Monday, May 30, 2011
Indian spicy or American spicy...
A couple weeks ago, our friend Taha visited from Bangalore. He works at Capital One and was over in America for a couple weeks to see the office. We had him over for dinner one night, and I made Southern food. He said he enjoyed everything, but he wasn't sure about the sweet potatoes (they never have anything sweet in India unless it's dessert). He returned the favor by taking us out for Indian food. Brent and I both love Indian food anyway, but it was nice to have someone there who knew exactly what to order. We had dal (lentils), naan (oh. my. gosh. I could eat naan with every meal), chicken briyani, a lamb dish, another chicken dish with sauce, paneer (cheese), a frozen dessert similar to ice cream, and a milk soaked sponge cake thing. So delicious! We both really love spicy food, but we normally ask for our food to be "American spicy" when we go out for Indian food. This time we had them prepare it "Indian spicy" just to see if we could take it. To my great surprise and delight, it was awesome! We were both sweating (Brent like a girl...I seriously thought he'd need CPR a few times), but it was really good and nothing that we can't handle. That made me feel a bit better since our stomachs will have to adjust to the food a bit once we're there. Here's a picture of us trying to eat with our hands. A grilled cheese or hot dog is one thing, but trying to eat lentils with your hands is a bit of a challenge. It was messy but fun!
Monday, May 23, 2011
bloody shoes...
Each year our Sunday School class goes up to Camp Alkulana to clean up and get the area ready for summer campers. Brent and I have had to miss the last 2 years for various reasons, but we went this weekend. We really enjoyed spending time with our friends and their children, and God reminded me of an important lesson while I was up there.
When we were preparing for our Europe trip last year, I bought this great pair of mary jane "trekker" shoes from Land's End. They're virtually indestructable, waterproof, and great for walking around. I wore them a ton while we were over there. As with any shoes, the first couple days are usually spent wearing them in. Since my "wearing in" period involved walking about 10-15 miles a day around the cities, I ended up with some bloody heels.
I don't wear them often since they're not really work attire, but I brought them along with me to camp this weekend. While I was putting them on my feet Saturday morning, I noticed the blood still on the heels from Europe. God used this to teach me three things:
(1) our journey won't always be easy and may result in some "war wounds", but He's faithful and brings great blessing out of any circumstances if we earnestly seek Him. In spite of my hurting feet, I anxiously got up each morning in Europe to walk around the cities since it was such an amazing experience. I didn't really even notice the pain most of the time. The same should be true about our Christian walk. Even when it's painful, we should awake each morning with a sense of excitement about what God is going to do. I feel confident that India will come with its own (likely uncomfortable) wearing in period. That's ok. The experience will be worth it.
(2) in the beginning the shoes that I believed would be so great were the cause of my pain, but ultimately they protected my feet and served their purpose. We look to God to be the ultimate source of comfort and support, so we're confused when He (or what He's called us to do) is actually the source of our pain. Now He certainly doesn't cause us pain just to be mean, but we might feel pain as a result of what He's asking us to do. Our feet need time and practice in new shoes to adjust. Our lives need time and practice in God's will to adjust, and it doesn't always feel good. The difference is that the shoes are the ones that ultimately change to fit our feet. God (thankfully) doesn't ever change to fit our lives. We must change to be a greater reflection of Him. And when we do, our wounds heal and He provides more protection and stability than we could ever need to keep moving forward.
(3) looking back on where God has brought up gives us hope for the future. Seeing the blood in my shoes took me instantly back to that time in my life and the various lessons that I learned during that season. I'm hoping that this blog will be a similar tool that God will use to take me back to this current season somewhere down the road.
Who would have thought that some bloody shoes could have taught me all that? Only God...
When we were preparing for our Europe trip last year, I bought this great pair of mary jane "trekker" shoes from Land's End. They're virtually indestructable, waterproof, and great for walking around. I wore them a ton while we were over there. As with any shoes, the first couple days are usually spent wearing them in. Since my "wearing in" period involved walking about 10-15 miles a day around the cities, I ended up with some bloody heels.
Me in my trekkers in Greece
I don't wear them often since they're not really work attire, but I brought them along with me to camp this weekend. While I was putting them on my feet Saturday morning, I noticed the blood still on the heels from Europe. God used this to teach me three things:
(1) our journey won't always be easy and may result in some "war wounds", but He's faithful and brings great blessing out of any circumstances if we earnestly seek Him. In spite of my hurting feet, I anxiously got up each morning in Europe to walk around the cities since it was such an amazing experience. I didn't really even notice the pain most of the time. The same should be true about our Christian walk. Even when it's painful, we should awake each morning with a sense of excitement about what God is going to do. I feel confident that India will come with its own (likely uncomfortable) wearing in period. That's ok. The experience will be worth it.
(2) in the beginning the shoes that I believed would be so great were the cause of my pain, but ultimately they protected my feet and served their purpose. We look to God to be the ultimate source of comfort and support, so we're confused when He (or what He's called us to do) is actually the source of our pain. Now He certainly doesn't cause us pain just to be mean, but we might feel pain as a result of what He's asking us to do. Our feet need time and practice in new shoes to adjust. Our lives need time and practice in God's will to adjust, and it doesn't always feel good. The difference is that the shoes are the ones that ultimately change to fit our feet. God (thankfully) doesn't ever change to fit our lives. We must change to be a greater reflection of Him. And when we do, our wounds heal and He provides more protection and stability than we could ever need to keep moving forward.
(3) looking back on where God has brought up gives us hope for the future. Seeing the blood in my shoes took me instantly back to that time in my life and the various lessons that I learned during that season. I'm hoping that this blog will be a similar tool that God will use to take me back to this current season somewhere down the road.
Who would have thought that some bloody shoes could have taught me all that? Only God...
Monday, May 16, 2011
heading to india...
It all started (for me, at least) about this time last year when Brent took me to Europe for 2 weeks. I'd never travelled before, and the adventure sparked something within me. Although it seemed largely out of the realm of possibility, we dreamed about the chance to temporarily live in another country. At the same time, we both had a fascination with India. We work with a large Indian population at work and love the culture. They're kind, family oriented people with really cool traditions. Brent and I would lay in bed at night watching "Outsourced" on NBC and laugh at the possibility that it could be us one day. We knew that there was a Capital One location in India, but neither of our jobs had any overlap with the groups that operate there. I'll have to admit at this point that the desire to go was still very much adventure driven and without a whole lot of thought in terms of missions and how we could spread God's glory and use our gifts in another part of the world.
In September of 2010, I began Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) which is an international Christian organization that helps believers learn God's word. It's not a fluff study and truly digs into some meaty concepts. There are literally people all over the world studying the same book of the Bible together. My mom and mother-in-law have both been leaders in the past and raved about it, so I signed up. The study is based on a 9 year rotation, each year focusing on a different book of the Bible. This year was a new study being introduced into the mix. We studied Isaiah, and I'll just suffice to say that I've been blown away with God's word. The study wrapped up last week, and one of the greatest themes that stood out to me over the past 8 months in those 66 chapters was the ultimate union of all people groups to glorify and worship the King together. I started getting a vision for multitudes of people gathered together going up to learn from and worship Jesus on David's throne. I wanted to get outside of my traditional world view and get a preview of what this could be like. I remember driving home one night from BSF after studying the chapter on Isaiah's call. I felt so excited about the opportunity to do some form of international missions, and invited God to "send me". And what made this one different for me is that I actually meant it. I truly felt a desire to go, but I wasn't sure where or how. During the last couple weeks of study, a girl joined our group from India. Like I said, the study is international so she just transferred from India and picked up with our group. Are you starting to see it all come together?
Then about 4 months ago, the picture became clear.
A co-worker reached out to Brent and told him that there was an opportunity in the Bangalore office to support their analyst team. They wanted Brent to go for 6 months and lead it up. Wow! We started praying about it and thinking through how this could actually happen (what would we do with my job, the house, the cat, how would our families react, etc). I approached my manager, and he was extremely supportive of the idea. I'll be honest, my team isn't getting a ton out of this and it's actually going to present some logistical challenges for me to work from India. But they truly practice what they preach in terms of "being a place that people want to work", and they've been tremendously flexible in letting me go. After multiple conversations over the past few weeks, we finally got all the approvals and the "go ahead" 2 weeks ago that we'd be moving to India. Assuming visas come through in time, Brent will head over in mid-July and I'll join him in September. We'll be there through the end of the year and then come back to the US together.
So now starts the process of working with HR, finalizing all the details, learning the culture, etc. While this is absolutely a work trip, we are trying to be very intentional about also incorporating missions into our visit. We're exploring ministry options and where we can plug in when we get over there. It's been truly amazing to see all the ways that God's hand has been at work over the past couple weeks. The people we've met, conversations we've had, and opportunities that have come up continue to confirm that this is a God-directed event in our lives. He's preparing us for a season of growth, which I know as sure as I sit here will be extremely challenging but also very rewarding. There's no mistaking His call, and we're excited.
This blog is intended for two purposes. The first is to connect with our family and friends while we're preparing to leave and during our time in India. We'll share specific prayer requests and fun stories along the way. The second purpose, and the most important to me, is to serve as a reminder for us of God's calling and provision. Years from now (or even during our trip when our faith needs strengthening), we can look back on this narrative and see all the ways that God provided and be reassured that He calls and equips us for every good work according to His plan. When Joshua lead the Israelites to cross the Jordan river (something that God called them to do but something that was difficult and challenged thier faith), God spoke these words to Joshua:
1 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 2 “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.” 4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” (Joshua 4: 1-7)
This blog represents those 12 stones for us and will be our reminder of a BIG and FAITHFUL God for years to come. We hope you'll be encouraged in your own faith as you come on this journey with us. Let the adventure begin...
In September of 2010, I began Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) which is an international Christian organization that helps believers learn God's word. It's not a fluff study and truly digs into some meaty concepts. There are literally people all over the world studying the same book of the Bible together. My mom and mother-in-law have both been leaders in the past and raved about it, so I signed up. The study is based on a 9 year rotation, each year focusing on a different book of the Bible. This year was a new study being introduced into the mix. We studied Isaiah, and I'll just suffice to say that I've been blown away with God's word. The study wrapped up last week, and one of the greatest themes that stood out to me over the past 8 months in those 66 chapters was the ultimate union of all people groups to glorify and worship the King together. I started getting a vision for multitudes of people gathered together going up to learn from and worship Jesus on David's throne. I wanted to get outside of my traditional world view and get a preview of what this could be like. I remember driving home one night from BSF after studying the chapter on Isaiah's call. I felt so excited about the opportunity to do some form of international missions, and invited God to "send me". And what made this one different for me is that I actually meant it. I truly felt a desire to go, but I wasn't sure where or how. During the last couple weeks of study, a girl joined our group from India. Like I said, the study is international so she just transferred from India and picked up with our group. Are you starting to see it all come together?
Then about 4 months ago, the picture became clear.
A co-worker reached out to Brent and told him that there was an opportunity in the Bangalore office to support their analyst team. They wanted Brent to go for 6 months and lead it up. Wow! We started praying about it and thinking through how this could actually happen (what would we do with my job, the house, the cat, how would our families react, etc). I approached my manager, and he was extremely supportive of the idea. I'll be honest, my team isn't getting a ton out of this and it's actually going to present some logistical challenges for me to work from India. But they truly practice what they preach in terms of "being a place that people want to work", and they've been tremendously flexible in letting me go. After multiple conversations over the past few weeks, we finally got all the approvals and the "go ahead" 2 weeks ago that we'd be moving to India. Assuming visas come through in time, Brent will head over in mid-July and I'll join him in September. We'll be there through the end of the year and then come back to the US together.
So now starts the process of working with HR, finalizing all the details, learning the culture, etc. While this is absolutely a work trip, we are trying to be very intentional about also incorporating missions into our visit. We're exploring ministry options and where we can plug in when we get over there. It's been truly amazing to see all the ways that God's hand has been at work over the past couple weeks. The people we've met, conversations we've had, and opportunities that have come up continue to confirm that this is a God-directed event in our lives. He's preparing us for a season of growth, which I know as sure as I sit here will be extremely challenging but also very rewarding. There's no mistaking His call, and we're excited.
This blog is intended for two purposes. The first is to connect with our family and friends while we're preparing to leave and during our time in India. We'll share specific prayer requests and fun stories along the way. The second purpose, and the most important to me, is to serve as a reminder for us of God's calling and provision. Years from now (or even during our trip when our faith needs strengthening), we can look back on this narrative and see all the ways that God provided and be reassured that He calls and equips us for every good work according to His plan. When Joshua lead the Israelites to cross the Jordan river (something that God called them to do but something that was difficult and challenged thier faith), God spoke these words to Joshua:
1 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 2 “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.” 4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” (Joshua 4: 1-7)
This blog represents those 12 stones for us and will be our reminder of a BIG and FAITHFUL God for years to come. We hope you'll be encouraged in your own faith as you come on this journey with us. Let the adventure begin...
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