Holy Rowing!!!

This past weekend, I went rafting on the Ganges River up north in the foothills of the Himalayas. For Hindus, the Mother Ganga is a holy river. They believe a lot of things about it, but one thing is that it will wash away your sins. When the guide made a joke about getting our sins washing away, no one laughed. It was hilarious b/c we were all believers. The water was the coldest water I've ever been in. It was like 100 degrees outside, but the water felt like ice. Also, a lot of my pictures look hazy because there were small wildfires on some of the mountains. I don't have any pictures of the fires, but it was odd to see fire on the side of a mountain.

Views from the bus:

Parents, meet your future son-in-law. One look at those arms and I couldn't resist.

This is taken from our campsite. You can see cows walking across the bridge.


A couple of our tents.

This is just a pic. of some of my friends




You can check my facebook page for more pics.

Hey Jealousy!!!

How do you overcome jealousy? It's all over the Bible, but I don't think I've ever heard a sermon on it. It's ranked up there in the major "Do Nots." Galatians 5:19-21 says, "The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexually immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

That's refreshing, one of the sins I'm struggling with is listed along w/ orgies and witchcraft. Great!!! If you read that verse in context it's talking about living life by the Spirit. As in, if you're living by the Spirit these acts shouldn't be present.

I've read that jealousy is the fruit of a deeper problem. For me, I feel like jealousy is the driving force behind other problems. I think my jealousy is a result of me comparing myself to others. I could write down your name and beside it put several reasons why I'm jealous of you. I wish I were joking. The wise Jen, once said, "Facebook for girls is equivalent to porn for guys." I think its true. I know I easily can get caught up on it by looking at other people's pictures and comparing myself to them. People post pictures of their new homes, children, husbands, vacations, etc. and it does make me happy for them, but I walk away comparing myself. I wonder why I don't look like them or why do I have the things they do.

So what is the Biblical solution? Get rid of my Facebook account? Honestly I just used it as an example. My facebook account really isn't the problem. I just don't know what is.

I started writing this and half way through I decided I wasn't going to post it. I thought I would copy and paste it in an email and send it to one or two friends. However, I cannot figure out how to copy it and I'm way too lazy to retype all of this in an email. So, everyone is getting it.

Anyone is welcome to email me his or her suggestions or verses that have helped them in the past. Also, listening to the Gin Blossom's "Hey Jealousy" song doesn't help. I really don't understand its point.

Cheers to Jen!!!!

Jen's graduating in a few weeks!!!!

I just want to give her a little shout out to remind her how awesome she is and how much she means to me, so I wrote her a poem:

It must have been cold there in my shadow, to never have sunlight on your face.

You were content to let me shine, that's your way, you always walked a step behind. So I was the one with all the glory, while you were the one with all the strength. A beautiful face without a name -- for so long, a beautiful smile to hide the pain.

Did you ever know that you're my hero, and ev'rything I would like to be? I can fly higher than an eagle, 'cause you are the wind beneath my wings. It might have appeared to go unnoticed, but I've got it all here in my heart.I want you to know I know the truth, of course I know it,I would be nothing with out you.

Did you ever know that you're my hero, and ev'rything I would like to be? I can fly higher than an eagle, 'cause you are the wind beneath my wings. Fly, fly, fly away, you let me fly so high.

Oh, fly, fly, so high against the sky, so high I almost touch the sky. Thank you, thank you, thank God for you, the wind beneath my wings.

Man...I'm cracking myself up. Seriously Jen, you're great and Winthrop and FCA have definitely changed for the better b/c of you. You deserve way more than a sappy Bette Midler song.

Abby's B-Day

Don't you love the cake I made for Abby's B-day???....Just Kidding. I actually didn't get her a cake. I'm pretty much the worst friend ever. However, I did download, 50 Cent's "In the Club" and played it over and over to her while I danced. You know it's the little things that matter.

P.S. Did you know iTunes has increased the cost of some of their songs to $1.29? What's going on? I don't like it.

Bad Grammar

If I'm paranoid about anything on this blog, it's my incorrect grammar. In the previous sentence, I probably just put the comma in the wrong place and maybe in this one too. Anyways, I just looked over some of my previous posts and noticed many grammatical errors. I get comma happy and also I misuse "Abby and I" and "Abby and me" quite often, but then I think about where I grew up. We seriously have a festival called, the "Puddin Swamp Festival." Nope, I didn't forget a "g" on the end of "puddin." I guess there are bigger things to worry about than proper grammar and spelling.

Thanks for the pic. Whito. I'm glad to see you guys are using my ride for some good instead of just letting it sit under the carport.

The Biggest Change

The biggest change so far has been the food that I eat. For lunch I just ate stuffed jalapenos. I would have never eaten them back home. I never liked any type of onions or peppers. Now I eat them all the time. Tomorrow, I'm planning to make a tomato and onion pie. What is happening? I'm eating what old people eat. I eat broccoli now too. The pic. is of some beans I cooked one day. We have to soak all of our fruits and veggies in the purple stuff before we can eat them.

6 Months

I've been here for 6 months; I cannot believe it. I received a new shipment from home the other day. The pic. is above...I was cheesing!!!! Mainly because I had so many boxes I had to get an auto home b/c I couldn't carry all of them. I'm spoiled rotten. I don't know why I haven't come overseas before for my b-day...I got the hook-up. I have a feeling this won't happen next year.

I've been busy this week, but it's been great. Yesterday went well. They called Abby, "Abu" and I could not stop laughing b/c it reminded me of the monkey on Aladdin. They never could get my name right either, so they would call me Alicia....I didn't like that.

Oh yeah, the mini-iguana things are out in full force again. The papa is in my bathroom. People keep on saying they are good b/c they kill the mosquitoes, but I still wake up w/ new bites. Thanks for the people who have sent anti-itch creme. Next time send lizard traps. Just kidding!!!

Anyways, I hope everyone is having a great week.

Spring Cleaning!!!

Our landlords are having our entire flat repainted. They didn't not inform Abby and I. We found out when one morning Abby noticed a man on a swing outside of her shower window. Here are some pics. It's been sort of fun trying to sneak pictures of them.

The Fun has Started!!!

Today it's 95 degrees and tomorrow is predicted to be 101 degrees. The thing is this isn't hot for the people who live here. I actually enjoy being outside when it's hot, but not in an auto wedged between two buses pumping out exhaust in your face. That's not cool. I woke up this morning and met some friends at a park at 7am to get a little fun run in. Well, the only running I did was when we passed the cows in the park and they smelt so bad I had to run away. Gagging and dodging cow patties while I run is one of my newest acquired skills.

Note: The cows pictured don't live here.

Good Friday

Here's a little paraphrase of the Man I'm celebrating today:

Who believes what we've heard and seen? Who would have thought God's saving power would look like this? The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling, a scrubby plant in a parched field. There was nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look. He was looked down on and passed over, a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand. One look at him and people turned away. We looked down on him, thought he was scum. But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures. But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises we get healed. We're all like sheep who've wandered off and gotten lost. We've all done our own thing, gone our own way. And God has piled all our sins, everything we've done wrong, on him, on him. He was beaten, he was tortured, but he didn't say a word. Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered and like a sheep being sheared, he took it all in silence. Justice miscarried, and he was led off—and did anyone really know what was happening?He died without a thought for his own welfare, beaten bloody for the sins of my people. They buried him with the wicked, threw him in a grave with a rich man, Even though he'd never hurt a soul or said one word that wasn't true. Still, it's what God had in mind all along, to crush him with pain. The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin so that he'd see life come from it—life, life, and more life. And God's plan will deeply prosper through him. Out of that terrible travail of soul, he'll see that it's worth it and be glad he did it. Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my servant, will make many "righteous ones," as he himself carries the burden of their sins. Therefore I'll reward him extravagantly—the best of everything, the highest honors—Because he looked death in the face and didn't flinch, because he embraced the company of the lowest. He took on his own shoulders the sin of the many, he took up the cause of all the black sheep.

Isaiah 53

The Message

It's a Boy

My sister is expecting a boy!!! YAY for ultrasounds!!! They are banned in this country; I'll blog about it later.

I'm sure Wade will want to bring the baby home from the hospital in a onesie like this:

Reading How to Win Friends

I like to read. It started when I studied abroad my sophomore year of college b/c it was too cold to go outside and I didn't have a computer, so I would read in my tiny room for hours. I was never a kid that always was reading. I had cousins like that, but I never liked to read when I was younger. However, I hope my children like to read. Mainly b/c my cousins are smart and they spanked me on the SAT. My scores were horrible. I took the SAT 5 times and the ACT 4 times and the LSAT twice. That's embarrassing.

Anyways, nowadays I try to read something beneficial and something fun or something secular and a non-secular book at the same time. So, right now I'm reading How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie and the title of the "fun" book is so corny I'm too embarrassed to admit it.

My point of this entire post about the How to Win Friends and Influence People book. It was given to me by someone in a leadership position and was told it was a "must read." Initially when I read the cover I thought it was going to be some book that would tell me how to sort of trick people into being my friend. I thought, I don't need a book to tell me how to make friends and do I really want to be influencing people? Well, as a follower shouldn't we all be influencing others? Or should we leave all the influencing up to people like Oprah, Michael Moore, and Angelina Jolie? I honestly never thought about influencing others. I mean, I've thought about how my life should be an example for non-believers and I suppose believers, but I never thought about actually influencing people or how my actions and words could change the course of some one's life in a positive or negative way.

I'm only in the third chapter and I already love the book. It's so making me re-evaluate how I view and treat others.

The 1st Principle is: Don't Criticise, Condemn or Complain.

Here's a little excerpt:

"Any fool can criticise, condemn and complain-and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving. 'A great man shows his greatness,' said Carlyle, 'by the way he treats little men." pg 14.

Uhh...if you know me, I play the fool too often. The first principle doesn't often come out naturally in my heart. I'm not sure if the author was a believer, but the principles are definitely straight out of scripture whether he intended for them to be or not.


Sorry to bore you w/ this post. I know you don't like the "preachy" post, but it's all I have.

UNC...Blah!!!

What in the world??? UNC won. Where have I been? I haven't watched a basketball game this entire year. It's pathetic. I completely forgot about the NCAA tournament. I feel like I'm in a different world or just in a big crazy bubble. I wish I wouldn't have found out UNC won...they are my least fav team. However, I have played in the Dean Smith Center before, so that was cool.

Only Here...

After attending church this afternoon, Abby and I decided to splurge and go to our favorite restaurant for dinner. The sermon was on fasting...therefore we feasted. All that talk about fasting for the Lord gave us an appetite.


While we were there we decided and discussed things that only happen here:

ONLY HERE:

When we(westerners) walk into a restaurant/store they turn the music up really loud. Tonight they were playing Michael Jackson. It's always songs we rarely listen to so when we hear them we sing. So, tonight as we were eating, I was singing "Beat It" to Abby. In KFC they always play N'Sync and Backstreet Boys songs and I always feel compelled to sing. It's horrible...I don't/can't sing. I think when we sing it only encourages them to turn the volume up louder.

ONLY HERE:

Are men allowed to use the bathroom anywhere. One day I'm going to count and see how many men I see using the bathroom. It's so gross. Once I was in an auto, and my driver pulled over the use the bathroom. It's so normal here. I'm repulsed every time.

ONLY HERE:

Do men hold hands w/ each other while walking down the street. They hang all over each other. Tonight Abby and saw three grown guys on motorcycle practically bear hugging each other. That's a common scene too, but that definitely wouldn't happen in the U.S. Abby made a good point when she said "three American men couldn't fit on one motorcycle."

ONLY HERE:

When someone cooks, their neighbors start coughing. The other night, Abby and I were at some friend's house and all of a sudden my eyes started watering, my nose started running, and I started coughing. I didn't know what was happening. Thankfully this time I wasn't the only one coughing. The people that were hosting eventually yelled out the window to his neighbor to stop cooking b/c he had guests. Our friends said their neighbor was burning chillies. It was horrible, they were laughing at me b/c I broke out my tissues.

ONLY HERE:

Are you invited into someone's house only to sit in complete silence. I just don't think anyone knows what to say to us and we don't know what to say to them. It's so awkward, but I think it's normal for them. Abby and I start playing I SPY w/ each other...just kidding.

ONLY HERE:

Do you put clothes in the washing machine only for them to come out dirtier. See the pic. below:

ONLY HERE:

Is cleanliness judged my the amount of new creatures you have in your presence.



I could go on forever...but I'm going to stop. I did get hit my a car tonight. It was funny. I walked behind the car b/c I thought it was going to go forward, but it started reversing and sort of pinned me up against a gate. Thank goodness their cars are the size of toys and it was barely rolling. Don't worry Mom...I'm still in one piece.

Gaining Weight in the 3rd World

Its easier than you would think. Especially when you receive packages from home with a club size pack of Oatmeal Creme Pies and bags of Oreos, Nilla Wafers and Cheese Nips. It's awesome!!! I feel like a kid b/c I didn't even buy those things for myself when I was home.

Thanks to my friends in Pamplico for my birthday presents and snacks. I absolutely love everything you sent.

Conference Op

So, there are a few blogs that I stalk and Pastor J.D. Greear is one of them. You can click on his link on my page or here to view his blog.

There's a conference in N.C. this June that has some amazing church leaders speaking about rebuilding the local church. You can click here to view the conference's website.

Pastor J.D.'s post about it is called Should You Revitalize a Church, or Plant a New One? Check it out if you would like.

It's April!!!

The most wonderful time of the year!!! Cadbury Creme Eggs are available in stores, tulips are blooming...and it's Easter!!!! I think Cadbury Creme Eggs gross most people out, but I love them. When I was studying abroad in London, McDonald's had Cadbury Creme Egg McFlurries!!! They were amazing!!! If flights cost $10, I would fly back every Easter to London just to get a McFlurry. Whitney sent me a package over with some, but I haven't received it yet. I'm a little worried that they are going to be melted b/c it's hot now.

I know a few people have sent packages, but I haven't received them. I'm sure they'll get here soon.