One Down, One to Go

Wednesday marked my one year anniversary. I have officially reached the halfway point of my term, and I have survived! :) Now, in less than a year (okay only 2 days less than a year) I will be returning home. For me, this was a really big milestone in my life, and this day meant a lot to me.

I had the privilege of spending the day with friends who were also celebrating their 1 year anniversary. We had what we call an American day. We went to a neighboring city and went and saw the movie Click. (I wasn't terribly impressed). Then we went to Papa Johns's. This may not sound that exciting, but it was a big deal. This is the first Papa John's in India and is quite the talk of the town! (at least among the Americans anyway :) It was just a good day to relax with friends. Thanks to J,K,L, and A for a fun day! I wrapped up my 1 year anniversary day by watching 9 straight episodes of Alias Season 5. Yes, I had a slight addiction, but it is over now. I finished watching the season today and it was the final season. I enjoyed it though... Good times.

It is crazy to think that it has already been one year since I left for Virginia and this journey of mine began. I feel like I just got here in alot of ways. Then again, except for my short stay at home in October, I haven't seem most of my family and friends in almost a year. Some days, that definately seems like an eternity. I have been blessed though. Although, sometimes I feel like I am, I know that I am not alone here. I have been blessed with family and friends here, who I am incredibly grateful for. However, I do miss connecting with the people I love back in the States. In less than a year, I'll come home, but I am not naive enough to think that all things will be the same. Things change, people change, and I know that I am not an exception to that. Change is definatly not a bad thing. It just makes it difficult sometimes, when you are not around the people as they are changing. However, that is life...

This week I had some good down-time and had a chance to reflect upon my last year. This would probably be an appropriate time to share the lessons I've learned this past year. However, the thought of trying to put that in a comprehendable blog entry makes my head hurt. The foremost reason being that I don't even understand all that I've learned this past year - about me, my King, the world, etc. My mind is fast-forwarding through this past year even as I am typing this. I don't know where to begin. Its been a year of good-byes, and a year of literally 100's of hellos. Its been a year of searching and discovery. Its been a year of laughter and of tears. Its been a year of breaking and of remolding....

More than anything its been a time to learn a little more about myself. Yeah, it may sound a little strange, because I should know myself pretty well by now. But then again, you really start to see things, including yourself, a little different once you are removed from everything you have ever known or loved. However, even more so, I think you really start to learn more about yourself when you start learning more about the One who created you. That has definately been true for me this past year. Let me just tell you though, it has been quite the humbling experience.

Beginning this journey I thought I had a pretty decent grasp on things - life, the world, God, etc. Now I realize that all those things are so much larger than I thought possible. Most importantly, I've learned that the God that we serve is so much larger than we can ever imagine, comprehend, or understand. I thought I had at least a decent handle on understanding who God was. The problem was that I was placing Him in this easy to understand box created from my own western Christianity mindset, and I carried my box around with pride. However, this past year He has shown me that He doesn't fit into our little boxes of preconcieved notions, ideas, or formulas. He blows all those way out of the water. He in incontainable and uncomprehendable, which is exactly what makes Him the amazing King that He is. If He was any less than that, He wouldn't be God. I am definately not saying that I now have everything figured out. I am just beginning to let God define himself, instead of me trying to do the job for Him.

When you take away our Christian sub-culture and it comes down to just me and God, who is God to me? That is the question that would best define my year. Of course, that is not an easy question to answer, but I plan on spending the rest of my life figuring it out :)

To my dear sweet family, thanks for the flowers and for making my day special! I love you all!

As a sidenote: This pic is the flowers I recieved. My mom order a bouquet of roses. Instead, this is what came. It has the slight resemblance of a coffin arrangement. :) You just never know what you are going to get in India. lol. I love it though!