Prayer Requests

As we end our time here I have a few prayer requests.

The mosquitoes are still a problem.  Actually they are worse.  I've resorted to putting bug spray on Leela every night because they are eating her alive.  I'm not too excited with the idea of smearing deet all over her everyday, but I guess I have to weigh the good with the bad.

Please pray also that Naveen's parents will enjoy their last week with Leela.  Leela has been a little hesitant to go to Naveen's mom the past couple of days, I think possibly because she gives Leela over to a lot of people Leela doesn't know to hold which upsets Leela and it's making her not want to go to with my mother-in-law. It's really hurting her feelings.  Naveen explained to her my theory, so maybe there's something we can do about it, but please pray for good bonding time and memories for this last week.

We've made it this far without any food poisening or stomach issues.  Please pray for continued good health especially as we get close to boarding a pretty long plane ride, 

Please pray also that it won't be stressful as we finish up things like shopping (there's always quite the list of foods Naveen wants to bring home that needs to be specially packed, and things for Leela and family, and requests from others as well) visiting people (Naveen's parents still have a little list of people we need to see), and packing. 

Thanks for your continued prayer!
I am blessed
With Love
Autumn

My daughter is such a girl. Already!

We came back from a few days in Hyderabad.  I wrote about that already, but I have to share one really cute sweet thing that happened the night that we came back.  Leela has a regular friend who comes over.  She is in second grade and comes over pretty much everyday after school to play with the babe.  She takes Leela by the hands and walks her around, speaks to Leela in Leela's own babbling baby talk which Leela really responds to, and plays with Leela with all the toys. It's always so fun and sweet to see.  She'll call Leela's name from her apartment down the hall and Leela will look all over for her.  She's actually the only person that I've tried to get Leela from and she pulls away.

So when we came back from Hyderabad the little girl came to the screen door and called Leela's name.  My little girl turned, sat up on her knees, put her hands by her mouth, screamed (I mean screamed) with joy, bouncing up and down, and crawled faster than you've ever seen any baby crawl straight to the door.  It reminded me of one of those crazy teenage girls at a Justin Beiber concert when he comes out on stage.  It was so funny!  I was laughing so hard water came to my eyes. Those two are going to miss each other so much.  In fact we were already told we should stay another month by this girl's sister.  I tried to convince her she should come to the US with us, trying to entice her with the idea of no school on Saturdays (they have school and Saturdays here), but she said something about missing her mom or something. 

That's my cute story. 

Saree Tying and Life Lessons

So this trip between what my in-laws have given me and what 2 others have given me I've collected 4 more sarees.  My in-laws have also given me multiple sarees.  The tally keeps going up.  I have made it a goal that before I leave I want to learn how to tie them well.  I can do an okay job that impresses people as the American who gave it a shot, but I want it to look like a real authentic Indian did it.  If you don't know what a saree looks like before it's all wrapped up around someone I'll explain it to you.  There's a jacket that hits at about your rib line, then a petty coat skirt for underneath that you place whereever you feel comfortable with it sitting and the gap between the skirt and jacket (I usually like to hike mine up well above my belly button, I'm not comfortable with too much skin showing) Then basically you have this long piece of cloth, and I mean long, that you wrap around, tuck, fold, and pin in various places.  It's really the length of the piece of cloth that makes me feel overwhelmed.  I've enlisted my mother-in-law and family friend Jyothi to help me accomplish this task (they sure are patient people).  While learning how to do this I've been thinking of how learning to tie a saree, which has really been a very challenging thing for me to learn, can really apply to anything in life.  Here's how:

1. Don't be afraid to ask for help.  It took me a little bit of courage to ask these ladies, mostly because I was afraid I'd be a slow learner, but how else would I learn.

2.Don't be afraid to ask too many questions the first couple times-then you learn better sooner and don't feel silly asking it a long way down the road.

3. Watch first, but don't be afraid to try it as soon as possible.  That's when the real questions pop up and your brain can understand better what it's trying to learn.

4. Don't be afraid of making a mistake and looking foolish.  Mistakes are where we learn the most. The first time I asked my mother-in-law to really intentionally show me how to put it on I first tied it how I had been tying it so she could see it, and so I would have a fresher memory of what she and I did differently and where my mistakes were.  It helped I found out I was beginning it wrong by tucking it in the wrong place.

5.  Never be ashamed to write things down.  For me things always stick better if I write plus I can always look back at it.  Probably no one will be able to understand my saree notes, but I will. 

6.  Sometimes we have to get up close and personal with people.  It's okay, it may be uncomfortable at times but sometimes that's how we learn best.  My mother-in-law is short and in order to reach to wrap the cloth around me she's right there pretty close. Uncomfortable? A little, probably for her too, but how else would I learn.

7.Sometimes you get poked and there's a little bit of pain (maybe even blood), but if you practice enough you learn how to do things more skillfully and easily.

8. Always be willing to not take yourself too seriously and when you end up looking silly (like with a lopsided saree) laugh and enjoy the silliness.

I'm planning on trying to tie a saree everyday, even if I don't wear one everyday, as long as can with the "mentors", so for the rest of the trip.  Maybe I can find some friends to have a saree tying party with when I get home and practice on them ;) 

Today is my Birthday

Maybe some of you reading know that today is my birthday and some may not.  It's now officially my birthday in both the US and India.  It's kind of awkward figuring out your real birthday when you were born in the US and are celebrating in India.  We had the same problem with Leela's birthday.  Is it really my birthday?  It's still September 8 back home.  Now it's September 9 in both places.  Should I stay up all night and celebrate my true US birthdate? I don't think so I'm too tired.  It was a good day.  We went out to eat lunch and then we came home and played Uno which we also played before lunch (PS I was on a really awesome winning streak) and had cake.  So many kids came over to play with Leela, and when they heard about the cake they decided to stay.  I told Naveen tonight that I'm not sure I pictured being 27 and having so many kids in the pictures at my celebration.  It almost looks like a party for Leela.  They are mostly the ones who do speak English so I guess they are kind of my friends since they talk to me the most.  Today got me thinking about another birthday though.

I'm sure we all have special birthday memories.  A lot of mine I remember going on picnics to the duck park with hoagie sandwiches, both which I loved, going to the skating rink, sleepovers with friends.  There were special gifts like the easel my parents bought me in 1st grade because I was so sure I was going to be an artist, and the time I really wanted to have a CD but ended up talking my mom into buying me a guinea pig instead.  The one birthday that keeps coming to mind today was 5 years ago though.  It was in this same house I'm in right now, actually getting ready to go home.  It had been an overwhelming trip for me with all the culture shocks and also everything that comes with coming to India engaged to a once Hindu boy now Christian who was supposed to get an arranged marriage just over a year before.  Naveen's parents were nice and everything, it was just a lot of pressure.  I was ready to go home and feeling emotional.  Before catching the train to the airport a cake was brought in.  Doing what we normally do I asked my mom to cut it and pass it out.  I didn't know the Indian tradition was to have your guests feed you a bite.  They didn't know our way and we didn't know theirs and there was some great misunderstanding and hurt feelings, especially mine. I wasn't so sure I wanted to come back ever again. The cool thing about that birthday happening is that I can sit right here in the same spot I was 5 years ago I see the amazing growth and learning.  Of course this time I got the cake thing right, but there are so many more things.  I know all marriage is hard, but intercultural marriage especially between such different cultures adds more complexities to it.  It's so cool to look and see how my husband has turned into an amazing godly man.  Just new to the faith back then he still had a lot to learn.  He is always so open to accepting his flaws as flaws and overcoming them that he inspires me all the time to try to be more like that (I'm far from being as good as him)  He's been so caring and understanding on this trip.  He keeps God at the center and his priorities in order. I love to see him take care of me and Leela on this trip.  I've grown too.  I've also become more understanding to the pressures he faces with taking an American who still doesn't know everything about the culture or the language to India.  I also feel a lot more comfortable with the Indian culture and know a lot more about it and what's expected of me.  I've learned to stretch myself and come out of my comfort zone more than I ever knew I could before.  That's thanks to Naveen as well.  I look back at this day 5 years ago and think about how awesome God is.  He knew Naveen and I needed each other to better each other.  Sure there's been a lot of pressure and heat over the years, but I heard that's how gold is refined.  Although I'm not to a golden birthday nor are we to a golden anniversary I can tell we just keep getting shinier and prettier.  I know God's not done with me yet, I'm thankful that he isn't. Life is beautiful, and I'm thankful for another year completed and pray I never stop growing and learning. I can't wait to see what God does with the next 5 years.

Put on the Spot

We just got back from Hyderabad kind of late last night.  At a little over 180 Km away it took us over 4 hours to get back home.  (Naveen told me that 100 Km is about 60 Miles, all of this Metric system and Celsius stuff sure confuses an American. I saw the other day that it was 32 degrees Celsius and it felt hot.  The same in Fahrenheit and we're freezing.)  While we were in Hyderabad we went to Charminar which is known for the pearls you can get there and for pretty cheap.  We also went up into this ancient structure called Minar which means pillar.  There are four pillars with steps 2 to climb up and 2 to climb down.  The pillars are connected and you can look out on the city from them.  The steps are narrow but very tall.  On the way down the lights went out and I thought I might die in the pitch black with Leela in her ergo carrier on my front.  We made it though.  End of the horror story.

While we were there we also met the people on the Campus Crusade staff who Naveen did his mission trip with last year.  They were very nice.  Leela and I were even given very nice gifts. I was kind of put on the spot though.  I was asked to share a message in the morning. It was late in the evening and we were getting ready to go visit a family.  I knew we'd get home late.  I was already exhausted.  I wasn't prepared.  I didn't want to do it really.  Naveen told me that he was told you should always have messages prepared when doing mission work in Asian countries because you'll often get asked just like that.  He had prepared a message in case he was asked.  I wasn't on a mission trip and was just meeting his new friends from the year before and had no idea that I would be asked, so I said thanks for telling me.  I panicked.  I had no idea what to share.  I didn't even have my Bible with me.  I meant to grab it, but had forgotten it.  Even though he failed to warn me to be prepared he also saved me in the end.  He gave me the idea to use one of the things I've been studying and I remembered the recent words of Beth Moore I had been studying.  It was on Shadrach, Meschac, and Abednego, Daniel 3 when they are about to be thrown into the furnace.  They told King Nebuchadnezzer that they didn't need to defend themselves in not bowing to the idol, their God could rescue them from the fire and would, and even if He didn't they still would never bow down.  Beth talked about the definition of loyalty having being prepared in it.  We have to be prepared to be loyal to God no matter what.  She also talked about 3 senarios.

We can be delivered from the fire and our faith is built
We can be delivered through the fire and our faith is refined (this is what happened in the story)
We can be delivered by the fire into God's arms and our faith is perfected

God is with us in every one of those senerios.  We just need to be loyal to God and have our minds prepared to be loyal to God no matter what the outcome.  He's always loyal to his followers.

It was so great to talk about this`and make it more concrete in my mind.  I've always heard the best way to learn something is to teach it.  I was made to think things all the way through by teaching it.  I also learned another thing, always be prepared with something to share about what God is teaching you in your life.  As my mom reminded me when I told her about this Peter does tell us to always be prepared to share about the reason for your hope.  In college one of my roommates asked me often what I thought God was teaching me and doing in my life.  I haven't been asked that question for a long time.  I think I need to start asking myself that question everyday.  That way I can easily recognize His fingerprints on my life. So what has God been teaching you and doing in your life lately?

Prayer Requests

We are headed out to Hyderabad tomorrow for a few days which is about 4 hours away.  Please pray for safety in travel and a good and safe time there.  We'll of course be eating out a little more at unfamiliar restaurants which always brings the risk of food poisoning.  Please pray protection over Leela and my stomachs too as we eat at places.

We actually didn't go to the other water park place that we were supposed to on Sunday because I had an infection and had to go to the doctor.  I was told these are pretty common with the spicy food here and the irritation it could cause.  I'm still on medication, so please pray that everything clears up and once I'm off the meds the infection doesn't come back.

I'm getting a little lonely and homesick.  It gets hard on me not really knowing what's going on or what people are talking about a lot of the time, and even at times just not understanding different things in the culture.  I know it's hard on Naveen to always try to translate and include me in conversations that he's deeply involved in, and to not just assume I know what's what here because it's what he's always known.  Please pray that I won't have these feelings of loneliness and for Naveen too as I know there is a lot of pressure on him to involve me and explain things to me.    

Thanks for your prayers.
I'm so blessed by all of you
with love,
Autumn

When There's a Need There's Creativity

It's been pretty rainy lately.  This is one of the big reasons I haven't blogged in the last couple days.  There are a lot of power outages with the rain.  We already face 5 hours of power cuts each day 2 1/2 in the morning 2 1/2 in the afternoon, but it's been more than that lately.

Naveen and I were recently out in the rain and I saw a lady sweeping the street with a small plastic bag on her head wrapping the handles around the ears.  I thought how inventive!  Then I noticed how others kept themselves dry without umbrellas.  An auto rickshaw we road in had a rice bag attached to the ceiling drapping down the side so passengers didn't get wet.  Man do they know how to get use out of everything here!  Our breakfast at the restaurant that we take out is wrapped in banana leafs and newspaper.

Even the baby is catching on.  We have a toy at home with wheels that she gets her balance from and walks behind.  We don't have it here, so she learned that if she uses the furniture she can push things across the smooth marble floor to walk behind.  There's always furniture being rearranged around here :)