Chop chop...

*Thanks, Buddy L!

Ponderings. Part 2.

In regard to learning to live out the gospel and a Kingdom life... none of these sorts of things come about easily (or of ourselves…if it is He who first initiated our faith, then it is certainly He who initiates our training in faith). My most recent thoughts on those things in the last post came out of lots of questions I've been wrestling with. For some time I’ve had a heart-wrenching struggle with what boils down to the question of evil. I believe it’s true that God sees us, intellectually. When I looked around at the world (Kenya, Pakistan, Iraq, Darfur - just to name a few key things that have been on my mind), I couldn’t (and in many ways still can’t) understand how God sees these people and doesn’t intervene. Surely this breaks the heart of the One defined as Love in our treasured Book.

About this point in my questions and struggle, I borrowed a book of sermons from a friend with a chapter entitled “Sin, Evil and Suffering.” I thought – perfect, someone will finally address my questions, give me answers and all this will be put behind me for good (wink, wink). I was shocked and blindsided. All the sermons were about the cross. It was a series on the cross being foolishness and a stumbling block to some, but power to those who were being saved by it. The cross IS the answer to sin, evil and suffering. Something mysterious happened on the cross that I can’t understand. A few months ago I felt I needed to start making a list of metaphors that are used for cross as I chatted with people and listened to sermons…a blessing for a curse, a ransom, a sacrifice, an atonement, a substitution. A few of my friends and I have been chatting about these things and they’ve helped me articulate a lot of this. We realize we can’t carry any of those metaphors out to completion without them falling apart a little bit. They are the best pictures we have, but pictures nonetheless and incomplete. The cross is the power, but a mysterious one that we would do well to ponder and meditate on, but will never fully understand. I needed this revelation more than anything in a long time.

We are living in an in-between, tension-filled time. The Kingdom has come, but not in full. That’s difficult to grapple with, but we know that the victory for the truth and the right is possible, and one day the restoration will be complete (See the sermon The Captain of the Lord by Alexander Maclaren for an amazing picture of this from Joshua 5). In the meantime, it would seem there is a season for all things. As one of the more brilliant people I’ve been reading lately put it – we are living in a tension between Ecclesiastes and Revelation. Between ‘everything is meaningless’ and ‘He wipes away every tear.’

‘Jesus teaches us that human judgments are not the last judgments, that human justice is not the last justice, and that the power that humans exercise over one another is not the final power.’ – Father Lucic, Sarajevo (from The Bible and The New York Times, p. 59)

‘Only by attending to the horrors of this world can we continue to sing the words of that great eighteenth-century hymn-writer Isaac Watts:

He comes to make his blessings known
Far as the curse is found.
(Hymn, “Joy to the World”)

For only a faith forged out of suffering can say with conviction that the angels and monsters will not coexist forever…’ – Flemming Rutledge, The Bible and The New York Times, p. 60

So in seeing injustice and the things that are not yet full, I am reminded that the work of the cross, the work of redemption is in process. Some how it is complete but yet not completed.

Ponderings. Part 1.

I’ve been thinking about the future lately. One of my latest dreams and schemes is to go to grad school for non-profity stuff (very technical, I know…ask me more about this if you want the low down on what I’m thinking exactly). The longer I’ve lived away from my home culture, the more I don’t feel drawn to a particular language, geography or culture. I feel pulled toward the marginalized: immigrants, people caught up in human trafficking schemes, homeless, poor, refugees and on and on the list goes. For the first time in quite awhile my thoughts are so little about geography it’s a wonder, even to me, I persist in a place like this. I can finally see a totally Kingdom life I would be just ecstatic, blessed and excited to live out in the states. That must sound crazy to all you amazing people who are already doing that and being the voices of change and advocates in our own culture. I somehow lost sight here of how I could fit in with all that. I had this qualifier before I moved here even on who I would marry…only those interested in an overseas assignment need apply. Wow, how short-sighted I’ve been. Something so much more organic, alive is taking over. I want to live a life marked by struggling to figure out what it means to live the gospel wherever I find myself. Of course, I still want to be in cahoots with the globally-minded (how can we understand injustice otherwise?), and am staying open to the eventuality of learning other languages and crossing into other cultures. This phase of life has taught me nothing if not to live with my hands open. He gives and takes away.

This picture is some of what I'm (well, we're) figuring out 'being' the gospel looks like these days on my streets - taking time to chat with and touch someone who many avoid and brush off. It's become about looking someone in the eyes, using kind and gentle language and terms of endearment (our language is sprinkled with these here) with them and acknowledging they are human rather than just ignoring them (even on the occassions when I say no and don't give the little kids or some others the money they are asking me for). There's a sting in our hearts when we ignore people and treat them as less than human. I've learned a lot from some of these random encounters.

BDay Goodness and walking...

Here are some pics from bday. We had a great time at a restaurant up on the mountain. Here are my Roomies M, A & P, Buddies L&A, Occasional Roomie S, and me:

A few days before my birthday Buddies L&A and I went for a walk around the city in our less-than-black clothing. That was a fun and good time for us to process, hang out and act like tourists taking lots of pictures in our own city. It's not always the most relaxing to stroll around to constant shouts of random English phrases and honking horns, but we eventually scurried off into a dried out riverbed near my house, and that was nice:

My most recent cultural observations, and a picture.

I’ve come up with a new way of defining the basic tenor of a household here: how they make this frothy (not-so-great-tasting) substance that tops a lot of food. It needs to be beat sort of like egg whites. There seem to be three major groupings in my experience:

1. Families that make it by beating it with their fingers. These are some of the same houses I’ve seen women using 2 stones to grind spices and smash tomatoes (like in National Geographic), don’t have running water inside, their seating is just some hay-stuffed pillows lying around the edges of the room. They might have stronger ties to rural areas, and seem to not be as aware of customs outside of their experiences.

2. Families that make it by beating with a fork. These houses seem to have some conveniences – maybe cushions to sit on as well as a back to their sitting area in the nicest sitting room, running water inside. Also, they may have more awareness of the world around them.

3. Families that make it (this is my favorite…) with an electric hand mixer. These seem to have it made – maybe even Western toilets and a full-on furnishings in several sitting rooms. Someone in the house probably speaks English and/or has international experience and is aware of (and even sometimes accommodating to) cultural differences.

Now, I know this isn’t certain (and could easily be broken down to economics in a lot of ways…but this is something tangible, something more social or warm), but, man, thinking about this and writing it down make me want to go to grad school. Political ethnographers are always making silly groupings like this that really make it too simple, but help distinguish what is very messy and unclear data in the first place. Makes the anomalies more fun too (I went to the village and saw someone using a hand mixer to make the frothy stuff in the one house with a generator…etc). And if the assumption or grouping turns out to be totally off that’s fun too because then your get to write a whole paragraph about how you were wrong and make whatever’s right seem even more interesting because it wasn’t the expected outcome. Soft science rocks, I tell you.

Anyway, one of my buddies around here is definitely part of an electric mixer family (seriously, they used an electric mixer to make the frothy stuff). So this family also apparently abides by the philosophy that even if you can eat meat all year long you still eat meat at the Eid (biggest holiday of the year) to “make up for the meat all year long." (that the poor people really don't eat all year). So here’s to goat! Which by the way, as a matter of hilarity (b/c you never thought you’d say this sentence in your life):”The goat escaped from the kitchen and came downstairs twice today, but that problem is soon over because we’re sacrificing him tomorrow.”

A picture from my Christmas camping trip follows. I got to use a fresh water well...to bathe (or rather, pour water over myself a couple times during the salty four days). We'll talk more about wells and water later so this is a good image for me to be thinking on at the moment.

PS Thanks to Occasional Roomie S for the blog suggestion...and coffee.

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...