Four arrows.

A combination of four influences sort of collided in my room as I sat in my Thinking Chair yesterday morning and reflected on what I've been reading and hearing lately...

Many of you know I sort of love the radio program This American Life (thislife.org) on NPR. I was listening to the latest show, "The Competition" a couple days ago and was struck by an interview with a man from a church in Tulsa, OK. He helped a group of legal Indian immigrants that were being seriously mistreated at a nearby factory. Here's a snippet from the interview:

The Man Who Helped: "There’s more prejudice in us than we really realize… when the foreign comes into our own district, our own comfort area, we’re not always ready to accept. Because we weren’t successful real quick in getting help and visas and all [some leadership in the church and friends] just didn’t feel it was God’s will that I did what I did."

Interviewer: "So they said because [helping these immigrants] was really hard God didn’t want this to happen?"

The Man Who Helped: "Right. My feeling is…different than most people, you know? To me, the gospel, and ministering, and our faith should be very incorporated. And I know we can’t help everybody, but I think everybody is given a little portion that they can do. And I know we can’t turn around and change the world tomorrow, but just what’s put in our little field here, or our littler corner; I feel like we’re responsible for."




I've been reading a John Piper book lately on fasting. He talks about the Isaiah 58 fast:


We are often hindered from ministering to the homeless by fear and by the mindset that the government has programs for this sort of thing. The promises of God should shatter fear. And the fact that the government is willing to help should not control our labors of love. There are structural and spontaneous ways to minister to the poor. Spontaneously we take risks and don't worry that the long-term effects may be small. Love does not calculate that way. The good Samaritan did not say, "One interrupted day will make very little difference in the problem of chronic violence in this region." He saw this one need and did something.
-John Piper, A Hunger for God



Most of you also probably know of my fond appreciation for Oswald Chamber's constant challenges:



Ministering in everyday opportunities that surround us...means being God's very special choice to be available for use in any of the seemingly random surroundings which He has engineered for us.

-Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest


I was sitting on the roof where we have fires a few weeks ago. (Decided to go ahead and call my friend with the roof fires and cat 'Occasional Roomie S.' This is her new moniker because I spend enough time at her place she's started calling me an occasional roommate). So while I was outside there I started thinking on how to show mercy, compassion and grace to the people I encounter, and how to live the truth in an authentic way. I read through Galatians 5 and was just impressed at how it's never wrong to love, exhibit patience or be good (against such things there is no law - v. 23). We aren't slaves to the flesh anymore. We are always free to live the fruit of the Spirit as we're transformed by Him no matter what the culture around us says.


These things and several discussions with my kids here have come together to remind me there is a great freedom to love the person in front of me without calculating or obsessing over the greater consequences and effect. We can feed the hungry one we meet on the street, greet hated people with a smile and eye contact, serve our roommates and families and be available to be used in random circumstances. It's never wrong to be compassionate and merciful. There's a whole world of child-like abandonment, vulnerability and freedom I've been exposed to lately by trying to see the one in front of me at any given moment.


As always, I'd love to hear your experiences as of late and about your journeys. I love that you guys are in my life, learning and walking with me.

Also, I'll just say the radio program I mentioned at the beginning is well worth the listen this week, at least the first story in "The Competition" episode about the group of Indian men. You can get it free on the website or via Podcast.

Sorry no pictures this time- there will be plenty to come as soon as Roomies A,M&P, Buddies L&A and I start celebrating Christmas!

Play Ball!!

We recently had exhibition games of American baseball and football (well, flag football) here. It was amazing to yell and scream in public as we rooted for the guys playing. It's been a long time since we've been able to do that (women don't usually holler, laugh or carry on much at all in public).

One of the Americans even made goal posts for the football game...

One of the things I love about our city is the beautiful backdrop of mountains. This is from the baseball game...

I hope that by the next post I'll have my thoughts articulated a little more about some Kingdom stuff b/c I'd love to hear your thoughts and get your perspective on some things I've been thinking about lately.

PS Little Bro DL- I hope you're appreciating all the November blogging...you inspired me =^)

S'mores

Here are some pics from my friend's roof where we had a fire and made s'mores the other night. This roof belongs to the same lady whose cat we fed using our cheerleading skills. However it's starting to freak her out a little that we might start calling her 'the cat lady' on the blog so we'll have to think of a good moniker for her - suggestions welcome! She's got an awesome set-up on this concrete roof where we enjoyed Jack Johnson's "Brushfire Fairytales" over the outside speakers and wonderful conversation. She's always providing us these good breaks at her place. Buddies L & A and Roomie A were there too!!


Here are Roomie A and I enjoying the goods...

This is what we do when we can't think of any Matrix or William Tell games =^)

Miss you guys and can't wait to see your "winter" pictures of bonfires and holidays!

Don't tell on William Tell....

So... usually we don't "tell on ourselves" for this kind of silliness, but because I know a great deal of my readership live in small towns, villages or are generally discontent with available entertainment (hmmm...maybe we should read Amusing Ourselves to Death again?), I decided to risk the certain ridicule. It's also been awhile since posting the Matrix photos and you seeing how we keep ourselves entertained.

Last night I was hungry and sort of bored so I decided to go for an apple and peanut butter. Somehow the combination of hunger and restlessness developed into Roomie A and I playing a game with the apple and a bobby pin she happened to have in her hair as all this came about...




I told Roomie A I would buy her ice cream if she got the apple with the bobby pin 2/3 or 3/5 times, so this turned into some serious business....

She has some seriously good aim...and she's very strong*, check it out:

So really the coolest thing we've done this week is have a campfire and make s'mores, but I don't have pictures from that and this story makes us seem so much more... desperate and far away... doesn't it? Haha....

For more information on William Tell check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tell.

*Some dramatic representation included. Results are not actual. Do not try this at home, but if you do - send pictures!!

Latest Additions

Hey! I thought I'd post about the latest additions in my life. We'll go from least to most exciting...

A plant! I was under the impression for awhile that I couldn't have a plant in my room b/c I don't get direct sunlight very often, but then my roommate told me her dad grew one of these in the cubicle in his office and I figured I'd give it a go...

A bed! I actually have a bed with a frame now. Before I had a mattress on the ground. One of my friends around here (the lady whose cat we used our cheerleading skills to feed) has been telling me lately that I'm growing up - maybe it's really true. I also now own my own hair dryer. According to her that's also something adults are supposed to have.

New girls!! This is by far the most exciting addition to my life here this week. These are two new chicas that I'm going to have the privilege to hang out with for the next year or so. They are amazing. As you can see, they are so very excited to be here, and have possibly taken more pics their first week than have the last year!! So I should be sharing their photography skills with you soon. We had a great time together up in the capitol, and now they're getting settled down here. Buddies L&A we'll call 'em.

The last couple months have been really amazing. I'm learning just heaps about the Kingdom and can't wait to share some of that with you soon. Love and miss you all.

Baskin'

This is Roomie A and I enjoying some Baskin Robbins ice cream! We were hanging out at the beach city this weekend helping our friend move and decided to go out as true 'tourists' since we weren't in our city. While we were roaming about the mall in our scandalous tshirts and pants, we realized this is the first time we've been out in public in short sleeves together (in the 1.5 years we've been friends)! We had a giggling-grand time eating ice cream and shopping in our Western outfits. She makes my life so much more fun!

Thailand Top 10

Our trip to Thailand was just splendid! It was a wonderful break from normal life here and full of so many of those little extras I miss sometimes. So here's the Thailand Top 10!

1. No tsunamis or other disasters like an earthquake or plane crash....all of which came a bit closer to reality than we'd wished. Our parents were glad when we got home to "safety," or at least normal.
9. Fakes! Did somebody say Prada (or Polo, Lacoste, Adidas, Louis V....)?

8. Thai Cover Bands. These guys were actually pretty good. We were pleasantly surprised, but not all of them were so pleasant.

7. Our beautiful hotel! Inside and out this place was nice. And for going in off season our room got bumped up a couple of levels...yay!

6. Getting pampered. Pedicures, massages facials...

5. Western Food. Starbucks (one of those little luxuries I was saying earlier that I miss), Outback, Swensen's, Auntie Anne's Pretzels, Hard Rock Cafe, etc.

4. Wearing Western clothes out in public. Tube-tops, Tank-tops and Two Pieces...haram (so forbidden and shameful)!

3. The Beach. This FL girl misses her some time at the ocean, and this was amazing!

2. Meeting up with a friend we hadn't seen in forever. Bangkok was 100x times more fun with her. =^)

1. Angela. This vacation wouldn't have been the same with anyone else. It was the perfect break from our crazy lives over here. Thanks for a GREAT trip. I love you, and I miss drinking tea and coffee with you every morning and talking about the things that really matter for hours on end. But we have a way of crossing paths frequently, so I know I'll see you soon!

Drat it's a RAT... party!!!

We've had a rat roaming around in the covered squatty potties of our house for several weeks now and have been disturbed enough by its persistent scratching to elicit some help. So our 'dad' came over, uncovered the squatties we don't use and set out rat traps.

We decided to have a "rat catching party" to make the whole thing more fun (where else are you so desparate for entertainment that you would have a party about catching a rat?!). We ate dinner, played cards and stayed up late drinking coffee.

We also made dinner for the rat.... (tomatoes, ghee and peanut butter!!)

Unfortunately, we have yet to catch the rat. I'll keep you posted. Supposedly we're going to have to drown in it a bucket when it finally comes out to eat the stuff. Ick!

The Day of Small Things

I was recently came upon a musician, Alli Rogers, that has encouraged me a great deal and left me pondering several things. The title of the album I've been listening to is "The Day of Small Things." The title track is based on Zech 4...

"Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbel's way; it will flatten out before him! .... Do not despise these small beginnings, for the L0RD rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbel's hand."

The lyrics....

The Day Of Small Things

I am afraid of beginning
'cause I don't know how to end
But you told me that the mountain before us
Would become a plain in our eyes
So I won't despise I won't despise the day
I won't despise the day of small things

Even when you tell me...
Oh, even then I'm shaking

'Cause I am afraid of believing
The plans that we make seem so big
But you've shown me that we're never alone
And your spirit will stay by our side
So I won't despise I won't despise the day
I won't despise the day of small things

This has really got me thinking about all my kids 'round the world who are chipping away at things that feel like small beginnings. What a word for us - 'I will not despise the day of small things.' How many days we have that seem so insignificant or like we're barely getting through to ppl! But I have been so encouraged by the reminder that He is able to flatten this mountain that we see in front of us, and we should agree with Him to not despise the days of small things. Being obedient and light is never a waste of our lives!

I've been thinking along with this about the concept lately of choosing to believe certain things in the midst of those moments when I get discouraged. Ps. 13 has started to have a huge impact on me:

"But I trust in Your unfailing love.
I will rejoice because You have rescued me.
I will sing to the L0RD
because He has been so good to me."

I love the deliberate language of this. I trust, rejoice and sing. In the midst of feeling abandoned this a CHOICE David makes. Making these intentional decisions to not despise the days of small things and to trust, rejoice and sing is making a huge impact on me these days.

Thanks for reading. I love you all and miss those who aren't here in qville!

You might not believe me...

A few things that are hard to believe...

1. I am actually updating!! Now that the craziness of summer is over, hopefully this will be a more regular thing.

2. My roommate recently went to get her driver's license here and in the course of doing that she had to sit through a "safe driving" lecture. That in itself is unbelievable, but here's what they told her she needed to do before getting in the car to drive:

a) Sleep well.
b) Eat a light meal (don't get too full or you'll be sleepy)
c) Have all your documents in your front pocket.
d) Walk around the car to see if there are any animals, children or any old men sleeping underneath your car.

Yes, that last one actually applies. I have seen all three of these things here...welcome to the 3rd world! I wish I had a picture, and we are currently on the look out for that.

3. I feel like I made a small dent for the feminist movement here today. I threw on my big "Jackie O" sunglasses, scarf and black robe as usual:



Then as the mini-bus pulled up it was fairly packed, though there was one "woman's seat" open squished next to two women on a little bench in the middle row of the mini-bus. When I saw the front seat was also open, I went ahead and hopped in next to the driver (women usually only sit in the middle or back seat, and city women never sit up front with the driver). What's unbelievable it is progressive (or at least from my Western perspective) to take the front seat on public transportation!

4. Tomato-Watermelon Salad is absolutely delicious! I had my suspicions when I heard the name too, but it's an amazing treat we discovered in one of our American magazines recently:

Recipe for Tomato and Watermelon Salad:
5 c cubed watermelon (or you can do chunks w/ a melon baller)
1.5 lb cubed tomatoes

Sprinkle that with 3 T sugar and 1/4 t salt

Then in a separate bowl mix:
1 small red onion, chopped or sliced (as you like)
1/2 c red wine vinegar (you can substitute with another kind if you don't have this)
1/4 c olive oil

Mix it all together and let chill for 2 hours.
Top with cracked black pepper to taste.

Cat Feeding Time!

A friend of mine recently asked us to feed her cat while she was out of town for a week. When we got to her house all of the doors were locked, and our keys would not open any of them. After several phone calls and an attempt to kick in the door you see here we realized we were not going to be able to get into the house. We ended up using our cheerleading skills from long ago and stuffing small cans of tuna and cups of water into the ventilation slots in her stone stairway. We're pretty sure by the end of the week everyone in the neighborhood knew what was going on as they peered into her garden over the wall around her house from their 2nd stories then laughed and giggled at us as we walked down the street home from her house. Well, every week there seems to be some great oddity to my life and here it was for this week!

jmay and I have enjoyed several adventures together, and I'm so glad she could see just how "fun" life can get here!!

Change

First - the most beautiful change in my life for these few weeks is that jmay is here!!! One of the most amazing people I know and best friends from the states is here to chill with me. YAY!

Now on to the real point...money change....

When you buy something and are owed changed it's not always necessary that be paid to you in money....here are some recent examples....

Nail polish:

jmay bought a fine purse in one of the capitol's markets and received this lovely blue nail polish instead of the 50 cents she was owed:

Flowers:

I bought jmay a "lei" of sorts to greet her with at the airport and received my change in loose jasmine flowers...

Market Picture & Thoughts

We went down to one of my favorite restaurants last night - "the fish restaurant." It's on the roof of a building in the middle of the fish and vegetable market, that was absolutely bustling last night. Here's a pic:

Sometimes when I'm sitting eating dinner and looking at scenes like this I feel insanely distant from my "old life" that I left somewhere far behind a year ago. But as I have become close to many people here, I've discovered similarities between us that have simply amazed me. There's something about people that prevents us from being too different from each other. It's more obvious to me than ever before that we were formed in the image of One who loves, gets jealous, has a Spirit, desires justice and unity and exists as separate members of a loving community. It's pretty beautiful. Of course, it's all a little off and messed up at the moment due to our inability to maintain such a wonderful creation, but I have no doubt that "this too shall be made right." (You can thank d. webb for that last phrasing being in my mind. He's been on the jukebox here a lot lately).

Yummy Cookies!

Today was a simply wonderful day. I got to hold a little baby for a couple hours this morning while his mom packed and repacked several suitcases. Then I spent a few hours in the kitchen baking treats for our road trip tomorrow. I thought of you all as I was making these things and thought you might enjoy some more recipes...

Best Sugar Cookies Ever (Really, I kid you not, these are amazing...)

Mix with hand mixer:
1 c sugar
1 egg
3/4 c canola (or something like that) oil

Mix in a separate bowl:
2 c flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cream of tartar

Combine the two mixtures by hand

Add 1 t vanilla

Make into small round balls then smash them down a little. These don't grow too much when you bake them.

Bake at 350 on ungreased sheet 10-12 mintues.

Then I made Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies. See bag for the recipe.

Next up was Lazy Cinnamon Rolls. I'll post the recipe for those next week, after you've had a chance to make the sugar cookies and I'm back from the road trip.

Hope you enjoy the recipe!

Life is like a box of chocolates...

You never know what you're gonna get!

This week I somehow got connected with a teacher at the local university who invited me to the English department end-of-the-year celebration. So I found myself in my usual position of being the only white girl among hundreds. The whole thing was, well, hilarious. So I would like to share the highlights with you… (I wasn't allowed to take pictures at the actual event. I greatly regret this fact.)

• When I met this teacher at the university he introduced himself by telling me that he was going to be doing grad work abroad soon. When I asked him what he’d be studying he replied, “Feminism and Gender Studies.” I almost fell over. WHAT?!?! I overheard him call himself a feminist at the party also. Wow!

• So then we walked in to the middle of a debate on marriage between classes. It’s the age of old question of butchers’ and barbers’ daughters marrying the sons of princes. One student was proud to announce that “even in the United States of America black people are marginalized. And while they are allowed places to live, they don’t participate in society.” Hmmm….you sort of wonder where they get this stuff.

• Next an African student got up dressed in traditional ghetto gear complete with wide leg jeans. He gave an interesting rendition of “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys complete with swaying and waving of his arm back and forth to the ever so participatory crowd. I must admit that even I was swept up in the moment and sang along.

• Then a group of students performed the trial scene from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Have you ever heard Shakespeare performed with heavy accents that weren’t British? Well, I can testify that it does not make it any easier to understand. Also, consider the religions of the main characters and realize the hilarity even more…

• From Shakespeare to … more Shakespeare! Next up was a poetry reading competition in which students performed monologues from Macbeth, Julius Caesar and even “Ode to the West Wind” by Shelley. The most interesting part of this was a girl who read a poem from the perspective of an Iraqi baby who had been killed in a bombing. (Again, here I am, only white girl among hundreds…a little awkward?)

• After this the mood changed a bit in what was called the “Eloquency Competition” (I’m not sure ‘eloquency’ is a real word). This consisted of several students reading essays reminiscent of cheesy email forwards that flooded our inboxes constantly about 10 years ago. This stuff wasn’t even close to on par with Class of 1997…(you know, “Wear sunscreen. . . .).

• A comedy skit was the next order of business after another musical performance that was not of particular note. These two dudes came out with tattoos drawn on their arms with ballpoint pen and spiked hair. They were the Dumb and Dumber, Night at the Roxbury, Swingers type duo. The whole thing was about cat-calling and hitting on girls at the university. It was eerily similar to the hollers I get on the street daily so that was special. Besides that they also hinted at the national pastime here of “missed calls” and text messages. Young guys here often call number after number until they find a girl and then they persist in calling her at all hours of the night just giving one ring then sending text messages.
  

• After another musical break consisting of two dudes singing a love song duet without any idea of what that may imply in the majority of the English speaking world, certificates were handed out. The background music to this part of the ceremony was….the ever so popular….Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star! Wow!

• The whole thing wrapped up with the African student returning to sing for us this country’s beloved closing song to any event….The Titanic Song- My Heart Will Go On. That’s right. It is the ultimate in all things precious and musical here.

My day went on and on for hours after this ceremony with lots of other cultural experiences. It was by far one of the most representative days of how surprising things can be in these parts!

I hope you’re having an exciting week filled with lots of surprises!

Soon I'll have some more pictures from a drive we recently took.

It's Pretzel Time!

My roommates and I are constantly experimenting in the kitchen and today we tried a recipe that we got off of Copy Kat Recipes (one of our friends tipped us off to the website). It's possibly one of the best things for those of you who are seeking out some familiar tastes but find yourselves thousands of miles (or dollars) away from the nearest Auntie Anne's, Cinnabon, Krispy Kreme or Olive Garden.

Today we made soft pretzels just like at the mall! We even topped some of them with cinnamon sugar. Mmmmm...delicious! Of course, we ended up doing over half the process without electricity because of our random power outages. I guess everything can't be like home! Recipe follows the picture.


Soft Pretzel Recipe

Serves/Makes 12

Ingredients
1 ½ cup warm water
1 1/8 tsp active dry yeast
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 1/8 tsp salt
1 cup bread flour (you can sub 1 cup minus 2 Tbsp reg. flour)
3 cups regular flour
2 cups warm water
2 Tbsp baking soda

To taste coarse salt
4 Tbsp butter (melted)

Directions:

Sprinkle yeast on lukewarm water in mixing bowl; stir to dissolve. Add brown sugar and salt, stir to dissolve; add flour and knead dough until smooth and elastic. Let rise at least ½ hour.

While dough is rising, prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups warm water and 2 Tbsp. baking soda. Be certain to stir often. After dough has risen, pinch off bits of dough and roll into a long rope (about ½ inch or less thick) and shape. You can also make "pretzel bites" by cutting 1" pieces of rope, but cooking time for them is shorter. Dip pretzel in soda solution and place on greased baking sheet. Allow pretzels to rise again. Bake in 450 oven for about 10 minutes or until golden. Dip in melted butter and toppings and enjoy!

Toppings: After you brush with or dip in melted butter try sprinkling with coarse salt, or for cinnamon sugar, melt a stick of butter in a shallow bowl (big enough to fit the entire pretzel) and in another shallow bowl make a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Dip the pretzel into the butter, coating both sides generously. Then dip again into the cinnamon mixture. Enjoy!

"Amy's Song" by Switchfoot

The last time we saw Amy
She was headed for the shore
Fighting off the volatile gray skies

She said now begins forever
And that no one knows their time
We bid farewell not knowing
That might be our last goodbye

Amy was a fighter
She cut like Casius Clay
She burned like a fire
Despite these rains

Where time was a question
She only knew one song
She's singing, "How far, how fast, how long?"

. . .

When everything stops moving
And I stop to catch my breath
And ride my train of thought
All the way round

My thoughts return to Amy
And the fire she's begun
She came when we were freezing
And left us burning up

The Beauty...

On Easter we got to see an amazing sunrise over the city. For those of you who remember my obsession with sunrises last spring you can imagine how exciting this was for me. I was thinking of all my Prairie buddies!


Look how the light shined onto everything....

Here are Roomie A and me at Easter...

Besides this beauty Roomie A and I more recently went on a hike with some of our friends and got to see more green in one place in these cilantro, parsley and corn fields than I have in months...


It's been a good restoration and reminder of The Beauty. I am reminded of the Sara Groves album Add to the Beauty, which is worth checking out and quite inspiring. The song Why it Matters has become one of my favorites to listen to as I ride the bus around town in between random conversations with girls getting on and off the bus. Here are a few lines:

Speak to me until I understand
Why our thinking and creating
Why our efforts of narrating
About the beauty, of the beauty
And why it matters...

Show me the love that never fails
The compassion and attention
Midst confusion and dissension
Like small ramparts for the soul
How it matters