IM HERE!!

HERE! Finally!!! Im giddy, giddy, giddy, giddy!

The flights over were loooong & uneventful. Asking for vegatarian meals on the plane was interesting - I had tofu and rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, haha! In LA, I met up with the girls on my "servant team" (what my 4 month stint is called) they are such a quality group of women and im loving them already. The staff out here is also amazing as always, and already our little community's time together has been so so so wonderful, i feel very at home. i know im going to absolutely love this time.

found out we are actually not sleeping at our Nepali families - although we will "live" with them through constant interaction, being at there house to eat, have tea, be a family.... we have two rooms nearby, very economical, where we sleep. (B/c most nepali families, ecs. the poor - all sleep together in one room and it wouldnt be very appropriate for us as women to sleep with them at their house.) My room is a tiny one with a cement floor, two windows, and simple beds. I love the tiny room and it feels sweet, homey, and simple. We share a bathroom with the family living in the room next to ours, out in the hall. Part of our "bathroom" is our rooftop, where the sink is. So this morning I got up, went outside and brushed my teeth - overlooking my neighborhood in the morning sun. It was so cold I could see my breath steaming. All the neighbors on their rooftop where whispering about the white person brushing her teeth on the roof, haha! Our tiny room is at the top of many flights of stairs in a very simple apartment building for nepali families. I share it with 2 girls on my team - around the st. corner is the building where the other 2 girls stay at nite.

I am loving this trip already. I love Nepal and I feel like its Christmas every day just waking up here - smelling the curry and incense, eating with my hands, the kids, the bright colors, and walking the busy crammed streets. O AND I FORGOT HOW MUCH I LOVE NEPALI TEA!!!!

Hmm... PEACE. Jesus is at peace in my heart. Amidst the rush of a changing season in my life, I feel a great joyful stillness inside me, knowing I belong to Jesus, and that He loves me. I feel HOPE also. When I walk past the beggars or the hindu shrines I look at it in light of my readings in revelation, that soon - very soon - the kingdom of this world will pass away and the kingdom of God will reign.

I think I am here not so much to "do" a ministry or be some kind of hero, but to BE. To be loved in my community, to be loved by God. To be, and to GROW. I am humbled realizing I will probably learn a great deal from this amazing community I have the honor of being with, and all my brokeness will be seen because I have nothing to offer but the love that God has given me, as a free gift.