An update, which really bears no beneficial information whatsoever.

I am sitting in my room at the moment, trying to be productive...so far, my productivity has manifested itself only in the form of a list; a very long list of things that I should be doing, yet...as you can see...am not. I know I have been here a good while, because my coffee, once scalding hot, is now the temperature of an ice cube. Which also tells me I should turn my AC unit down, because I am afraid of electric bills. And speaking of bills...upon arriving at my Lynchburg home after a summer spent overseas, I discovered quite a large stack of bills from the hospital, from when I got surgery on my deviated septum. In this pile I received a bright yellow piece of paper with bold red letters on the top of the page: "STATEMENT OF DELINQUENCY". You know they mean business when they use all caps. I suppose I really have no reason whatsoever for telling you, cyberfolk, about this mishap...but I must say, I feel pretty BA now, being a delinquent and all. Perhaps I shall go kick a dog or something. After I clean my room.

[she's trouble]

The past 20 days, in a nutshell. A peanut shell, to be exact.

So...my camera decided to stop working spontaneously, about two weeks ago. Praise the Lord MegMeg has a beast camera, and a creative eye...she is in charge of documenting my memories, and has been doing a splendid job:

Rosewater in a national's home...it tastes like grandma's perfume, with lots and lots of sugar.

Meghan and I went on a two day excursion to the Himalayan mountains...breathtaking.

And finally...we crashed an Indian wedding tonight! It was...an experience for sure.

Love you all, sorry I haven't posted in a while...rest assured, I am alive, I am well, and I'm having the experience of my life.

...

A few things I have learned whilst in the wonderful land of India:

1. I have a very bad habit in America of eating fast...here, thi

s doesn't mean that you just finish your meal before everyone else. It means that you eat three times as much, because as soon as that last bite is gone, whoever is feeding you loads up your plate again.

2. You have to be very careful about telling people anything personal about yourself...even when they ask you the same question 6 times.

3. Rosewater is terrible stuff

4. There is no such thing as an organized line while waiting for food, the metro, anything.

5. McDonald's and Pizza Hut are swanky restaurants...so much nicer than those in the States.

6. All old men are your Uncles, all old women are your Aunties.

7. BLACK BOOGERS.

8. Don't ever stay in the same place for too long in markets or parks...white people can draw quite the crowd!

9. 50 rupees only to travel across town by auto rickshaw, even though the drivers start you at 80.

10. I am a terrible dancer.

Namaste!

Due to kurtas and salwaar suits, constant dirt on my feet, chai running through my veins, a new (culturally embraced) nose piercing, and constant diharrea, I would say for sure that I have been embracing India. I really have only scratched the surface, but I can already say that I love this place...even though I have been sick pretty much the whole time I've been in country. I'm not the only one under the weather, either...all the girls on my team, including my supervisor, have had varying symptoms for quite some time. The only safe one is our token male, Zoe (pronounced z-OH. Not z-OH-ee).

The first week was orientation in Delhi. You could say we've all come down with Delhi Belly. We sat in a basement for three or four days listening to seminars on culture, religions, etc. and engaging in group activities. I met some really wonderful people, and the reasons why I was not too sad to say goodbye are as follows: 1) I was getting stir-crazy in the hotel and was excited to get going, 2) I'll see them all again at debriefing in July, and 3) I was so sick I didn't care much about anything. Ha.

You know...there is so much to say about the past week and a half, and yet so little time to write about everything. I'm learning a lot, I'm excited for the things to come, and though I haven't engaged much with many nationals yet, I have deeply enjoyed all the newly forming relationships I have with my team mates and all of the M's here.

More to come later...fir milange!

Down to the wire...

Well, it's about that time...I board a plane in 17 hours. To return in two months. I feel like I've been planning for this trip for so long, yet now that it is so near, the reality of it hasn't quite set in. All today I've been running around getting some last minute things, doing laundry...TRYING to pack, but I have never been so good at that. I want the seconds to go faster, and yet, I NEED them to slow down! There is so much to do, but all I want right now is to be sitting on that plane, looking out the window as we gain speed down the runway, then finally lift off. I suppose in many ways my journey has already begun long ago, yet...I feel like the moment we lift off is the point of no return. Where the commitment is solidified. I look forward to that moment.

There is so much that I am uncertain of. It's quite exhilarating, actually. I am eager to slowly uncover the story that God has intended for me to tell about these next few months. I am excited to build new relationships, and to grow in the ones (or...one, actually) that I already have. I am thankful to be traveling with my dear friend Meghan. I am anticipating to see and experience so many wonderful things...I am honored to be telling people of Jesus. But, in addition to all these things...I would be lying if I told you that I'm not a little nervous. It's a culture I have never been to, a people I have yet to know, etc...but I trust the Lord.

That's pretty much all for now...I could ramble on, but I think sleeping might be the wiser thing, considering that I have a huge day ahead of me. Thanks for reading, friend. More to come in the future...





Love, SK

O. (Not an OHH. A circle. For the sake of discussion.)

I think that God must really like circles. The planets and the stars are circles, the world he loves is a circle. They go around and around in a circular motion. Seasons are circularly cyclical. Days are, too. Your eyes, the window to your soul and filter of experiences, through which you see, behold, admire, cry, and express...they are circles. The sun, like the rest of the stars, is a circle. Your life is a circle. From the dust you were formed, and after you die, you turn right back into...dust. You start in diapers, you'll probably end in diapers too, if you live to see a ripe, old age. You started completely dependent on another human being, and you'll die dependent. Being spoonfed and bathed and stuff. Circles. Circles are a continuous line; it never starts and never stops. They have "no beginning and no end", if you will. Donuts are circles. They really have no place in this train of thought, I just like them so I thought I'd include them. That's all.

All of this could mean something, all of it probably means nothing. Just some thoughts I had on my drive to school this morning.


Love,
SK









"God is an infinite circle whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere."
-Saint Augustine of Hippo

Jesus likes birthdays, just as much as you do.

I was sitting in a Bible study and we were talking about Christ and freedom and the cross...all these wonderful things. But the conversation kept coming back to "WE are so unworthy...WE don't deserve this...it isn't fair..." etc. Kept trying to focus on the joys of receiving and steering the conversation that way, but it kept coming back to this piteous sort of "what wretches we are" kind of tone. I know that salvation isn't fair to God or to Jesus...but it was His design, right? It was His prerogative, wasn't it? And, if God knows all things, and He knew before He created us that He'd have to sacrifice His Son on our behalf, wasn't the act of creation His commitment to salvation?

You see, I think that salvation is just about as unfair as birthdays are unfair. Let me explain. Your mom is the one that went through the pains of carrying you for 9 months and puking and dealing with an aching back, etc. She's also the one that endured all the labor pains, changed your diapers, made sure you were provided for, and so on. And yet, on your birthday, she's still the one that gives you the best presents. Human law would expect that on the anniversary of your birth, YOU should be giving HER all sorts of stuff out of gratitude. But this is not the case. She requires absolutely nothing. She throws you a party and gives to you, delighting in the fact that you are delighting. In the same way, God doesn't demand that we give Him our activity because of what He's done for us. He delights in us as we delight in Him, in His gift. I have never seen a kid receive a brand new shiny yellow bike for his birthday and immediately begin to grovel on the floor exclaiming, "I AM NOT WORTHY OF THIS BICYCLE...I don't deserve this, this isn't fair! What a wretch I am! Woe is meeeeeeee!" HECK NO. That kid takes that bike, shows it to all his friends, tells his second grade teacher about it, and ENJOYS it. It is a sign of his mother's love.

So I think that Jesus likes birthdays, just as much as you do. Why else would He explain His gift of salvation as "rebirth"? His death on the cross was His labor pains. As we have died with Him, as we have been co-crucified, through the cross we are born again...and we have the freedom to find JOY in one another.