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Thursday, February 23, 2012

Absence Does Make the Heart Grow Fonder

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I met the dawn on my early morning run. It spread out all puffy and orange and pink across the sky. The beauty caught my breath in my chest, and I was reminded that I am alive and witness to majesty.

This is a day I was glad to be running, grateful to have a body that lets me trot about like this whenever I so please. Not all days are like this, however. I’ve mentioned before my love/hate relationship with running. And I’ve often wondered if I would even be sad if injury or age would prevent me from the activity.

Travel has disrupted my running regimen this month, giving me a two-week reprieve. I ran the day before I left for India (2/7) and didn’t run again until yesterday (2/22). That’s my longest break since I started running a few years ago.

Honestly, I didn’t think much about running while I was gone. We were busy, and there weren’t places for me to run anyhow. But as our time in India came to a close, and we started thinking of what we wanted to do when we got home, I was surprised that running was one of the first things I wanted to do. I had actually missed running.

So now I know. It takes me about two weeks off to miss this activity that I love and hate. After two weeks, I’m itching to see Big Sky and visit the trails that are lined with towering trees along the stream with its chattering waters. It’s good to be home.

 

Friday, February 17, 2012

Things I Love about India

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In less than eight hours I leave India.

[sigh.]

Of course I miss the Hubster, and I am so happy to get home to him. But my heart longs to stay, to spend time with the daughters in this incredible family I’ve come to know and love.

I thought I would post more often during my stay. But the time has been so full—in a great way. I simply haven’t had enough time to process and put words together. I’ll write more in the coming week, but for now, here are some closing snippets written on location from half a world away.

Fabulous Food
I had curry almost daily, sometimes at all three meals. Amazingly, I’m really not tired of it, but I do miss my usual foods (plain-old animal crackers, granola, fruit, etc.). I’ve even found a new comfort food in Chipati, the soft tortilla-like bread used to eat the curry. One night we had a tandoori chicken dish served with mint chutney; the chutney was so good I could have eaten it like soup. I asked for the recipe, so Mike and I will be having it regularly come grilling season.

Street Happenings
If you are bored in India, just go out to the streets. Here’s a list of the things I’ve seen: stray dogs, cows, goats, and wild hogs (too many to count); Indian wedding festivities (at least five); voting booths;  political rallies and celebrations; a camel; priests rolling down the highway for some sort of ritual (two); a pedestrian hit by a vehicle (he was able to hobble away from it, thankfully); women carrying goods on their heads; fruit and vegetable carts; buses and rickshaws crammed with people until bursting; and crazy traffic that weaves together like a choreographed dance (amazingly, without crashing).

Beautiful People, Darling Girls
The people I’ve met have been extremely warm and welcoming. We were greeted with flowers at least three times (which made me feel like a princess), and we were given places of honor (which made me feel sort of awkward).

The girls I met were beyond words! They have taken up a spot in my heart and mind, and I willingly make room for them! I wish I could stay to help them with their English and their studies so their dreams would come true. My heart broke today when the little ones said, “Erin Didi, come! We want to play with you!” . . . and I couldn’t, because we had to leave. A heart that loves much, aches much.

If you haven’t seen these girls, visit the As Our Own Facebook page (and give it a Like!). Almost all the photos there are of the daughters in the family, the very ones I’ve been privileged to meet.

 

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Blessing Bingo

Posted by erinstraza under culture, faith | Tags: , , , , |
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No one should take a trip without a little something called Blessing Bingo. Dearest friend Krista made these cards for us, keeping us alert to all that God would do in our midst during our travels. Sherry Didi, Ali Didi, and I have enjoyed chatting about the squares we’ve been able to cross off. Here’s what has filled my card and heart to the full just four days into the trip.

Was pure in heart > so aware of my need for humility and so grateful to be part of God’s Kingdom

Was a peacemaker > in my own heart by refusing to let worry steal away these precious memories (“Be still and know that I am God”)

Mourned > the loss of life and freedom for those in the district

Read a good book > A Horse and His Boy, C. S. Lewis—makes my heart soar!

Talked to husband > on Skype—what a blessing to stay connected although we’re half-a-world away

Witnessed the drama of redemption > upon seeing the shining life and hope of the littlest girls after seeing the wrenching darkness of the district

Was shown kindness > by everyone I’ve met, offering me a warm welcome accompanied with singing, dancing, flowers

Slept well > loving the cool breeze of Indian nights

Arrived in India with luggage > amen!

Reminded of hope > as the oldest girls shared their dreams for the future

Connected with a child > my heart skips a beat every time I hear one of the girls call out, “Over here, Erin Didi!”

Talked about Jesus > during devotional with the girls

Was poor in spirit > constantly being reminded of my need for the Lord (and have found Him so very faithful every step)

Saw the sunrise > thanks to the jet lag

Hungered for righteousness > longing for God’s life to manifest within me

Made a friend > learning some simple words and phrases from the staff

Good time in the Word > camping out in my favorite passages from Isaiah

Ate something delicious > curry! pistachio ice cream!

Worked for the Gospel > writing of all God is doing here via blog and future article ideas

Sang with Indian Christians > enjoyed a favorite, “Hosanna in the Highest”

Laughed > tons! with staff team (ping pong)

Worshipped God in another country > during a wide sunset on the open prairie

 

Monday, February 13, 2012

Heart Overload

Posted by erinstraza under culture, faith | Tags: , |
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It’s only been four days but I’ve had experiences aplenty. Here are some highlights. Enjoy!

Best.Bus.Ride.Ever.
Happiness is riding in a bus with 30-plus giggly, giddy girls between the ages of 10 and 20. There were introductions that could hardly be heard, followed by giggles from the girls as I tried to repeat these exotic names I have never heard before. I wanted to know each one on the first try but that proved impossible. The ride was way too short; we dropped them off first and as their liveliness left the bus, I felt them steal my heart away with them. And then it was so quiet, all I could do was breathe and fight back the emotion. How can so many beauties live under one roof?! And how could I be so completely enchanted after just 15 minutes?! I can still hear their chatter and feel the warmth of their smiles.

You Can’t Plan Stuff Like This
The 10 oldest girls came over Sunday afternoon for a special discussion session with us. We asked them to think about how God has gifted each one of them, and then we asked them to share their dreams for how God might use their gifts as they pursue college, career, and family. What an honor to be part of this discussion! These gals spoke with great maturity and tenderheartedness, proclaiming how they will tell of God’s goodness to them from generation to generation. Tears were flowing, but they were the good kind, the kind that come from the deep places and express more than words ever could. God met us there, enveloping us with His presence. So far this is my top treasured memory.

Pretty Patterns Everywhere
This country is anything but plain. From clothing and jewelry to architecture and paint selections, India is a feast for the eyes. Patterns can also be found on women via henna body painting. A few of the gals came over just before we went to bed to treat us to their mehndi art skills. They created their designs on our arms and hands and then we gingerly crawled into bed with our arms outstretched to let it dry for the night. In the morning we sloughed off the residue to expose the tattoo that will last a week or so. Patterns could also be found in the fabrics sets given to us by the staff. A tailor stopped by for measurements, and come tomorrow we will have custom made outfits. I’ve said it before: Indian women know how to dress. The embroidery, embellishments, and detail on their clothing make my clothes look completely drab. I cannot wait to see what the tailor concocts!

Oddments
staff ping-pong matches. animal counts. mac-n-cheese night. staff prayer at sunset. seeing the girls dance and hearing them sing. listening to a sermon I couldn’t understand (but loving every word of it!). bongos! scarves. prairie walk. delicious food. starry skies. trusting in God with all that’s in me.

 

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Give a Friendly Toot

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When I took Drivers’ Ed oh-so-many years ago, there was a training video explaining the rules of the road. One scene showed a driver backing out of a blocked-view driveway, and the voice over said in such situations, drivers should precede slowly and “give a friendly toot” with your horn to warn oncoming traffic. This, of course, evoked much snickering from the class. I’ve never forgotten it.

I do believe the Friendly Toot Principle originated here in India. There is a lot of honking happening. I think it’s highly likely that our van driver has used the horn more in the past two days than I have used mine in 24 years.

But horn usage has a different feel here in India. Horns are friendly warnings by motorists wishing to pass others, squeeze through tight spaces, or merge into the flow. Truck drivers have painted instructions on the back of their trucks that say, “Horn OK Please” which is in desperate need of some punctuation. It could be a statement (Horn, OK; please) or a question (Horn, OK? please). Whatever it should be, it means that drivers who wish to pass should beep their horns first.

Driving in the States is rather solitary; it is rare that I interact with other drivers, aside from muttering to myself about crazy lane usage or rude drivers who drive too close for my comfort. Horn usage is reserved for those close-call situations when fear prompts me to response with some sort of acknowledgement of another driver’s error.

Here in India, however, driving requires engagement with others. You can’t isolate or space out. All your skills in communicating, negotiating, and maneuvering are needed. Horn usage is expected. And overall, it is friendly.

 

 

Friday, February 10, 2012

A Deep Contrast

Posted by erinstraza under culture, faith
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My heart and brain can’t keep with the experiences I’ve had on this adventure to India. Jetlag isn’t helping my effort to process—the time from my U.S. Wednesday to my Indian Friday are lumped together as one long day. All I can do is describe the experiences I’ve had in the general order of occurrence.

Preface
It’s never fun to be dropped into to the middle of a story with no context. So let me explain: I’m in India with the staff of As Our Own, an organization that stands in the gap on behalf of children in danger of being exploited and enslaved.

Travel Round Up
Here’s how it went down: We left Chicago Wednesday evening, taking an eight-hour flight to Frankfurt. After a five-hour layover, we had another eight-hour flight to India. The flights were great! But exhausting and disorienting. Upon arrival, we went to our hotel for naps and showers, and a delicious breakfast at the hotel (I had an omelet and curry with sweet potatoes).

The Darkness
We visited the red-light district. I have never in all my life felt such a heavy darkness. My heart was raging at the injustice and exploitation. How is this place for real? There is no price too great for getting another slave’s daughter out before she gets sucked into this horrific existence. I saw children running about in this dark place; they have just a few years before they will be inducted into the permanent madness. I can’t stand it.

The In-Between
Overwhelmed is the only way to describe the aftermath of the walk-through. Such sadness for the loss of life, the dismal existence. I had to talk myself down from a total melt. The emotions are tucked just under the surface. Watch out, people! One poke, and it will all come gushing out.

The Bright Hope
Later in the afternoon we traveled to Faith Home, where 30-some girls have been rescued from life paths that were leading them straight to district existence. Their singing-and-rose-petal welcome filled my heart with inexplicable joy. All I could think was this is redemption. Their praises to Jesus made me cry. All the kids I saw earlier in the day need to be in this love-filled, safe place.

Prayer, Please
My prayers are now filled with the contrast between the district and the As Our Own family. I am greedy for the district kids to have the latter, to have life. There is much more ahead, so I ask for prayer support:

That I would take my experiences and process them into new communications for As Our Own

That I would let my heart continue to break for these things that break God’s heart

That I would be filled with God’s love and presence so I have something worthwhile to give others

 

Monday, January 23, 2012

Stay Tuned for God’s Version of My Life

Posted by erinstraza under culture, faith | Tags: , , |
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I’m India bound.

February 8 I will board a plane that will send me halfway around the world and approximately 8,226 miles from home. This trip is the culmination of a journey that began just over a year ago, when I first started developing communications for As Our Own.

I didn’t realize that working for As Our Own would become one of those major section dividers in the story of my life. Never in my wildest dreams did I think the story of my life would include the topics of India and fighting child exploitation or that I would get to write about the transforming work that God is doing in places I’ve never been. How grateful I am that God is the one writing my story, because His version is way better than mine.

Although I’ve posted here at The Patch about As Our Own many times, you may not have read those entries . . . in brief, As Our Own works in India, standing in the gap for children who are at risk for life-long bondage, in treacherous situations that would lead to exploitation in the sex trade, organized begging, or bonded labor.

This work takes several forms. First is the immediate rescue of children who are in danger of exploitation and enslavement. They are adopted into the lifelong As Our Own family where they become beloved daughters, for life.

Another aspect of the work addresses the systemic, long-term issues that put children at risk. Without the transforming power of God’s love, there will always be another child to rescue. As Our Own fosters root-level transformation by equipping the Church and leaders to build strong communities where predators can no longer prey upon the innocent.

This is the beautiful work God is doing in the beautiful country of India. I cannot believe I get to be part of it. And I cannot believe I get to go there!

Many of you are curious what I will be doing on my trip. The goal is that I would see with my own eyes what I have been writing about for the past year! I want to be a sponge, soaking up everything I might need for future writing projects. I want to be a curious reporter, full of wonder and probing questions about a country and a people and a culture I have grown to love. I want to be a servant, willing to pour myself out in love and humility in whatever way I am prompted.

As far as day-to-day happenings, these are the sorts of things I will experience:

  • meet the 70-plus daughters in the As Our Own family
  • lead devotional sessions with the girls
  • meet the girls’ live-in staff, caretakers, and care directors
  • gather story leads and information for future communications
  • learn all I can about India’s society and culture
  • visit As Our Own’s Hope College, meeting the professors and students
  • visit an As Our Own–supported Lighthouse Church, meeting the pastor and congregants

This brief overview surely won’t do my trip justice! I don’t know how to explain a trip I’ve never taken to a land I’ve never visited to meet people I’ve only heard about, read about, and written about. I will be learning as I go, and I plan to post reports here during my stay.

I hope you will visit The Patch February 8–18 to discover what I am discovering. This is one story I don’t want to miss! (Thank You, God!)

 

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Which Word Wednesday: Metonym vs. Synonym

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http://www.google.com/imgres?q=peter+roget&num=10&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1499&bih=664&tbm=isch&tbnid=c3Wm64gPeE0k3M:&imgrefurl=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/roget_peter_mark.shtml&docid=HNAAZPYqzRcmiM&imgurl=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/images/roget_peter_mark.jpg&w=136&h=185&ei=T64WT47GOKqqsQKB0d2yAg&zoom=1

Thanks, Peter!

Happy Thesaurus Day! Today is the day we observe the word treasury that was written by Peter Roget, born January 18, 1779. Roget’s Thesaurus was first published in April 1852, which begs the question: What did writers do to find synonyms before then?! I, for one, am happy to be living on this side of 1852.

How will I celebrate this felicity? I just may crack out a gift the Hubster gave me last year, The Thinker’s Thesaurus. It’s a mega-Thesaurus. I highly recommend it.

Another merriment on tap here at The Patch is Which Word Wednesday. Isn’t it fun that Thesaurus Day falls on Wednesday this year?! We get to celebrate the holiday and a word match up all at once.

In honor of the Peter’s birthday, we’ll consider metonym vs. synonym. Here are the definitions from The Oxford American Dictionary:

metonym :: noun
a word, name, or expression used as a substitute for something else with which it is closely associated

synonym :: noun
a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language

Both nouns refer to words that can be used to substitute other words. Word association is key—you should be able to use one word or the other with the intended meaning remaining the same.

A metonym is the term for words that are more general or loosely associated with each other. The OAD expounds: “For example, Washington is a metonym for the federal government of the U.S.”

A synonym is the term for words that are near substitutes for one another. Once again, the OAD provides insight: “For example shut is a synonym of close.”

Roget’s Thesaurus as well as The Thinker’s Thesaurus are sources to turn to when you need help finding that perfect word to communicate clearly. But I see the classic version as the source for synonyms and the lesser-known version as the source for metonyms. For example, if we look at the word creative, we find the following entries:

The Thesaurus offers 11 options for substitution in its entry:
inventive, imaginative, innovative, experimental, original; artistic, expressive, inspired, visionary; enterprising, resourceful

The Thinker’s Thesaurus offers two loosely related words in its entry:
(1) and/or original adj.: Promethean [Prometheus was the Titan god of forethought, who, based on some legends, was entrusted with the task of molding mankind out of clay.]

(2) as in resourceful person n.: debrouillard [French].

What’s my WWW verdict? If you are looking for basic substitutions to avoid repetitive speech, use a Thesaurus; if you need a witty term or reference, check out The Thinker’s Thesaurus.

What’s your verdict? Are you a Thesaurus reader? Will you celebrate Thesaurus Day? Do share in the comments.

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Check out previous Which Word Wednesday verdicts here.

 

Monday, January 16, 2012

Knowing and Not Knowing

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Snow has finally descended upon us here in central Illinois. It was late coming. The snowy streets make for unpleasant driving (and running!) conditions, but there is something calming about it.

Landscapes cloaked in sparkly white whisper, “Hush, be still.” And so I did just that—I watched the flakes fall and gather, building up along the window frame and in the crooks of the now-barren branches. The stillness builds up in me, and I am humbled by the wonder of it all.

I rest in knowing that He is God, and I am not.

This knowing what I know, and knowing I don’t know it all, is a gift. Call it wisdom, maturity, humility—whatever it is, without it pride and arrogance take over, making a wreck of the stillness.

I cannot claim knowledge about the world when there is a world of mystery swirling about within me—of all things, shouldn’t I be most aware of who I am? In the stillness, I am confronted with how little I know, about the universe out there and in here. I know I am not God but at times I live like I am.

It wasn’t just the falling snow that has stirred these thoughts. I’ve been reading The Social Animal by David Brooks for the High Calling book club (you are welcome to join the club—get the book and participate in discussion each Monday). It is a fascinating mix of fiction laced with psychological fact. Brooks is using fictional characters as a backdrop for explaining how relationships make us who we are. Although the main character is a guy named Harold, Brooks couldn’t being with Harold; Harold begins with his parents and the relationship they built together which produced this guy. After getting a good picture of the parents, we can see how they raised Harold and how that shaped him.

Our reading for this week takes us through chapter 6; Harold is yet a young boy, but we are beginning to see his personality emerge from events he will never remember. The daily relational interactions make us who we are . . . but we won’t remember them specifically. Brooks says:

This is why all biographies are inadequate; they can never capture the inner currents. This is why self-knowledge is limited. Only a few remarkable people can sense the way early experience has built models in the brain. Later in life we build fictions and theories to paper over the mystery of what is happening deep inside, but in childhood, the inexplicableness of the world is still vivid and fresh, and sometimes hits with terrifying force. 1

The inner currents within my own heart and soul often rush me down rivers I would rather not travel. They are powerful. It takes mere seconds for currents to overwhelm whatever stillness I had found. That’s why I have built my own fictional sense of reality to make sense of my inner universe—because I cannot control it. Giving it a label, naming the mystery, makes me feel more at ease with it. I know the Johari Window is true.

Truer still is that God knows me in all my quadrants. He knows all mysteries that current inside me and throughout the universe. And that’s why I can be still, knowing what I know . . . and what I don’t.

_______________

Read other book club participant posts from this week.

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Sources
1. David Brooks, The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement (New York, NY: Random House, 2011), 85.

 

Thursday, January 12, 2012

The Heart-Body Connection

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Hey, gals, this week’s Mixed Signals column over at Christ and Pop Culture is all about our obsession with weight, body image, and character—and how companies attempt to help us in our pursuit.

Special K cereal has a new campaign addressing these things. It’s called “What Will You Gain When You Lose?”

I’m wondering . . . how does your physical condition affect your heart/mind/soul? How does your heart/mind/soul affect your physical condition? The insides are connected to the outsides, for sure—we are whole people. Work on one, the other is impacted. But which do you work on first? Do you work on both equally?

Click over to read more: Mixed Signals: Special K’s Lose-Gain Philosophy.

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Mixed Signals is my weekly musing about marketing miscellany in advertising, branding, and messaging hosted each Thursday at Christ and Pop Culture.

 

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