Happy New Year!

We just watched the ball drop in New York on the news and we celebrated for the second time "Happy New Year!" There is a 13 1/2 hour difference between India and the U.S. and so we already slept through the night before 2006 arrived in America.

I love the feeling of a new year. There is a sense of fresh hope and expectation. Fresh hope, knowing that all of last year and the years before are finished, that like Paul, we press on forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to those things that are ahead. We can't change what happened last year but we can live differently this one. I was just reading Psalm 139 and it brought some joy to my heart:

"My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be." v.15-16

I love that thought, before I even lived out one day, God had ordained and known all of the days of my life. He sees us and knows us, He knows the way that we take and has plans for our lives. He lives outside of time and gazes upon the sons of men with grace, mercy, and zeal. I want the fullness of destiny that He has planned and ordained for my life. May fresh joy and hope fill our hearts as we look to this new year and all that it will hold.

"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom... Satisfy us in the morning with Your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days."

Psalm 90:12&14

Sunny

I have been friends with Sunny for over two years and she is one of my favorite people on this earth. (She is the girl to the right, Mabiaki is on the left.) She is from Korea and has a beautiful heart. We were roommates for over a year and have had many different adventures together across Northeast India.
We went on a small journey a couple of days ago to receive a team of ten people from S. Korea. She is helping them as they go to different areas in the Northeast to encourage people, do outreach, and build relationship with local churches.
I can't even speak a little bit of Korean, but we were all laughing so hard on the journey to Shillong. They are a really neat group of people and it was fun to have met them and spent time with them.

Stung

A couple of nights ago we went to a friends house for dinner. We were celebrating the holidays and they had prepared quite a feast for us. We sat down to eat and we were all laughing and enjoying our time together.
All of a sudden I felt something tickling my back. I thought it was a loose hair or something so I reached back to move it and all of a sudden it felt like there was fire running through my finger. I jumped up and looked down and there was a huge furry bee... or a hornet. Actually I really don't know what it was. It was doing quite alright after it stung me though and Houser quickly jumped up and killed it. However it was incredibly painful and my finger was bright red and swollen for hours. Our friends put some Tiger Balm on it and we continued to eat together and enjoy our time of fellowship.
Even now we already laugh about it, the adventure with the bee.

Merry Christmas!

These poinsettias are growing everywhere around us these days. Our friends here in the Northeast call them Christmas flowers.

It's Christmas evening and it has been a day well spent. Houser has had a stomach flu for the past few days and so today we decided just to hang out and celebrate our first Christmas together.

"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end...the zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this." Isaiah 9:6-7

This is a famous Christmas passage and I love it. It's priceless because it talks about the promise of Jesus and parts of His character and purpose. Of the increase of His kingdom there will be no end. His kingdom is righteousness, peace, and joy. He truly came that we might be with Him forever. That we might behold His glory and dwell with Him in love, and completely whole. I love the last part.." the zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this." What is the 'zeal of the Lord of Hosts'? It surely seems something worthy of contemplation. He will not rest or be silent until He has fulfilled the purposes of His heart. In the gospels it is said of Jesus "Zeal for His house consumed Him." What is it to be consumed with zeal? If we could only glimpse more fully the love that is in His heart towards us. He is the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world; With one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. So today on Christmas we remember Him. We remember His love, we remember His life, death, and resurrection. He has overcome sickness, sin, even death. We will be with Him forever and He will rule with justice, humility and truth. He is the King of all Kings, and He is good, there is no deceit or evil in him at all. 'Of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end...'

I had never seen any of the Godfather movies and Houser really wanted me to see them. We were watching the second one today and I was thinking this Michael Corleone is the opposite of Jesus. I wouldn't trust him to be my leader. He wouldn't even forgive his own brother. The way he ran his "kingdom" was full of injustice and vengeance. He tried to win the respect and admiration of men through fear, and advanced his family and kingdom through murder and deceit. Love and trust can't be won this way. It made me think about how brilliant God is and how beautiful His heart is. That He would send His son in such a humble way and that He would live amongst us and suffer that we might know Him. The beauty of giving us the choice and will to choose to receive His love and give our own. His leadership and ways are pure, and trustworthy. He possesses all power and beauty, yet He came so low to win our affection.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

funny

pumpkin pie

My kind Grandmother sent us some pumpkin and condensed milk so that we could have a pumpkin pie for Christmas. It was a true adventure trying to make it today. They don't have "pumpkin pie" spice here or even ground cinnamon. I was very excited to find cinnamon sticks though and after some time and effort, I had the two teaspoons of cinnamon that I needed for the recipe. I have never baked a pumpkin pie before and I felt a great measure of satisfaction when the time came to take it out of the oven. I'm feeling quite sentimental and domesticated these days.

Today has been a good day and we are looking forward to this weekend and the things that we have planned with our friends. We're having a small dinner at our house for the five of us that are here on Christmas Eve. On Christmas, we will go to church and spend time with some more friends.

It's crazy that this year has almost come to an end.
2005 has been an intense and incredible year, full of many memorable events (we really got married) and so many priceless people. We really have so much to be thankful for.

We hope and pray that all of you are doing well and that you are having a Merry Christmas with those that you love. May His love and hope fill your hearts with great peace and joy.

sunrise

This is a picture of sunrise from our balcony. The daylight hours have become increasingly short with the sun rising after 6:00 and setting around 4:00. So we have come to greatly appreciate and treasure the hours of sunlight.

Most everyone has left the base now and so our days are more free. People will start returning the first week of January after spending the holidays with family. I have a big family and somehow this Christmas I really miss all of them.

God is so kind and faithful though. This week I was praying for Him to encourage my heart and to remind me of His love. Then we got a package from Ruthie (Houser's mom) with homemade cookies, and chocolates, and little treasures. It was so thoughtful and really blessed our hearts. A little piece of Christmas from far away. Then a couple of days later Houser went out for a while and brought back some Christmas surprises for our home, he is really so good to me. Then that very same day, we got a package from my Grandma. She is so cute. She sent us a box full of ingredients for making a pumpkin pie; a pie crust, condensed milk, and a can of pumpkin. So we will be having pumpkin pie for Christmas. hooray!

These days we are mostly trying to focus on our Hindi since we have more free time. This morning we will go to Poonam's house at 11:00 am. We have learned to read and write the alphabet and are learning slowly how to have conversations. Her and her family have been true friends to us; we are really enjoying them and this process of learning Hindi.

"This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope. Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion', says my soul, therefore I hope in Him." Lam. 3:21-24

new and improved

Our Christmas tree is becoming more colorful as the days go by. It's very different celebrating Christmas in another country. There are only 8 days left until Christmas, but it doesn't really feel too much like Christmas around us. I think that holidays are a big part of our lives, to celebrate and remember things that are important to us. So on Christmas we remember Jesus and celebrate His life. We are deeply loved.

20 people left our base yesterday, both for outreach and to go home for the holidays. Today we will have graduation for the School of Frontier Missions, there are 7 students, mostly from Northeast India and one girl from Switzerland. We will have some tea and snacks for them after the graduation and a little later we are all going out to dinner to celebrate.
Then we are going to come back to our house and watch "It's a Wonderful Life." Houser and I both love this movie and it makes us cry every time. The message is priceless. Life is not about money and prestige, but about love, family, and sacrificing of our lives for one another, giving and serving in love.

It's a little bit of a bittersweet time here. So many people that we have grown close to are leaving and moving on to other places and countries. It's good and yet a little hard on our hearts as we see them go. There will be a total of five of us here for Christmas and we're planning to have a special dinner together.

waiting

"We must constantly direct our gazes toward the face of God, even in the presence of longing and sorrow. It is in the waiting that our hearts are enlarged. The waiting does not diminish us. As a pregnant woman is enlarged in her waiting, so are our hearts. God does not always rescue us out of a painful season. He is after something much more valuable than our happiness. Much more substantive than our health. He is restoring and growing in us an eternal weight of glory. And sometimes... it hurts."
-Stasi Eldredge

More MA

Here is a picture of the group that has been with us this week. This week has gone well and we have enjoyed having them here with us. They really have a heart for God and for prayer and worship. Several times I woke up in the morning and I could hear them singing together and it was incredible. They will be going on their practical outreach tomorrow.

Several years ago in Nagaland, one of the states in the Northeast , the church got together and purposed in their heart that they wanted to send 10,000 from their state to work amongst unreached peoples. It is so incredible to see what God is doing all around us that is so much bigger than our weak efforts and plans. His heart is truly that people from every tribe, tongue, and nation would know the love that He has for them. He is full of grace and truth. Even this week was such a blessing, to be around quality people that have chosen to spend their lives getting to know Him and studying His word.

Tomorrow they will begin their outreach and we're praying that God will greatly use them and put a passion in their hearts to make Him known wherever they are, and whatever they are doing.

food in shillong

The two pictures of meat shops were taken just a three minute walk away from our home. All over Shillong you will find different shops like this selling different meats. In Laitumkhrah, there is an actual meat market where they have different stalls for different animals. You can tell what kind of meat they are selling, by a head of that animal hung somewhere in the stall. So a mutton stall will have a head of a goat hanging somewhere near the meat. Usually for beef though, they will just have horns hanging somewhere and not really the whole head.

Just recently someone opened a "convenience shop" about 15 minutes from our home and we have been deeply grateful. You can go there and get everything you need at one place instead of going to 3-4 different small shops. They even sell western condiments like Heinz ketchup and Ragu sauce. However we don't buy much of these because they sell here for about twice the price that we can buy them in America. They have also started selling frozen, packaged meat, although it is much cheaper to buy it from the little shops shown above.

Vegetables here are pretty cheap and fresh and we usually go to a big market to buy them. It's a beautiful sight full of many colors and smells. We buy everything from tomatoes, to garlic, to bellpeppers and cucumbers there. It is orange season right now and you can buy them almost anywhere. When it's not orange season, I'm longing for it to come quickly. There is nothing quite like a Shillong orange. You can get 4 for a little less than a quarter.

At our base we eat alot of rice, dahl, and potato. Several times a week we will have either pork or beef as well. Chicken is very expensive here and so we don't eat it that often. Most of the people at our base are from the North East and love meat and chilies. Usually we have something with every meal called chutney, which tends to be incredibly spicy. We also use a lot of "smelly" things to cook with the meat. One is fermented bamboo shoots, or bastinga, and the other is axone, fermented soy beans. Their smell and flavor are very powerful, but somehow it greatly enhances the flavor of pork.

Every morning for breakfast Houser will have something called Wai Wai. It's like Top Ramen and he never gets tired of eating it along with some bread. Many people here make fun of him for being so committed to it. Sometimes we eat together in our house, and sometimes we eat with everyone at the base. We try to go out sometimes for a sort of "date night" and eat at a restaurant. My current favorite is a place called Bombay Biites where they have incredible naan and chicken.

movement

The phone rang early this morning, a little after 6:00, the new MA team had arrived. Usually the first day everyone goes around and explores beautiful Shillong, then sometime in the afternoon we have registration. After that we have a time where we all get to know each other by playing games and hanging out. The picture above (to the right) is of everyone playing a game. I love it because it is so symbolic of this time, very bright, colorful and suspended in movement. All of the people that are here for MA are from a warmer climate and so they are using their shawls to keep warm in this chilly weather. I think they are beautiful.
Again this week, Houser will be teaching and I will be staffing this MA and leading intercession. We have been busy, but our hearts are happy.

This is also the last week of our School of Frontier Missions (SOFM), and so we will be having their graduation on Saturday. So many different things are going on right now; all around us people are coming and going. However next week, after MA and SOFM are finished, there will be very few people here until January. Most everyone is going home to celebrate the holidays with their families. We will miss them.

Please pray for us in this next week, that every heart would be touched and filled with the knowledge of Him.

flowers in winter

My flowers keep growing and it surprises me every time that I see them. We live over 5,ooo ft above sea level and the weather has been getting colder and colder. I keep watching them every day, hoping that they are still alive and thriving.

I was just thinking this morning about the different seasons of life and God's faithfulness throughout the ebb and flow of our individual hearts and lives. He alone knows how to make us grow and flourish.

For a couple of weeks I have been doing a study on the eyes of God, what He looks for, what He is searching to find. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is full of verses that speak of Him watching His people, His eyes are upon us. A common theme also I have found is that the people of God throughout the Bible think that He has forgotten them. That He doesn't see, doesn't care, isn't moved by what goes on in their lives. This is the farthest thing from the truth. He sees, He knows, He searches all of our hearts and lives. He cannot forget us.

"Zion has said 'The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me." "Can a woman forget her child, and have no compassion on the child of her womb? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me."
-Is.49:14-16

My sister is pregnant and I'm so happy that I'm going to be an Auntie again. Also there is a couple here in Shillong, Theja and Aren, who just announced that they are expecting. We have been praying for them for months that they would be able to conceive, this is one of their greatest life dreams. If I think even of the love of these two mothers who are expecting their unborn children, it is intense. I can't imagine a mother forgetting her child, but God said, "Though she may forget, I will not forget you!" His eyes and heart are fixed on us, through all the different seasons of our lives. His ears are open to our prayers. In times of strength, weakness, fear and joy, the walls of our lives are ever before Him.

2 Chron. 16:9- For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth,
to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him...

Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

A couple of days ago I went to the market and they had little plastic Christmas trees for sale and so I enthusiastically bought one. So, for the first time in my life I have a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, hooray. It's almost two feet tall and desperately in need of some decorations, but it really makes me smile. Someone gave me some real pop corn kernels the other day and so I'm going to pop some and string them on a line and add it to our tree.

We're going to hang up some lights too. "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."

MA Outreach

This morning a group of about 20 piled into two Sumos and started the three hour drive to a nearby city for the beginning of their outreach. Please pray that God would use them to share His love and truth with many.

thoughts on marriage

"Love must be learned, and learned again and again; there is no end to it. Hate needs no instruction, but waits only to be provoked." -Katherine Anne Porter

My lovely Aunt Rhonda gave me a book called 'Sacred Marriage,' and it has truly provoked me. On the front of it, it says "What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?"

We've been married for a little over five months and I am truly thankful for my husband and his love, friendship and companionship. I truly respect him and the way that he lives wholeheartedly what he believes and doesn't give up. It has been a true journey and adventure to walk through this past year with all of it's joys, surprises, and tears.

I'm not sure where it comes from, perhaps Hollywood and it's countless love stories, but there's some sort of ideal in the hearts of multitudes that once we find that special person and get married, we will be somehow complete. We will never be lonely again. Perhaps especially living overseas, it's the number one thing that I hear about from other girls. It spans cultures, ages, nations. It's the thing that they cry about the most, worry about the most, harbor anger and distrust in their heart toward God about the most...will I get married? Will someone find that I am lovely and choose me as their own? Will someone really love me until death do us part? It's very real and a place of great pain and anticipation. There is a desire in the human heart to join our lives with another. No one is isolated in their desire for this. Even God says "It's not good that man should be alone..."

I'm just at the very beginning of the very beginning of a married life and I'm excited for the years to come. However, I've found, that being married is nothing like the Hollywood fairy tale where we ride off into the sunset on a white horse. I think that I may have cried more in this last year than in the last five years put together. Marriage hasn't answered all of the deepest longings of my heart, and somehow I don't think that it's supposed to. There are places in our heart that are for God and God alone. Being married has been so good and a true gift of God. I have someone to laugh and cry with. We pray together and eat together. We dream together about the future and how we want to make a difference in this world. Marriage has brought so much joy to my life. It has also forced me to confront my selfishness and brokenness like nothing else has. I've had to search my heart countless times and sift through my dreams and hopes and lay them down over and over again. My life is no longer just about me and what I want. It's something totally different now.

Even today I was telling Houser, I feel like all of my friendships have changed. There's some invisible barrier now with a lot of my friends who are single, even here in India. I love them the same and I'm still the same person, but somehow our relationships have drastically changed and I feel the loss. There's something about marriage that changes your entire life.

This book that I'm reading is very interesting and I believe gives a healthy perspective on marriage.
"Any situation that calls me to confront my selfishness has enormous spiritual value, and I slowly begin to understand that the real purpose of marriage may not be happiness as much as it is holiness." -Gary Thomas

Mission Adventures

This last week we have been pretty busy. Mission Adventures (MA) is a ten-day program that is geared toward youth groups and churches. There are 4 days where they are here in Shillong for training and teaching and then they go on a 6 day outreach to different places where they share the gospel, pray for people, etc. We will be running this program for two weeks in December and then again in January and May. Houser has been teaching every day and I've gotten to lead times of prayer for unreached people groups. Some of the highlights for me have been times when we get together and worship. It's incredible when we have a room full of people from different tribes, states, and nations singing together about His goodness and glory.
This week we have a group of eleven people from the North East. We have had a good time together and they will be leaving tomorrow with a group of our staff to a city nearby, where they will be doing their practical outreach.
Next week we have a group of about 25 that are coming from another state in the NE to do MA ,and so this weekend we will be preparing for that. Please pray that God will do great things in the hearts of all of these youth, and that His presence would be with us.

Shillong Christmas Party

Last night we had a Christmas party for all 25 staff that are here in Shillong right now. Two sessions of Mission Adventures are starting on Monday, and so this was the best time in December for us to celebrate. We sang a bunch of Christmas carols and ate a lot of food and laughed a tremendous amount. I made some butter chicken, salad and a bunch of cookies. We all had a really good time.
My friend Sunny, from South Korea, decorated a little tree and put up a lot of Christmas things all over the classroom. Many people cooked and hung up lights, it was a true labor of love. We are all from different countries, states, and tribes, but last night, it felt like we were amongst family.

learning hindi

This last week Houser and I have started to study Hindi with a tutor. We've both picked up some from living here and travelling around to different parts, but mostly only short phrases and some vocabulary. In the beginning it's always intimidating to do something new, and it feels a bit overwhelming, but it has already been really helpful. Our tutor, Poonam, is from U.P, North India, and she is very kind and patient. She has a little daughter that is also learning how to read and write Hindi right now and she often entertains us by coming in and singing and laughing.

We're starting by learning the alphabet and by practicing conversations. We will meet with her nearly every day (Mon-Fri) for about an hour or so. Our goal is that one day we will be able to fluently read, write and speak Hindi. It is the common language of India, although there are supposedly 16 official languages here. The hardest part is that the city we live in, Shillong, is full of many different tribes, dialects, and launguages. The place where the most Hindi is spoken consistently is in the market.

It has been exciting to start learning because it has made something that once seemed impossible and unattainable, practical and possible. Now maybe I can learn how to play the guitar too.

Comfort

I planted these seeds a couple of months ago in front of our house and I'm just starting to see real flowers. It's truly some kind of miracle that I don't even begin to understand. You plant an itsy-bitsy tiny little thing in the ground and from that little seed comes leaves and flowers and beauty. Or different fruit, vegetables and huge trees, it's truly amazing. God is clever.

"For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living enduring word of God. For 'All men are like grass, and all of their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever...'"
1Pet. 1:23-25

We also have a bush of beautiful pink hibiscus' in front of our home. I love them because of the bright pink petals and so sometimes I pick a few and put them in a little glass of water. Usually by the next day they are wrinkled and dying and I have to throw them away.

It has been of great comfort to my heart these days to meditate on the brevity of this life and more importantly the vast eternity of God. He never changes and He is the Living Eternal One who lives outside of time. I love these verses from 1 Peter and Isaiah 40. There is an undying eternal seed within those who love Jesus; something that cannot be destroyed, something that will never die. This life with all of it's pleasures and pains, with all of it's sickness and anguish will one day fade away into something glorious and true. There is a day set in His heart when every tear will be wiped away and everything done in secret, whether for good or for evil will be revealed. There is a day coming, more certain than the dawn, when all of the wrong things will be made right. Even now just writing about it, there is a longing in my heart beyond words. Oh, come Lord Jesus.

All of my plans and ambitions and longings, all of my strivings and hopes, anything that I may ever attain, it's all a breath, a vapor, a twinkling. " The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord stands forever." I love that He doesn't change His mind. His word and the intentions of His heart, His commitments, His name and very character, they remain the same forever, for all of eternity. He is love and to the depths of His being He is good and right and powerful. This comforts me. Our lives are so much more than this temporal journey of 70-80 years. He has plans that exist for us outside of time. There is an eternal seed within us that will continue to grow; we will be like Him when we see Him as He is. Christ in us, the hope of glory.

"Longing is the echo of eternity within our souls. It is that which sets us apart and makes us pilgrims on the journey. This world is not our home and our inner ache gives testimony to the brevity of life and the weight of eternity." -D. Candler

hot dog?

Houser and I were walking home the other day and as we got close to the walkway of our house we smelled a pungent odor and heard some funny sounds. We looked over the side wall to our neighbor's house and saw them preparing this dog for dinner. There are actual farms here where dogs are bred for eating, like we raise cattle in the States. This dog is too small to have been one of those. It is not uncommon for people to also eat dogs that were just hit by cars. For a while here at our base, people in the neighborhood were calling and telling some of our boy staff if dogs were found that were hit by a car. Then they would go, collect it, skin it and prepare it for dinner.
Here in the North East people are serious meat eaters. At some of the different markets in the NE you can find all sorts of "meats." People eat cat, dogs, monkey, elephant, eel, hornets, snake, silk worms...the list goes on. It is so interesting to me that people from different cultures and nations have such different tastes and ways of cooking.
Growing up in my family, all of our cats and dogs were like children in the home. It was a big paradigm shift to come here and to learn that people actually eat them. Some people here do have dogs and cats as pets here and love them dearly. Our house owner has a little cat named Vexie that we all love and play with.
I love that God is so diverse in His creation all over the world. People from different nations look different and dress differently, we like different foods and different sounds and there are are so many different languages and ways that beauty is expressed. However the essence of the human heart is the same. We all want to know that we are loved. We were all made to love One who is worthy. We all have hopes and fears and dreams, and we're all searching and longing and aching for something that is real and true and that transcends time. Truly He has put eternity in our hearts, in all of mankind. Truly He is the only One who can satisfy, in all of the world, in all of created order.

new beginnings

I'm just recovering from a bacterial infection that I picked up in Varanasi and as I am beginning to regain my strength, I'm overwhelmed with the goodness of God and His kindness in my life. I'm just learning how to use this whole blog thing and I'm excited to be able to keep in touch with people better and to share the things that are on my heart.

"He has made everything beautiful in it's time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." Eccl. 3:11