channeling southern charm

My newest Southern Living came in the mail today. It is such a treat! I think I've felt more like a Southerner moving away from the South than I did in it. Seeing different things makes me miss what I had. Though I am very, very confident about living in Minnesota (and right about now is when I surely am glad to be in the 70/80s and not the 90s) I so still love my Southern heritage.

Here are a few things I loved in this month's SL:

On the second to last page, an open letter to Hollywood is written to please resist the urge to stereotype Southerners so much. Here's a link to it online. It's just that I live in a place where people are surprised I don't show up in an antebellum dress (you know like getting ready for Old South). They think I have a Southern drawl, but also think that anyone from the South takes 5 times as long to say anything.

And I also appreciated the section "25 Tips for Celebrating the Soul of the South". I want to keep parts of Southern tradition in our house. Some things seem familiar, but also seem so specific to the South and I see how a non-Southerner would think we're crazy. One of their tips is recognizing small town beauty queens, which we do have here but they're no where near as celebrated as in the South. Or how to write a charming thank-you note. And everything else from canning okra to making apple pie to "counting your blessings" to floating down a river. It is a romanticized idea of the South, but it's fun for me to read about.

And it's funny how Minnesotan girls think monograms are weird. They also think a Southern woman has everything in her home monogrammed. In the magazine they talk about how to decorate stylishly and talk about monograms- a debate up here in our ministry mix of Southerner and Midwesterners.

home sweet home

It's been a week since flying back to the Western hemisphere and so far its been great. We've been running around a ton, but overall we're enjoying being back home.

but honestly, I've been thinking a lot about "home." Home sometimes means Atlanta for me. Sometimes means our little apartment in the St. Paul suburbs. Sometimes means just being around my family or Andrew. Really though, especially after being in India, I've realized "home" means where I'm comfortable and where I'm surrounded by familiar things. Andrew and I have been talking about this idea of home a lot and we keep coming back to Philippians 3:20 "But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." I've realized that our true home is Heaven- and yes that will be the most comfortable, enjoyable, place ever! Not because there will be tons of fabulous food to eat all the time, or because it will be the perfect weather, but because that's where God is. Where ever Jesus Christ is, is true joy and real comfort.

This place on earth- my life is but a vapor.

We got to talk with 2 couples who are missionaries in Delhi, India. One couple is from Arkansas (and their twang was so sweet and welcomign to me half way across the world!) and the other is more unique- the husband is Indian and the wife is from California. Neither had met each other, but both said about living in India- "We're not here because we love Indian culture or the dust or the food, we're here because we want people to know Christ and you can't deny the needs here." They also said "I'm not looking for comfort here on this earth, that's why I'm looking forward to heaven." Woah. Ton of bricks.

That's what I've been/am doing. I'm trying to make the earth my place of ultimate comfort. not only am I worshipping the idol of comfort, but I'm chasing an allusion. This earth will never be truly, ultimatly, unfailingly comfortable. Everything will end, will perish, will fade away.

Matthew 6:19-20 says also “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Thankfully my personal and gracious God is reminding me He alone can be my treasure. He is the only one to actually fill my desires of home: comfort, security, familiarity, etc.

battling atheism

Today is our last full day in the swing of things in India. I've been mentally drifting to be ready to be home, but I'm finally feelings of sadness to leave this place. It's been so sweet to get to know girls at college we're spending time at.

Monisha and Treasa are the freshmen that I've gotten to spend the most time with. They are both super fun and are enjoyable to be around. Monisha has especially been fun for me since she loves to discuss politics and religion...two of my most favorite (and sensitive) subjects. Monisha comes from a Christian background, but is openly searching for truth. We talked a lot about athiesm and how is simply is a contradiction. Many atheists say there is no god, but true hard line atheism says there can be no belief systems. However, atheists are themselves adopting their own belief system: that there are no belief systems. It was definitely the Spirit that pointed us to Romans 1:19-21 where Scripture says that God is made plain to people through His invisible attributes and creation. So basically that God's power and presence are made known by simply seeing creation. There is natural order in how trees grow, how the sun sets, how clouds move, how mountains are formed, how our cells work, how animals live. There is order and it's not all chaos and random. This in and of itself should point people that there is a higher power that has created it all.

Also in Psalm 14:1 is says only fools say in their hearts "there is no god." Romans 1:18 also talks about people suppressing the truth as the real culprit not merely people not hearing of the gospel. I mean I know many people who've heard the truth about Christ- that He's the only way to know God and yet they don't care or want to find flaws, and as Romans says "suppress the truth."

Anyway, it was a thrilling conversation for me and we covered topics from how the Bible was put together to God's existence to why Adam and Eve sinned to what Jesus' role in the Bible is to how to the Old Testament and New Testament flow together and all point to Jesus Christ.

Monisha is a true joy to be around and I want her to experience truth- both knowing truth and having a relationship with truth, Himself.

more pics from India

It is a little funny to think about how we've nearly spent a month living in Delhi, India. Below is a mish-mash of pictures from the past few weeks in India:

Mughal influence at the Red Fort- you see this type of architecture with scalloped arches and the red limestone everywhere!

A sweet view of one of the Taj Mahal towers- the sky looks beautiful! But honestly, whenever the sky is this clear it is scorching so we're always grateful when it rains and is cloudy
The view of the college where we've been spending time. It's actually the top school in India...think Harvard (what are we doing there?!). This is the open air hallway where the class rooms are- most dont have air conditioning but it's a super nice school. You can also notice the British style arches which are there because it opened during the British rule in India.

Sweet men who laughed at my Hindi (again, see the red limestone?). We met them on the way to Agra where they Taj Mahal is and they were cutting grass by hand. This is a picture of them on their break before they took their blade to the lawn again.

A random Hindu statue of a woman

This is India Gate, kind of like the Delhi version of the Arc de Triomphe.

And here's some of our team in front of the India Gate...with some random Indians who love to jump in our pictures
Me with Treasa, a freshman at the school we've been at

It is monsoon season here in Delhi, so one morning Andrew was going out for a few meetings and we forgot our umbrella. Thankfully I married a creative and practical guy- this is a trash bag turned poncho
Here are the 5 girls on my team and a few Indian freshmen girls. They stopped by our house where we stayed. And yes, that's me in the UGA shirt.
So we're in our work out gear because we teach fitness classes at this college...and these are the cutest kids! We see them every single day and each day they say "Namaste! Namaste!" (meaning hello) and sometimes run after us. We always say "Namaste" back and ask "Aab kay saay hey?" (how are you doing). We keep saying it and waving all the way down the street.