It is amazing to me that a few words, in such a fleeting moment, can change things so dramatically. A few words can have such a profound effect on you that you can not quite find the words to describe just how it has changed you...or challenged you...words that will stay with you as markers for the rest of your life...

I awoke this morning feeling like one of Pavlov's dogs...emotionally drooling, all because the ding of one simple stimulus...

Will there be a day when what I have been conditioned with since childhood will no longer make me emotionally drool like a St. Bernard? I sure hope so because I feel like I have been drooling a lot these past few weeks...

On the boat ride back from the Island yesterday I was pondering how important it is to be real with those who you walk among...sometimes this is easier than others...I need to be real and honest with a new friend of mine...I hope it works out well...

Another thing I have been pondering...the Kingdom life is a choice we all must make...to accept or deny...and it does not revolve around emotion or relief but on the simplicity of there being one Truth. I think too often we think sharing and acceptance of the Truth is only relevant when there is a noticable need in a life...hmmm...I still have more pondering to do...

Mumbai is AWESOME! Got to meet up with Rajeev here and we went to another concert to hear him play the tabla and this COOL drum box that his guru invented...we took a boat an hour out from India Gate to listen to the concert on an island called Elephanta. Sweet! The dude who was the singer this time was awesome...my fav of his songs was a new style for him called Urdu Blues.

I am totally looking forward to my time here...it is like another world...

A chance meeting of a guy with a swiss made steele drum led me and Mandy to the most AWESOME musical event I have been to in India yet, or maybe my whole life? I had no idea that, "you should come to my show," would turn into a night like last night. Nothing like being present as Indian musicans jam together and feeling as though you got let in on something only to be attributed as a true gifting. You have not heard someone play the drums until you have heard Sivamani and Rajeev battle it out like dueling panios yet with Rajeev on the tabla and Siva on his plethora of percussion. Add in one phenomenal floutist with his wooden flutes, a girl with a great Indian voice, a guy who can strum, and the jazz pianist and there are not words to describe these few hours. Amazing...simply amazing. I do not say I am a fan of much but these boys...I am there.

While going through a break up this past summer a member of the "member care" team said something to me that has stuck with me. She said, "you need to respond and not react to situations like this."

I have been seeking God on just how to do this in an immediate family situation that I was made aware of this week. I will admit my first response was to cry right here in the internet cafe. After that my reaction was to be in disbelief. Then, finally, my response was to wonder how one should deal with such a thing as this in a way that is glorifying to God.

What has been awesome is that my time in the Word this week has been right on target. (I will admit that I have been struggling with my time in the Word as of late. I have been meeting things here that make me search and evaluate. Things that challenge me to find out what I really believe and what THE truth REALLY is. I will say that before this term that might have freaked me out. Now I see it as an essential part of my journey with the Lord. It is almost vital in order for me to keep walking the path I have been on since I was 19. To change, to grow, to really see.) Anyway, each morning this week, I would read some verses, thinking they were interesting things to ponder. Then each day, for the past three days, the verses have come into use as I was put in situations I would not have imagined only hours before. God is perfect. He knows exactly where He needs to take us to get us where He wants us...

The verses that were right this morning: Col 3:12-14

It is the times of choice that make us into who we are...

Mandy: "we are now on display"

Barb and Mandy: "they just think we are going that way"

Mandy: "Just pretend you don't hear em."

Sir: "madam, MADAM!!"

Mandy: "Run, run."

Another pic from my trip:

Thanks to these two, I have now become a part of those Dynamite. Julia, I get it. I was wondering, but now I get it.
I am off to the home land of Ghandi tomorrow for two weeks. We shall see if these people live up to my pre-concieved idea. Then on to Mumbai for a bit. Then possibly Goa? We shall see.
I can say that I look forward to the possibility of being at home for two months at the end of this trip. I love to travel but I am coming to realize that I love "home" as well. My job has redefined the word or shall we say concept of "home" for me these past few months. But can I help but wonder, Will I be content sitting still after all of this? Time will tell.

I just got back from my Tsunami Area road trip this morning. I have a lot to catch up on here so for now I am going to post a few pics and try and write more later. I am in town for a whole 4 days!! Then I am off again...
This is one of my fav pics. The lighting is bad and the pic blurry but I loved the moment...This little boy in one of the refugee camps...

What is left of one of the houses along the coast...

Some boys I met at one village that I got to spend time with and have a lot of fun...

Acov, you will be missed