birthday week

I don't really like to make my birthday a big deal. I don't like to be the center of attention, so I'm usually not a big fan of everyone singing to me... and drawing a lot of attention my way... It kind of makes me want to hide, just being honest. Typically my birthday consists of going to dinner with some close friends and family. Nothing big, no elaborate party, just a nice, quiet evening.

This year was a little bit different. Thursday I turned 22. It was going to be unique anyways because A: I was in a foreign country, and B: because of the time difference, my birthday was really like 36 hours long. Everyone kept asking me what I wanted to do for my birthday. I kept responding, "Oh, something low-key, maybe just a nice dinner." What ended up happening was pretty perfect.

We get to school late because I was skyping with my family, and as soon as I walk in, everyone starts singing "Happy Birthday," and one of my teachers brings out an apple coffeecake with a birthday candle, a very sweet surprise.

 

After class, we come home and relax for a little bit. Morgan makes some really awesome Mexican food. It tastes like it came straight out of a Mexican restaurant. I mean, really. It would have been awesome in the States. After dinner, Jenn and Morgan come in to my room, singing and carrying another cake! Apparently, they forgot to pick up candles, so my birthday "candles" were matches stuck on top.

  

Around the time of eating the cake, two dear friends, Donna and T, show up with flowers! We eat the cake with some super sugary chocolate icing straight out of the pan, tell jokes, laugh a lot, sing a little, just really enjoy each others company in a very laid-back night. Pretty perfect.

 

 

But that wasn't all they had in store. We had decided to go out to dinner with all of our friends on Saturday. Birthday dinners are opposite of that in America. Back home, the one celebrating the birthday gets treated out to dinner, but here the birthday girl (or guy) pays for everyone else's meal. I decided I was going to be like a national and pay for everyone's dinner. Thankfully, the local food is really inexpensive, so it wasn't going to be quite like picking up the bill in America.

All week long, that was the plan. Dinner at 6:30 on Saturday. Rachel's paying. When I get up that morning, Morgan's already dressed and heading out the door. She tells me she's going to go read. Not out of the ordinary. She likes to get out of the house, whereas I'm perfectly okay staying at home all day.

I get up and make blueberry muffin bread (thanks, Aubrey!). As I'm making them, Jenn comes in and says she's going to the store and asks if I need anything. "Mmm, maybe pick up some eggs?" She leaves. I'm home alone. I do all the stuff I would do on any other normal day at home: eat, exercise, shower, read, play guitar. Around 4:30, Morgan finally comes home. We finish getting ready right at 6:30 and get in the car. Morgan says that Donna doesn't know how to get to the restaurant, so she's going to ride with us. We pull in, and Donna's apparently "not ready" so we have to go inside and wait.

I walk up the sidewalk, open the door, and walk inside the dark room. "SURPRISE!" Suddenly, some 20 people pop up at me from all directions.

Hey, guess what? We weren't going to the restaurant. Morgan hadn't gone to read or Jenn to the store. They had this planned all along, those sneaky girls. They had gotten here earlier and decorated the whole house, made cupcakes, and even set up a "photo booth" of sorts with funny masks and hats. 

So I got to spend the evening with some great friends who, despite always starting and showing up at things late, actually arrived early to surprise me! They are awesome. So, in the end, it was the perfect combination - a quiet, chill birthday evening and a crazy surprise party on the weekend. I wonder how long I can keep this birthday celebration going...

 

 

here and now

As some of you already know, in a month's time, I'll be moving to another city on the island. This has been the plan all along - go to city A for language school for a couple of months and then go to city B to live and work. It's funny, though, how the prospect of moving can be so... unnerving, even though I knew it was coming all along.

Honestly, there was a tension inside of me when I first arrived as to how acclimated I should get when I'll just be leaving again. On the one hand, I had a desperate need to get settled, make friends, call this home. Four months is a long time, and living out of suitcase is miserable, especially during the holiday season. But on the other hand, the defensive side of me rose, and walls wanted to be put up. I'm here to learn language. I just had to say goodbye to all my family and friends back home. Why get attached when I was just going to have to leave again?

The first won out. Despite my instincts to put up barriers, my heart was instantly attached to the people I met. I couldn't help it. I had been lifting up these people and this island for so long, and then to finally be here, to finally hear their hearts and see their need... It would have gone against the very reason I'm here to not love them as if they were going to be with me for the rest of my life.

Because they're going to be, you know? They may not be physically with me, but they're always going to be important to me, and I am going to always care for them and long to be with them. In a year and a half, there will be a whole new group of people and a whole new city that my heart's going to belong to and break for, and it's going to be unbearable to leave them too. And that's okay. Isn't that the example set for us?

So the lesson learned: Completely be wherever you are. Give everything you've got. Invest in people. Love without holding back. Father has you here, in this moment, for a reason. Don't wait for the next thing to come along or for everything to be worked out. All you've been promised is the here and now. So live in it.

This was, honestly, not the direction I meant for this post to go. I think it was more for me than it was for anyone else. So thanks for bearing with me. :)

"Now may our G-d and Father himself, and our Lrd JC, direct our way to you, and may the Lrd make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our Gd and Father, at the coming of our Lrd JC with all his saints." 1 Thes 3:11-13

karaoke time

The stereotype is true: Asians love some karaoke.

This week, in honor of our last week of break, we had a girls' night with some pretty great ladies. The night started with dinner at Black Canyon Coffee, which is actually famous for their coffee and cappucino art, but they have some good food as well. And then it was karaoke time.

Karaoke here is a lot different than (what I imagine it to be) in the States. You reserve a room for just you and your friends, and there's a system in each room with a little computer set in the table for you to pick your favorite song to belt out in front of your friends. The words come up on the TV in the front (sometimes with correct lyrics, sometimes not). We went to a place called Happy Puppy (yep, that's right), and each room had a theme. We were in the underwater/submarine room. With the lights dimmed, black lights on, and the music loud, it was the perfect set up to let the inner rockstar come out.

 

 

 

  

  

 

 

Also, I'd just like to share - Dr. Pepper has been spotted in southeast Asia. We've heard it only happens once in a blue moon, so today, when we got a text from one of the awesome women here saying the local grocery store had it (THANK YOU), we made a stop on our way home and stocked up. Thank you, Father! What a great gift!

Hello, 2012

Happy New Year! On this side of the world, New Year's is a big deal. Bigger than Christmas. I didn't really understand why, so I had a friend of mine explain what a typical New Year's looks like.

All year, people save up their money so that they can go home to their village, even if it requires selling their belongings. Their whole family gets together for the holiday, and they spend time talking with one another and enjoying each other's company until midnight. After the clock strikes 12, the party begins. Fireworks. Everywhere. In people's backyards, in the middle of the road (who cares if they're blocking traffic?).

Then the children apologize to their parents and ask them to forgive them for any wrongs or hurts they may have caused them during the year, and the parents do the same to their children. I even got some sweet text messages from friends asking me to forgive them for any wrongs. And then, at 2 a.m., they feast.

We didn't celebrate New Year's in a village, but we did ring in 2012 with some Cranium and fireworks!

 

 

2011 was a whirlwind for me. I learned so much about myself, about what it means to walk with Father, about complete and utter dependence and sacrifice. I have been emptied and broken for people, for my own failings, and have fallen on my face more times than I can count. And I have been changed. Here are some things I've learned in 2011:

11 Things I Learned in 2011

1. Don't put off doing anything that requires electricity, such as emails, drying your hair, or even showering, because you may not have it in an hour.
2. When crossing the road, apparently putting out your hand and crossing confidently is the only way to get them to stop. Except for buses. Never, ever cross in front of them. They will not stop.
3. Don't be fooled: the little peppers are much, much spicier than the bigger ones.
4. Always try whatever food is set in front of you. Eat first, ask questions later, even if it looks like  brain. You don't want to know beforehand that what you're trying is pig's blood, believe me.
5. Southeast Asians are very, very gracious and helpful (usually). They are willing to listen to you mangle their language, forgive you when you unknowingly commit a big no-no by arriving late to a housewarming party, or even lift your car out of a hole without being asked.
6. Even the toughest-looking men light up when talking about their children.
7. Celebrate every victory, no matter how small.
8. Sometimes, obedience will rip your heart out, but it's all worth it in the end.
9. Real gold fears no fire.
10. Feeling inadequate is a good place to be. His grace is sufficient, and His power is made perfect in my weakness. (2 Cor 12:9)
11. I really know only a whisper of who He is. The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know.

On a completely different note, this past week we went to an orangutan forest! It's one of the only places left where you can find orangutans in the wild. Here are some photos for your own personal enjoyment: