Living in a new city has its highs and lows. Community building comes slowly everywhere, not least of all in a foreign country. Some mornings I wake up feeling the adventure of it all. Other days it is a lack of motivation to put myself out there again that haunts my being. I find that it is a practice in intentional thought control and thankfulness that help lift the clouds, so to speak, on the down days. So in honor of the spot I am in and the coming holiday, here are a few of the things I am thankful for lately:
*renting an upper-level living space
This may sound strange especially after my last update. Yes, living above my landlord can be…interesting, but it has brought us so many opportunities we would not otherwise have. For example, the wedding we participated in this month. We got to be present for four nights of Indian tradition, including attending parties meant usually just for family and close friends. In fact, we were treated just like family in that our house turned in to extended hosting quarters for out-of-town guests. (Yet another opportunity to practice thankfulness) That opened the door for me to share with several women about my love for Jesus as well as discover a fellow believer and hear her story. It was an encouragement for both of us to meet each other. If you have never experienced it before, there truly is something amazing in the deep sense of connection that comes from meeting a stranger across the world who is part of the family of Christ.
*the earth’s rotation
I’m not sweating daily anymore, and especially not when simply sitting! The weather is changing and so is my wardrobe Believe it or not, I’m wearing a sweater right now and drank hot cocoa yesterday. Just don’t laugh when I tell you it is still getting up to the 80s in the afternoon.
*a street watchman
Not much goes amiss in my neighborhood, and everybody has a gated wall to their house; but the watchman is not without a purpose. He does a great job scaring the band of monkeys away with his stick when they make their way through. Without him the footprints and droppings that have graced our porch parapet might be a more frequent occurrence. The other evening I opened the door to the porch to go close the windows from the outside as is necessary. Half way through opening the door I jumped back and quickly slammed the door into place. I’m not sure if the monkey outside or I was more startled. They are cute, but I’ve heard enough stories of them getting inside houses and wreaking havoc to keep me wary of them.
*a new contact
Just yesterday I got a call back from one of our local friends. She had spoken to someone she knows and found us more people open to working in a storying group with us. In these beginning stages of the project here those calls are few and far between. Sometimes it feels like we’ve exhausted our list of people to network with and are still unsuccessful in finding translators or people willing, qualified, and having the free time to partner with us. At that point we have to practice patience waiting to hear back from them and prayer for new doors to open. This new meeting is coming up on Monday. We are excited for the potential it holds and ask for your prayers.
*Skype
It is never easy to be a great distance from those I love, but the internet and Skype have been such a blessing. This week I got to talk to my mom, a past roommate from college, and a dear cousin of mine. This is three more conversations than most weeks and such a treat!
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you get to enjoy the holiday meal with others you care about. Know that my teammates and I will be doing our best to mimic the traditional holiday foods with as few recipe substitutes as possible…I probably should have asked this a little more than a week in advance, but anybody care to mail some cranberries or celery? ;)