Where to start, where to start?...The beginning....I....was....born....Hahaha! Fast forward 22 years, 1 month, and 3 days and I'm in India and today is my Dad's birthday, and tomorrow is Father's Day. It's the first time in my life that I will have not been with my Dad and family for these two occasions. So I can think of no better way to start this blog than to give a shout out to my Daddy! Dad, thank you so much for being a great father and leader in my life. Your faithfulness to Mom and our family, as well as your job and our church is a challenge and inspiration to live up to. Thank you so much for all of the love, energy, goofiness, and craziness that you have poured into our family. Love you!
Now...the moment you have all been waiting for...I bought a skirt. But it's not feminine. All of the India men where what are called a "loongi" which is like their version of a bathrobe. Its actually very comfortable and quite breathable which is a bonus due to the intense heat. It has multiple uses: skirt, loin cloth, portable changing room, blanket, and it allows you to go to the bathroom in public in an emergency. Don't worry, I haven't done the last one...yet.
Tugs and I stay at a separate apartment from the rest of the team. When we are brought back and forth to the Asir's house we are, more often than not, brought one by one via motorcycle...with no helmets. At first Tugs and I had a very hard time remembering the route between the two locations. This is largely because several different people would take us back and forth, and every person had a different way of getting there. Very, very confusing. But finally we figured out the quickest route. In the past several days, some Indian missionaries have been attending a training program and they have been taking us on the motorcycle. Twice the man taking us got lost and I had to give him the proper directions to get us to the correct location. Quite an experience.
At this training, Auntie (Mrs. Asir) was giving a lesson on devotions. She was giving the example of receiving a letter in the mail from a sweetheart. When you receive a letter from them, you read it, you keep it with you, you think about the words, you take it out several times and read it over and over again, you meditate on the words. Even though you may have the letter memorized you keep re-reading it because of how precious it is to you to hear from your sweetheart. You do this until the next letter comes and then you repeat the process. Those letters are precious to you. Well I can't say I've ever received a letter from a sweetheart (I did receive a postcard from my Dad from the Great Smokey Mountains. A lush green forest and a cool bubbling, babbling brook. Made me miss home). I have had letters of encouragement from friends, family, and loved ones that I have read over and over again.
Auntie told us, this is how we must view God's Word. It's his love letter to us. Just as we cherish the letters we receive from loved ones we need to cherish His Word and get excited about being able to read it, have it, dwell on it, memorize it, and share it. His love letter brings life! I have always known that the Bible is the Word of God and there is nothing more important than having His Words in our lives. I've probably even heard that The Bible is a love letter before, but for some reason this time it really sunk in. I would read my Bible everyday, but I can't say there was a time when I would ache for it as someone would ache to have a letter from their sweetheart.
That's just a little bit of what I've been learning. I won't be in contact for the next several weeks. Our team will be doing ministry in the slums until July 4th, and it is very doubtful we will have internet access there. Until then!
Now...the moment you have all been waiting for...I bought a skirt. But it's not feminine. All of the India men where what are called a "loongi" which is like their version of a bathrobe. Its actually very comfortable and quite breathable which is a bonus due to the intense heat. It has multiple uses: skirt, loin cloth, portable changing room, blanket, and it allows you to go to the bathroom in public in an emergency. Don't worry, I haven't done the last one...yet.
Tugs and I stay at a separate apartment from the rest of the team. When we are brought back and forth to the Asir's house we are, more often than not, brought one by one via motorcycle...with no helmets. At first Tugs and I had a very hard time remembering the route between the two locations. This is largely because several different people would take us back and forth, and every person had a different way of getting there. Very, very confusing. But finally we figured out the quickest route. In the past several days, some Indian missionaries have been attending a training program and they have been taking us on the motorcycle. Twice the man taking us got lost and I had to give him the proper directions to get us to the correct location. Quite an experience.
At this training, Auntie (Mrs. Asir) was giving a lesson on devotions. She was giving the example of receiving a letter in the mail from a sweetheart. When you receive a letter from them, you read it, you keep it with you, you think about the words, you take it out several times and read it over and over again, you meditate on the words. Even though you may have the letter memorized you keep re-reading it because of how precious it is to you to hear from your sweetheart. You do this until the next letter comes and then you repeat the process. Those letters are precious to you. Well I can't say I've ever received a letter from a sweetheart (I did receive a postcard from my Dad from the Great Smokey Mountains. A lush green forest and a cool bubbling, babbling brook. Made me miss home). I have had letters of encouragement from friends, family, and loved ones that I have read over and over again.
Auntie told us, this is how we must view God's Word. It's his love letter to us. Just as we cherish the letters we receive from loved ones we need to cherish His Word and get excited about being able to read it, have it, dwell on it, memorize it, and share it. His love letter brings life! I have always known that the Bible is the Word of God and there is nothing more important than having His Words in our lives. I've probably even heard that The Bible is a love letter before, but for some reason this time it really sunk in. I would read my Bible everyday, but I can't say there was a time when I would ache for it as someone would ache to have a letter from their sweetheart.
That's just a little bit of what I've been learning. I won't be in contact for the next several weeks. Our team will be doing ministry in the slums until July 4th, and it is very doubtful we will have internet access there. Until then!
