Comfortably Uncomfortable

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:33

Here are just a few things that I Thought I could handle no problem coming on the race. It took a few days to overcome the uncomfortable place I found myself to learn quickly I had some areas I needed to be stretched and challenge in.

Bathroom- No toilet paper to be seen anywhere in the village. Everyday is a leg work out one you master the squat. There’s no better way to wake yourself up in the mornings the. To poor ice cold buckets of water over your head.

Eating- no matter the type or texture of the food it is all hands on. But I should really say hand on. In India you do not eat with your left hand because it is seen a rude and disrespectful for many reasons.( hense the reason there is no toilet paper in India.) Unlike western culture where having a meal is a time to be social, that is not the case here. Eating is a very serious time and trying to start a conversation with someone will be impossible.

Drink sizes- a cup of tea is about the size if a shot glass back home. After ordering 5 I got a free one because they said people never drink that much. Things- My shampoo has become the village shampoo and our nail polish the new accessory that every women and baby had to have.

Personal space- getting to know the community around you isn’t that hard when you wake up to a man and wife and two children staring in your tent wondering how they will all fit in what I consider my little home.

Time- you never need to know when you are going anywhere because you will only really now what time that is when it’s time to go. Always be ready for anything is my life motto now.

Confusion- nobody wants to say no to the westerners. You could ask anyone in this culture anything and the answer will always been yes. I feel like I’m on the movie “yes man” somedays but without the follow through if the yes. You do need to be careful what you ask though because when you ask if the water is clean to drink or if you can buy toilet paper in the closest village I soon realized that the yea was a definite no.

Hygiene-lice… That scary word that no girl with long hair wants to hear. Everyday we see the women sitting into in sand coming and picking lice out of one another’s hair. Apparently lice like clean hair and not dirt hair so I guess my lack of shampoo will help in some way. Who knows I might be one of those racers who come home with a shaved head.

Spice- Eyes watering, belly burning, taste bus tingling spices! India is the land of curry and chilly peppers. Growing up in a family that doesn’t normally eat anything remotely spicy made it a challenge this month to get used to the meals that make me break a sweat. But needles to say the food is amazing and the spicy flavour has only taught me to eat slower.

Quiet time- cows goats and angry mommas are my alarm clock every morning. It’s very normal for the women here to let the whole village know when something has gone wrong or someone has done them wrong. It’s called scolding and is a term I never really experienced until this month. I now feel blessed that as a child I received a few stern words and a time out rather than a half hour session of having my mother chase me through fields screaming with hands flying in every direction.

Freedom to go places- lonely will never be an emotion that will cross my mind while in India. Not only am I used to constant community with my world race family, I am now finding it normal to walk anyplace and find a trail of kids running behind, a herd of goats or people on motorcycles moving at a slow enough pace so that can snap pictures of the white people. A trip to the market wouldn’t be a trip if the district newspaper wasn’t called followed by Beaty eyed staring crowd.

I look like a walking ATM- if people only new that what I own is carried on my back and that I don’t live in a big mansion back in North America but my home is actually a tent. With white skin and blonde hair I have everyone asking if I can give them money to buy cows or support their children in schooling. I would love to be able to supply for all these needs but in reality right now I have less then some of them. But the beautiful thing is money and possessions I may not have but prayer and love is what I get I give and if there is one thing I have learnt in the race it’s the love of God that will sustain you!

Counting the cost.

When your feeling uncomfortable or things don’t seem to go the way you had imagine them, remember that those are the moments that might actually reveal to us the areas that we need to grow in and release control of.

Areas that we might feel entitled to control but really aren’t ours to change.

And you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Hebrews 10-34

When we realize the reward it doesn’t seem like sacrifice.

Do we believe that God knows what he’s doing ?

Do we actually have trust to know that in our loss he has provided immeasurable gain?

We are far to easily pleased – C.S Lewis.

We are eating out of the garbage dump to satisfy our hunger, not realizing we were invited to the 7 course meal at the kings palace.