The Shack

I finally was able to read "The Shack" during my vacation to Nepal. Some friends had been passing it around the office and I was able to borrow it. I honestly didn't know much about this book at all except that it was about some guy that meets God in a shack...or something like that. Wow! What an incredible and provocative story. I've been thinking about this book on and off ever since I finished it. I felt like I connected to certain parts of the book because it just made sense to me and the way I think.

I hope you'll get the opportunity to pick up this book sometime soon. It's a fast read. My advice is don't read any reviews or discuss the book with anyone you know who has read it. Just go read it, let go of anything that you think this book might be about and take it for what it's worth to you personally.

If you've read this book or if you finish it sometime soon, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Like I said, I'm still processing it all, but would be interested to hear your insights.

Adventures in Asia

Last week I met up with some friends in Nepal! Hmmmm...Nepal. Where is that? (Don't feel bad, some of my Indian friends don't even know where Nepal is!)

Some Fast Facts about Nepal:

• Himalayas of Nepal is known as the rooftop of the world. The world’s highest mountain (Mt. Everest) is located in Nepal.

• Over a 1000 mountain expeditions take place every year in Nepal, each expeditions carrying an average of 30 people, more than 80% of those expeditions are towards the Himalayas.

• National Motto: "The Motherland Is Worth More than the Kingdom of Heaven."

• Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world with nearly half of its population living below the poverty line.

• Hinduism is recognized as Nepal’s official religion. Although people are free to follow any religion it is against the law to convert to others.

• Before 1960 no Christian could even live in Nepal. Now there is more freedom of religion, but it is still difficult and dangerous to tell other people about God.

Wow! There's so much to share with you about my 5 days in Nepal. I might have to make multiple entries over several days to cover it all. Pictures are always a good start:

These are all taken from my visit to a stupa.

Prayer wheel in motion.

A prayer wheel is a cylindrical 'wheel' (Tibetan: 'khor) on a spindle made from metal, wood, stone, leather, or even coarse cotton. Traditionally, the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum is written in Sanskrit externally on the wheel. Also sometimes depicted are Dakinis, Protectors and very often the 8 auspicious symbols Ashtamangala. According to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, spinning such a wheel will have much the same meritorious effect as orally reciting the prayers.

So many gods.

And then we ascended these stairs to another high place. Somewhere I have a picture with me in it that proves I walked all these steps!
Halfway! Almost finished!At the top

More prayer wheels, but smaller. People will walk by these and spin them as they go by (more pictures of this later)Check out dude sitting on the donation box

Overlooking where we just came fromPrayer Flags
Lung Ta (horizontal) prayer flags are of square or rectangular shape and are connected along their top edges to a long string or thread. They are commonly hung on a diagonal line from high to low between two objects (e.g., a rock and the top of a pole) in high places such as the tops of temples, monasteries, stupas or mountain passes.

Traditionally, prayer flags come in sets of five, one in each of five colors. The five colors represent the elements, and the Five Pure Lights and are arranged from left to right in a specific order. Different elements are associated with different colors for specific traditions, purposes and sadhana:

* Blue (symbolizing sky/space)
* White (symbolizing air/wind)
* Red (symbolizing fire)
* Green (symbolizing water)
* Yellow (symbolizing earth)

Traditionally, prayer flags are used to promote peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom. The flags do not carry prayers to 'gods,' a common misconception, rather the Tibetans believe the prayers and mantras will be blown by the wind to spread the good will and compassion into all pervading space.
This was a bit confusing to me at first. We've got Buddha and Ganesh (Hindu god) together here. I later found out that half of this holy place is for Hindus, half for Buddhists.
Holy place/Lover's lane




That's all I have for now. Check this post later this week for more pics and story updates from Asia.

Deja Vu

I've been here about a year and three months, so there's beginning to be an overlap of holidays and festivals from last year. These pictures are from Holi, the Festival of Colors.


Last Year

This year

Let's Go

The Mall

This Week: A more lighthearted take on it all

This is sort of what my job is like:

This Week: A more serious take on it all

I'm not gonna lie - this week has not been an easy one. I found out that someone I work closely with has been lying and stealing money from me. Wow. Didn't see that coming at all. You know, everyday I was like, "Well, tomorrow's a new day. It can't get any worse." Haha. Everyday more and more things unfolded and more things came to light. Surprisingly, I've been very calm through all of it - no tears, no cussing. Somedays I'm just like, Why is this happening? Why me? Why am I here and in the middle of all of this?

Then this week I was reading this devotional called "Moments with the Savior" by Ken Gire. The passage was on the Transfiguration. Do you remember this story? Jesus takes some of his followers to a mountaintop. It's a quiet place where they are going, away from the crowds, away from the conflict. Peaceful. Perfect. Maybe Jesus was thinking about what was ahead for him when he would have to descend that mountaintop. Maybe he was offering up prayers to the Father for strength and endurance. The followers fell asleep and when they awoke they saw before them a man dressed in white, the light shining from his face so bright that they can barely make out that this was the Messiah. Just then Moses and Elijah appeared, "They stood next to him as men who have also endured suffering. Also experienced the rejection of the very people they were called to lead." Surely, Jesus could have easily stepped off that mountaintop and returned to Paradise if he had wanted, but He knew what was in the valley waiting for him, that he had to fulfill the Father's greatest plan. This is the part that struck me:
"[This] is the message of the Transfiguration--the joy that awaits us at the end. And that is what the Savior needed to hear...and to see..and to feel. For it was the joy set before him on that mountaintop that gave him the strength to make the descent to endure the cross."

Last week for me and for the Kingdom was incredible. There was a team here and amazing things happened. As one team member put it, "You can’t dream up the stuff that happened this week." (More on those stories later). I believe that last week was a sort of mountaintop for me that has sustained me through this week, this cold and lonely valley-of-a-week. Why am I sharing all this with you? I want you to know what really goes on here. It's not all smiles, joy and hallelujah moments. It's really hard here sometimes, but if anything it's made totally rely on the Father and completely surrender all this crazy stuff. It also makes me think maybe we're doing something right - time and time again I've noticed that when we start reclaiming territory that the Enemy has controlled for so long, like we did last week, that he's not a big fan of that and he'll do anything to reclaim it.

I think Gire put it well in this prayer and I pray it will encourage you in whatever valley you're facing or walking in this week:
"At all times, but especially in times of suffering, help me to fix my eyes on you, Lord Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before you endured the cross. Help me to consider you who endured such opposition from disobedient people, so that I will not grow weary and lose heart when it comes my turn to carry a cross...."