long overdue post!

I would like to share with you some cool things that I’ve found in my reading and studying. I should say outright that I realized that these last few months in India could quite possibly be my last chunk of time where I can read and study whatever I want in depth and I’m resolved that I won’t waste it. I’m determined that I will use the next (approximately) 3 months to develop my mind, my character and my relationship with God. This has resulted in a list of 20+ books recommended from the MA classes that I’ve been auditing in addition to books that I just want to read ☺ currently I’m reading a good one on different types of counseling. I would like to share with you a few things that I’ve found interesting.

The first one is on our guiding values that give meaning to our lives:
1) Do my values and priorities and the life-style they produce, allow me to maintain robust physical-emotional health?
2) Do my values and life-style allow me time to develop my midyears potential intellectually and spiritually?
3) Do my values and life-style allow me time to enjoy the good things of life and to do the creative, worthwhile and fulfilling things I could do?
4) Do my present values and life-style leave me enough time with the person or persons I care most about?
5) Does my life-style reflect the most significant and life-giving values—truth, goodness, beauty, wholeness, aliveness, justice, order, simplicity, playfulness, autonomy?
6) Do my values and life-style allow me time for a significant cause, a challenge beyond my inner circle, that will help others and improve our community?




There was also this great passage that I am going to include on developmental crises. These are the normal changes that come into our lives—the ones the come from moving away from home, starting college, getting married, retiring. There is like a 100 item list that is NOT all inclusive of things that cause us developmental stress—the things that just happen in life and we need to work through. I love this quote:

“When one puts on the glasses of hope and growth, each life stage from birth to death, offers a fresh set of emerging strengths and possibilities that did not exist in previous stages. This awareness is the source of an unfolding hope. Each stage also has within it a new set of problems, limitations, frustrations, and losses… The strategy is to help people deal with the problems and losses by developing the new strengths and possibilities of their particular life stage.”



Now those of you who made it through that long portion: Over the next few months, I’ll be working again on the Village Healthworkers Program. We have a nutrition public health presentation next week, then a lot of preparation and writing for a new aspect of the project—pretty exciting stuff!

We (and by we I mean my friend Annika and I) have been auditing MA classes here the last three weeks. It has been phenomenal! We’ve gotten to make friends with Indians and internationals from all over the world and learn from great professors. Although I took four classes, there were 3 that made a great impact on me: systematic theology, philosophical foundations of m*inis*try and leadership, and counseling systems. It will take me a long time to process and thoroughly grasp what I’ve been learning! Truly it was an opportunity I never expected to have, and I feel quite privileged that I got to learn just for fun—no tests, no required assignments.

Thanksgiving: Indian style

While you all were having a turkey dinner, I was... well, to be honest I was probably asleep. But Thursday afternoon we went over to one of the American couples' homes and had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal (The only difference was that we had chicken instead of turkey)--Mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, bread and even gravy (I'm pretty proud of the fact that I learned how to make gravy from scratch!). It was quite a feast!

Thanksgiving is a big holiday in my family. We all gather at my aunt and uncles house and the cousins stay in the house and have a lot of fun! We get up at about 6AM to run 5 miles usually in the snow and sleet, and then come back to get ready for the day and to prepare the meal (mostly the aunts). Then, we eat and there are all kinds of "kids table" traditions that I could describe and you probably wouldn't think were funny but we love! After clearing the tables, we rush to the couches for naptime! Over the course of 3 days we have so many traditions and memories.

I thought it would actually be harder to miss Thanksgiving. Don't get me wrong, there were parts of the day when I was pretty homesick, but there isn't the snow or the intense cold here. I'm still freezing. you know, in the 55F weather. haha I've gotten so soft in the last six months. It'll be an adventure when i encounter snow again! But with no snow and no winter coats and no sweaters and boots, it doesn't feel like the end of November. This is the second Thanksgiving I've spent abroad and they're full of memories!

Like me, Annika and Elise all squeezing into the back of the car voluntarily on the ride back to the campus.

And the overall craziness that we bring to the table :) But the family were wonderful hosts to us and really made it feel like Thanksgiving. It was a good Thanksgiving.

http://uakron.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2087638&l=8f88e&id=39105465

and

http://uakron.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2086858&l=07bf0&id=39105465

How has my life been transformed by Christ?

How about yours?

The purpose of my life has been fulfilled.

At my going away party in June one of my friends seriously asked me what I was looking forward to most going to India, what my first most goal would be during my year-long adventure. My retort? “I want to ride an elephant.” I guess I can come home now!! Last Thursday I climbed atop an elephant which meandered around the Mysore Palace during a famous festival called Desara. It was fun. Last week we had a few days of touristy stuff! We visited the palace, which was magnificent. We went to see gardens distributed among an array of fountains. We hung out at a hospital, which definitely gave me an adrenaline rush. During the last few weeks we’ve utilized a plethora of transportation methods: crowded buses, trains, elephants, horse drawn rickshaws, an auto crammed with 12 people, boats, and we’ve crossed a rushing river. We’ve driven through countryside speckled with rocky hills, rice patties, coconut trees and cows. We’ve eaten off of banana leaves. We’ve seen temples, cathedrals, and mosques.

I’ll never be able to adequately describe the things we’ve seen, the people we’ve met, the smells that have reached our noses, the taste of freshly made dosa, the sounds of horns outside our window or waking up to a cow mooing on the street outside. Every once in awhile it hits me that I’m in India. I was sitting on the balcony yesterday journaling. I was on campus waiting to leave for Tamil Nadu. Sometimes I forget that I’m in the middle of a huge adventure. When you’re living in an adventure, that adventure becomes daily life in a way that I never expected to have happen.

I would also like to describe to you a few more things going on in India that have been important to me these past few weeks. October is a big month, with a lot of short term international teams coming in. Most of the teams we meet and hang out with and help the Indians with ‘cause they insist that we can explain certain aspects of India to them better than the Indians can. Me and Elise don’t believe them, but we help where we can. Anyways, one team in particular has blown us away. They are a team of mechanics. They aren’t actually mechanics by profession, but volunteer at their church every week fixing the cars of single parents. They are working on cars for two weeks here for the organization. I was outside before breakfast the other morning just meandering around campus. I was shocked to see them already at their work. They work all day and put their full energy into their tasks, but still have managed to have a lot of fun and build relationships with most people on campus. Elise and I have both been encouraged and challenged by their work ethic and servants’ hearts! I would also like to tell you about my favorite little boys! They are brothers and are simply adorable! Usually 11 year old boys are awkward and don’t know how to carry themselves, but this boy is poised and well spoken. He takes care of his little brother and they are very sweet to each other. And Jeffrey, the older brother explained cricket to me. I’ve had a bunch of people try to explain it to me before, but I never understood it until this kid explained it! I know kinda understand the game and its interesting!

I hope this post finds you well and you enjoyed hearing a bit about the things I’ve been up to lately!