Swalpa adjust maadi...

Swalpa adjust maadi can be translated "kindly adjust a little". 

This is a statement that I need to keep in mind constantly! 

James, a friend from church, was telling us the other day how much he's had to learn to adjust his thinking and attitude here in India.  He's from India and is used to the culture, but he says it still gets to him every now and then.  He said, "when you're sitting beside someone on the bus in a row that was made for two people, and a third person squeezes in beside you, just adjust a little"...."or when the madness that is Indian traffic is driving you crazy, just adjust a little"...

That's really the only option you have.  Whatever happened is going to happen either way, so you can either get mad about it or you can kindly adjust a little.

I thought this was so profound, and not just while I'm here in India.  I'm so used to things going my way, and I get upset when they don't.  But we can all stand to "kindly adjust a little" to protect our witness and put others before ourselves.

I like it!

A walk through the Psalms...

I’ve been reading a few chapters from Psalms each morning as part of my Bible study time.  Here are a few of the verses I’ve loved over the past couple days.  His word is our daily bread, so eat, savor, and be satisfied.  Taste and see – He’s good! 

One thing God has spoken, two things I’ve heard: that you, O God, are strong and that you, O Lord, are loving.

(Psalm 62:11-12)

These are two of my favorite characteristics of our God.  He’s so strong and wise and powerful, yet gentle, intimate, and loving at the same time. 

Oh God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.  I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.  Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.  I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.  My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

(Psalm 63:1-5)

I read this particular verse on a day when I was struggling a bit to connect with God.  I resonated with the part about having seen Him and beheld His glory.  It’s true that the more we experience Him, the more we hunger and thirst for Him when we’re disconnected.  I know what I’m missing at this point, and I’m not satisfied to accept anything less.  He’s too good. 

Praise our God, oh peoples, let the sound of His praise be heard; He has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping.  For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver…we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance. (Psalm 66:8-12)

This one touched me deeply.  It caused me to reflect on different periods in my life and the times that my feet have slipped (seemingly beyond repair at times).  But He’s so faithfully preserved me, in all my wretchedness, and kept my feet from slipping too far.  Though painful, I’m thankful for His testing and refining, because it’s made me more like Him.  And it’s made me respect Him.  And it’s made me trust Him.  I’ve indeed been through some fire and water with God (most of it self-inflicted).  But I love that He hasn’t just kept me from slipping (that alone is more than I deserve and would surely be enough).  But He loves me so much that He’s brought me from the lowest lows to a place of abundance.  It's good to be a daughter of the King!

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. (Psalm 68:19)

This one made me pause and consider the implications of Him daily bearing my burdens.  If I count the number of burdens I carry daily (sin, fears, anxiety, hurt…), it can be a heavy load.  And yet every single day (and often multiple times a day), He picks them up and bears them for me.  The perfect gentleman and loving protector!

For you have been my hope, O Sovereign Lord, my confidence from my youth.  From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. (Psalm 71:5-6)

My testimony began as a young child and has often looked like that of the Israelites (grace, thanksgiving, disobedience, punishment…grace, thanksgiving, disobedience, punishment…).  But I can say with confidence that He’s been my only hope and constant companion since my youth.  We’ve gone through a lot together, and I’ve grown to rely on Him.  I pray that this never ceases!

When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.  Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.  You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.  Whom have I in heaven but you?  And earth has nothing I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.  Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.  But as for me, it is good to be near God.  I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds. (Psalm 73:21-28)

This was another very timely passage for me.  I was being disobedient and rebellious when God brought me to this verse.  Before I started my Bible study time that particular day, I’d told God that I wanted to obey but needed His strength to do it.  I moved forward in faith, trusting that He'd give it to me.  I loved that this was in my reading for the day.  What a confirmation of His love and personal involvement in our lives.  It’s so true that we act like wild, ignorant beasts when we’re entangled in sin.  But He never leaves us.  He always has us by the hand.  I don't always act like it, but there's truly nothing that this world can offer me that's worth more than my relationship with Him.  He counsels the believer’s heart and moves us to repentance and full restoration.  My flesh and heart seem to be programmed for repeated failure, but God provides the strength we need for daily victory.  It seems like such an understatement, but it’s indeed good for me to be near God.  I see more clearly, love more fully, and walk more faithfully when I am. 

A few weeks ago, we sang this song at church.  I love the words, and I'm able to live this way when I'm near Him.

Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there is hatred let me bring your love.
Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord
And where there's doubt, true faith in you.

Chorus:
Oh, Master grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love with all my soul.

Make me a channel of your peace
Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope
Where there is darkness, only light
And where there's sadness, ever joy.

Chorus

Make me a channel of your peace
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
In giving to all men that we receive
And in dying that we're born to eternal life.

Jambo!...

I meant to sit down and write on my blog this weekend after we got home from Kenya, but we were so tired that we ended up not doing much at all!  The trip was a once in a lifetime experience, and we truly enjoyed it.

We flew to Nairobi, Kenya on Sept 23 and were welcomed by our travel guide with a warm “jambo!” and “karibu!”  This means “hello” and “welcome” in Swahili, and they were very gracious hosts.  Everyone that we met was really kind and hospitable.  After napping at the hotel a bit, Brent and I visited a Masai Market and purchased a few souvenirs for family.  We found a great place for dinner and then turned in early since we had a long drive the next day.

We met up with our tour group the next morning, and our first stop after Nairobi was to see the Great Rift Valley.  The views were absolutely amazing.  It just seemed to go on for miles and miles.  After that we stopped at Lake Elementaita, where we saw flamingos and met some of the local children who wanted to sell us flowers made from the flamingo feathers.  We politely declined, but they were really sweet.  We met one of the little boys named David, and he herded the goats for his family.  I love experiencing these people from cultures so entirely different from my own.  My world is expanding exponentially on this trip!

Great Rift Valley

Painted on the wall overlooking the valley

Lake Elementaita

Lake Elementaita (flamingos in the background)

Lake Elementaita

We stayed at the Kigio Wildlife Conservancy, which was AMAZING!  It started with a great lunch and dinner at the site.  Once again, the owners were so hospitable and made our stay so nice.  They partner very closely with the Masai villages nearby.  It’s a wonderful example of community, if only they were approaching it from a Christian perspective!  They care for God’s creatures, protect the local widows whose husbands have died from AIDS by teaching them to weave and sell baskets, and take every precaution to care for the earth.  While they may not be modeling their behavior after Christ, it was a challenge to me to learn from them since they’re doing a better job of living like a Christian than I sometimes do!

Before dinner we all sat around a cozy fire and learned about the camp and conservation efforts.  My absolute favorite story from the entire trip was about a black rhino.  They’re extremely rare, and the conservancy got two of them a few years back.  The rhinos typically live to be around 40, but the male died shortly after they got him at only 5 years old.  Medical investigation showed that he had a lot of fat buildup around his heart and had actually died of a heart attack.  The conservancy probed to understand why he had so much fat around his heart.  And you know what they discovered?  This particular conservancy doesn’t have any lions.  Since there are no lions, the rhino wasn’t ever chased.  Since he was never chased, he didn't get exercise, which caused his heart attack.  I always think it’s so sad that these animals have to fear for their lives every day and be chased by enemies.  But it’s actually good for them!  Being chased is actually a form of exercise for them.  Isn’t that just like God?  What a cool story of Him using bad for good!  The camp will get another rhino soon, and this time they’ll actually use their motorcycles to “chase” him and make sure he gets his exercise.  I love it!  This reminded me of two things: (1) God always has a plan, and His ways are much higher than our ways (I would never have thought that being chased actually helped this poor creature), and (2) pruning works in a similar way in our own lives.  Just like being chased, pruning is hard, painful, and actually sometimes might even kill us.  But it keeps us sharp and close to our creator so that we don’t get “fat buildup” on our heart (i.e., sin in our lives).  Great lesson!

After dinner we loaded up into the jeeps with blankets (it was cold in the morning and night) and went for an evening game drive.  This was my favorite part.  It was our first chance to see the animals and seeing them in the dark, gracefully walking past, with nothing but a spotlight just took your breath away.  My favorite was the giraffe family, which had 5 babies with them. 

The camera didn't like the dark, but this is one of the giraffes with her babies

Back at the camp, Brent and I somehow managed to get the honeymoon suite which was straight out of a movie or something.  It was so fantastic!  The hut was right on the river, so we saw monkeys and listened to hippos down below all night. 

Early the next morning we headed out on the 5 hour drive to the Maasai Mara.  The camp there was a little more rustic, but we had our own private tent with bathroom/shower.  It was a neat experience.  We did two game drives in the Mara and saw more animals that I could possibly count.  We saw lions (and cubs!), zebra, gazelle, impala, hyenas, cheetahs, black rhinos, elephants (with babies!), hippos, crocodile, mongoose, vultures, water buffalo, wildebeest, warthogs, and tons of birds.  Brent and I both celebrated our birthdays in the Mara, and it was one of the most memorable that we’ll have I’m sure.

On the way back to Nairobi we stopped by a Masai village and saw their homes made from cow dung.  The people there were kind, and the children were precious.  It’s hard to see how difficult their lives are and how they have to live, knowing how easy my life is in comparison.  But they honestly seemed so happy and content.  The little girls sang and danced, and the boys herded their goats.  I’m sure they’d like to have more than they do, but they’re honestly probably better off than we are in a lot of ways.  Neat group of people. 

Back in Nairobi, we visited a giraffe sanctuary where we got to feed and pet them.  Oh, I loved this!  That night we had dinner in the hotel (I had an upset stomach, so we didn’t want to venture far from the hotel).  We spent our last day in Nairobi exploring and sipping cappuccino in a coffee shop that was recommended to us.  We had an overnight flight back to Bangalore and then spent the weekend recovering.  The trip was like a dream, but it was definitely more of an adventure than a relaxing vacation.  We were beat!

We met several friends on the trip and enjoyed getting to hear their stories.  Most of the folks who come on tours like these have traveled extensively, and I learned a lot from them.  It's amazing how close you feel to a group of strangers after a week together.  I did get a pretty big sense of homesickness when the American friends that I met on the trip were headed back to the states and I knew I was coming back to India.  But I was surprised at how much it felt like home as soon as we landed in Bangalore.

This is a trip that I’ll never forget, and I’m so thankful that we got to do it!  It was nice to have a vacation, but we’ve been praying since we returned that God would refresh the vision He’s put in our hearts for the people here and remind us constantly not to get absorbed in our own lives but to continue to invest in the lives of others.  Paul said that he became all things to all people so that by all means he might save some for the sake of the gospel.  So this week, we’re back to being Indians!  

The umbrella and the cleft in the rock…

"From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.  For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe." (Psalm 61:2-3)

When I think about God as my refuge, I always think of hiding in Him.  Retreating from those things that make me tired and afraid and being alone with Him.  Like Elijah, after running in fear from Jezebel, slept under the tree while the angel of the Lord fed and protected him until he was strong enough to return to battle.  I picture a cleft in the rock where God nurses us back to full health and restores our souls.  This indeed is refuge. 

But God can also be a different kind of refuge.  In addition to being our cleft in the rock, He’s also our umbrella.

There are days when it’s storming in our lives, and we don’t want to go out.  But God provides an umbrella and tells us to step out anyway.  We might get wet, and we’re tired and somewhat fearful of the storm.  But we can’t hide out in these times, even when all we want to do is curl up with Him and stay dry.  He lovingly tells us, “baby, I know you’re afraid and tired, but I need you out there today; I can’t give you the day off; now, take this umbrella (my refuge) and go.”  In these times, we must accept that form of refuge and go out into the storm, knowing that His umbrella will cover us.

God knows exactly what we need when we need it.  There are times when we have nothing left, and God becomes our place to hide and rest.  A sweet refuge from the battle.  But there are also times when He calls us to stay on mission with Him, facing the storm head on.  He becomes our umbrella, our refuge during the battle.

An Indian kind of day…

Yesterday was a day that you’ll only experience in India.  Sometimes these days are funny to me.  Other times they are very frustrating, and I have to keep praying that God gives me His eyes to view this world and not my own.  Yesterday was one of those days.

A sandwich shop opened near our apartment just a few days after I got to India.  We stopped in, and the owner told us that he was only selling coffee right then but would start selling sandwiches the following week.  We came back, and he said that he was only selling coffee right then but would start selling sandwiches on Oct 1.  I came back yesterday, and he said that he was only selling coffee right then but would start selling sandwiches next week.  As a culture, Indians don’t say no.  They just keep saying “next week” or “in 5 minutes”.  I wanted that sandwich, and it frustrates me when I feel like I'm getting the run around.  I wish he'd just tell me the straight answer, even if the answer is that he's only ever going to sell coffee and never have a sandwich in that place as long as it's open.  At least then I'd know.    

Then I got on the bus to meet Brent so that we could go to the cricket game.  We'd purchased a monthly bus pass a few days ago, so all I have to do is show the pass and I can go wherever I want.  But the way the bus attendants view the passes seems so arbitrary.  The first time we used it, the guy made us show identification and scanned the info so closely I thought he was going to ask us to get off.  Not one person since then has even asked for ID or given more than a quick glance to see that we even had a pass.  Yesterday the attendant decided that I needed to sign my pass (why this time and not the others?).  He pointed to where I should sign and gave me a pen.  I signed and gave it back.  He reviewed it and then, clearly displeased, told me that he wanted me to instead sign it about 2 cm below where I had already signed it.  He handed it back and made me do it again.  With both signatures on there, he was pleased and let me go sit down.  Seriously, what the heck is that about?  

After meeting Brent, we went outside to meet the cab that we’d scheduled for pickup at 4:30 pm to take us to the game.  The cab didn't come.  Brent called and tried to talk to the driver, but he barely spoke any English.  He finally just hung up on Brent and never came.  At 4:45 pm, the cab company called and said they were sending someone else.  That cab never came either.  So we called the security desk at work and asked them to book us a cab.  At about 5 pm we finally had a cab.  Being on time (or even showing up at all) isn't a given here.  And the most frustrating part to me is that I'm helpless to do anything about it.  Complaining to the company won't do any good, and getting mad only hurts me.  Aaarrrrggggg!

Clearly none of these things individually is a big deal.  But sometimes I feel like I’m living in this ridiculous world where things happen for no reason.  Like I’m Alice in Wonderland.  There are certainly days when we get a good laugh out of all things ridiculous.  We just shake our heads, giggle, and wonder how in the world things ever get done.  But some days it just gets to me.  I really want God to continue to give me a love for the Indian people, their culture, their unique way of doing things, and their country.  I’m no better than anyone else, and my ways are not the right ways.  God tells us that His ways are so much higher than ANY of our ways…mine included (probably mine especially!).  I’m sure He looks at me sometimes and just shakes His head at my ridiculousness. 

Thankfully the day ended well, though.  We saw one of the best cricket matches in the history of the league.  Bangalore played South Africa, and won 215-214 in a walk-off sixer (kind of like a home run) on the last pitch of the game.  We found out that those were the first and second highest scores in the history of the league, and we saw one of only 3 centuries in the history of the league (when a single player scores 100 runs).  We had such a fun time, and by the end Brent and I were jumping up and down, high-fiving the Indians around us.  Everyone had a common bond in our support of the Bangalore team.  We were back to being one of them and not being frustrated by them.  

India, you’re definitely one of a kind!