India 1.1

I just spent the week in India researching. It was intense to say the least, so while I figure out how to share that experience, enjoy some random photos from my phone.

The city of Kolkutta. 

Mother Teresea's home for the dying. 

Tea served in clay cups.

The traffic rules are so random!

Victoria Memorial.

Newsey News

This is where it gets real.

Until now, this blog has been composed of photos of the silly children in my neighborhood or the thoughts that have emerged out of the heart in my chest that is constantly colliding with the world around me.

There hasn't been much about what I actually do.  

It has mostly been what I've seen and what I've thought.

Which is cool, I guess, but I'm excited that now I get to start sharing more.

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For the past year I have been learning Nepali language and doing research on the causes of human trafficking from within Nepal (a published copy of my work will be available on Amazon Septemburary 1, thanks for asking).

Man, y'all, trafficking is a complex gig.

Organized crime, deception, exploitation of cultural weaknesses, poverty, an economy that is fueled largely by remittance, and a corrupt government that is recovering from a civil war and is struggling to form a constitution are all factors that encourage this mass exodus of people from Nepal.  

But it has to stop. This is not what God wants.

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I don't have plans to save the world or to beat up traffickers. But I am pretty sure that God has a role in all of this for my friends and me... and YOU.  I can't wait to share more about it as plans unfold, but guess what?!

We are going to start a business! And we want you to be a part of it!

Stay tuned :)

Tuesday photos

downtown.

spring.

Jesus.

crocs + compost.

i forced myself to take a sabbath on sunday and planted some herb seeds.

i hope my little seedlings sprout!

for whatever reason, last week was one of the hardest so far. 

i'm so thankful that his grace is sufficient for yesterday, 

and that his mercies are new every morning.

also, new good things are on the horizon! 

i can't wait to share! 

i hope to get a written e-mail update out this week.

love y'all!

Sharing is caring.

8 Things I learned in February.

Today I'm doing that thing where I write about the things I learned this month and then I share my learnings with others. If you wanna share yours too, click here!

First things first.

1. I learned that Asmita moved back into the neighborhood!

Joy! It is so much fun to have her around again.

2. Tourist buses.

I don't know why, but I have never been on a tourist bus before! In Nepal, we mostly travel by local bus. Remember the grandma in my lap and the goats in the aisle kind of bus?

Earlier this moth C and I went to southern Nepal for a thing and we took our first tourist bus. And. And I had a whole seat all to myself. And there were no Nepali love songs blasting at seven trillion decibels. And we didn't break down. Or fall off a cliff.

It was magical.

3. Don't eat the floaty eggs.

If you put a whole egg in a bowl of water and it floats, you are not supposed to eat it. True story.

4. Bigger is better. 

I have been wanting a Nepali style nose pin for like ever, and I finally found one that I like. The girl at the shop stuck her fingers up my nostrils and blew on my nose to get that thing in there, but the important lesson I learned this month? Bigger is better.

6. Cook the (sinky) eggs on low heat. 

Y'all, it makes all the difference.

7. I learned that I shouldn't say all of the words I have learned.

Sometimes men see that I am a foreigner and say inappropriate things to me. Sometimes, my language tutors teach me words that I shouldn't say so that I know what they mean if those words ever come up. And sometimes, men say inappropriate things to me on the street and I accidentally say not nice things back to them in Nepali. And then everyone turns around and stares at me. And then I feel really really bad. Because I never would have said that in English and even though he may have deserved it, I didn't look very much like Jesus at that moment.

8. Grace is greater. 

I haven't fully learned this one, but I'm trying.

His grace is greater.

For the times when my tongue slips and for the times when I just can't find the words to pray. For the times when I make everyone late and for the times when I am the first one to show up. For those times when I think I will never be good enough and for the times when I think that my ideas are the most important. For all the times, His grace is sufficient to carry me.