his promises are conditional!  You will reap harvest if  you... meditate on his word day and night...)

1. Read the WORD daily

2. PRAY (Intercede)

3. Have FAITH

4.  Flee EVIL

5.  Pursue RIGHTEOUSNESS

I pray that we can 'buck up' and get ourselves ready for the harvest - because the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  There is grace for us to be mature! Let's not just expect for these things to happen for us - we must act!  Expect that when we act according to scripture there will be grace - and it will be GREAT!  Just as promised.

The Warmth of A Texas Night

There's something about the warmth of a TX night.  It is enchanting to my heart; taking me back to a thousand years ago and a thousand memories under this BIG southern sky.

I walked out into the night late this evening, as I have done almost every night since my return to Texas and have been happily reminded of all of the late nights I've spent under the Texan sky.

Late nights spent...

Laying on our backs in the horseshoe of the dorms watching the stars.  It would start with 2 or 3 and end up with a whole crowd of people lined on the sidewalk on their backs watching the stars.  Interns passing by on their way back to their rooms.  It was like we were invisible in the dark night.  Invisible of time - the busy busy time packed days of TM - we escaped in the night.  We lived all night long like there was no limit, because the day had so many appointments.  So we lived at night and we didn't sleep.

Tucking our little interns into bed when we were Core Advisors and running out into the night, because it was the only time we could be 'un-leaders.'  Running into the night and releasing as much kid as possible.  Climbing on top of all kinds of things on campus, jumping into lakes with all of our clothes on, and throwing dance parties in any random place.  The CA's had the most fun of their lives because they needed to!  And they lived all night too... later than the interns because they need it that much more.

Walking out of the SAC after long days of training missionaries getting ready to storm the mission field.  Exhausted from teaching drama all day in the blazing sun, we worked until midnight until the drama was 'just right' and then met with our project directors afterwards, but walking down those sidewalks for the bazillionth time feeling the most refreshing feeling in the world of getting to influence young souls on fire for God.

Stepping out of the Auditorium with 300 of our fellow interns in silence after a fiery, spirit-filled message from Blaise on the 3rd night of the fasting retreat.... looking up at the starry sky and thinking about encountering God.  Thinking about the revelations we just got of Him and how much more we want to DIVE in and know more about this Man.  Some of us would find places in the darkness to ponder on our revelations - one by the prayer tree, another on the bench by the front pond, another in the Gazebo, another walking around the loop for hours and hours into the night.


These are the scents and smells and feelings that the warmth of a Texas Night awakens in me.

It is a world of memory and recollections of the 4 years spent at Teen Mania and the journey it took me on to adulthood.

I'm so glad to be here.

Things I've Missed

Being Home

My first stop in the States was straight away to Texas - the Lonestar state.  Of long back roads, down-home cookin, the long drawl, steer, and cowboy hats.  And one more thing: Teen Mania. 

Texas to me is:  the place i became an adult. the home of some of my best and closest friends. an amazing ministry that taught me all about ministry, leadership, people, and living for Christ.

Coming home has been a blessing so far.  I have been taken in warmly by close friends and spending time with them - just joining them in whatever they're doing; which is always something exciting at TM. :)  

Thanks Beth, Corrie, Holly, and Cat. 

I talk about India everyday - telling people of it's beauty and the place it holds in my heart.  

There are a few things that I've realized I miss about home :)

1. Taking a Shower Everyday (Emphasis on 'shower' and 'everyday')

2. Rinsing My Toothbrush with the Water Out of the Tap

3. Drinking Ice Cold Water (and getting it from the tap)

4. Coffee with (Creamer)

5. Starbucks :)

6. Big Fat Hamburgers (on the grill)

7. Driving

8. Calling My Mom on My Cell Phone (not on skype)

I'll spend time in Austin, TX with close family friends of mine: The Scribers

And then head home to Ohio to see my FAMILY! and Church

Tears for India……

Such a beautiful country, such a beautiful people.  I love you India, I have tears for you as I leave…. All the beauty  you have imparted to me, humbly, I see that my heart has been strengthened and softened by your love.  I am here to be yours; I know I'm not done being influenced and changed by you. So,

See you soon again…..

I'm visiting home for 2 months, will be back soon.

The Colors. The Colors. The Colors. The Colors

The Culture.  The Culture. The Culture. The Culture

The People. The People. The People. The People

"It's a good thing: tears. It does not tag the coming as better or the past as less, it allows the now; and somehow combines all three."