Looking in the Mirror

So far, these posts have largely been about my adventures in Nepal - the things I've done or discovered since being here.

This might be a bit of a change of pace, but I'm gonna share a few more serious thoughts that I've been having lately.

I don't know if you have days (weeks or maybe even months) like this, but over the last week or so, I've been feeling kinda down on myself.

I think it started when I read this book that made me realise that sometimes (or maybe even more than sometimes), I'm afraid of doing new things out of fear of failure. I don't want to look like an idiot, so in order to protect my pride, I don't even give things a go. I fear people's judgement of me more than I should and it stops me from stepping out and doing things.

Then, last weekend, I went to this massive festival where there was lots of music and people dancing and the friends I went with were really getting into it and dancing along but I felt kinda uncomfortable and out of place. So I started to question myself - Why aren't I more of a fun person? Why do I find it so hard to let loose? Why isn't my personality more carefree?

I've also had experiences where I've shared my opinions or made contributions to a discussion and have felt like those opinions have been dismissed as stupid. I'm not usually one to say much in meetings anyway, but this has made me more self conscious about sharing my thoughts in the future.

And so, as I've been feeling like rubbish and questioning my value, there's been a battle in my mind about where I find my identity.

If I were to 'look in the mirror of the world', what the world tells me I am (or what I perceive it to be telling me) will stare back at me. Unfortunately, people say or do things that unknowingly make me feel dumb and if I keep basing my identity on how others make me feel, then I'll probably continue to feel crap about myself and my self esteem will get a beating.

If, however, I 'look into the mirror of the Word', all the things that God says I am as a new creation in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17) will stare back at me, and it becomes less about me and how I'm feeling, and more about who I am because of Him. When I look at who God, in His Word, says that I am, even if I don't feel loved or valued or important to anyone, I know that I am (Ephesians 1) because I believe that God's Word is Truth, and truth trumps feelings any day.

In James 1, the Bible talks about looking at yourself in the mirror, then going away and forgetting what you look like. I've read verses about 'Who I Am In Christ' so many times, yet I still forget what my true identity is and let my feelings dictate how I see myself. To make sure I get an accurate reflection of who I really am, I need to continue going back to the 'mirror of God's Word'.

It is a battle, and there are times when I have to fight harder than at other times, but I know that to be victorious, I need to continually be transformed by the renewing of my mind (Romans 12:2)

Life is an adventure and an incredible journey with God...thanks for sharing in it with me!

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Food Fail

It's been awhile since I've blogged, partly cos I'm not sure what to write about and partly cos I've been busy and haven't had time to, but today I had a bit of a fail which I thought would be funny to tell you about.

At school there is someone who cooks lunch every day for the teachers. Every 2 weeks, she puts out the menu for the following 2 weeks, I look at what's being served then go to the accounts office and order my lunch (it's 85 rupees if pre-ordered and 100 rupees if ordered on the day so I usually try to pre-order). Most of the food she cooks is really good but there are a few dishes that I avoid if possible.

One of those meals is this bean and paneer dish which I don't particularly like. 'What's paneer?' you may be asking - good question...I don't really know. It's some kind of cheese with a really weird texture that is often put in curries or as a topping on pizzas.

So over the past few months, whenever the menu's come out I've looked to see if I could spot the dish but I didn't know what it was called which made it a bit hard to avoid it.

One day, I went to the cook and asked her what the dish is called. In response she said 'Oh, do you like that one? I'll cook it for you soon!'. Gauging her enthusiasm, I couldn't well tell her that I didn't like the dish so just smiled and went away.

A few weeks ago when the menu came out, I saw that this paneer dish was on the menu so I made of point of not ordering it and hoped that the cook wouldn't notice.

Sucks to be me - she noticed.

Today (the day the dish was to be served) I was in the staffroom at morning tea time and she called me into the kitchen, saying 'look what's for lunch today! Do you want to order it?!' She then went over to the lunch order list and pointed out that I hadn't ordered lunch for today. Awkward since she could see that I'd ordered lunch for every other day for the past 2 weeks!

Then, at lunch when I went to get my food, she kept saying 'this is Sandra's best meal!' and gave me a bigger than usual serving.

FAIL!!!!!

Oh well...looking forward to more adventures ahead!

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Everything Comes Down To Poo

Almost every day, I have a conversation about poo.

In a country where getting sick is a regular occurance, just asking someone 'how are you?' will often lead onto a conversation about poo.

For most people, soon after arriving here, whether it's from eating different food, not washing their hands thoroughly, drinking contaminated water or just simply breathing, they will encounter a sick stomach.

It's amazing how well I've gotten to know my stomach and it's different ways of churning to tell what type of stomach bug I've got.

The other week, I was talking to a friend about my upset stomach and said to her 'it's not diarrhea sick, more a crampy sick'. She immediately knew what I was talking about. Seems that no matter how your stomach feels, someone else has felt the same way before (kinda comforting actually!).

A couple of times a week, I do some in-class assistance where I help a teacher with classroom management. There has been more than one occassion where that teacher has leaned over to me in the middle of class and given me an update on the state of his poo.

Or even better, a few weeks ago when one of my students said 'Miss Oh, I can't do this work - I'm not feeling well. I was even late for assembly this morning', his friend promptly turned around and said 'that's cos he was taking a dump!'

I guess what they say on Scrubs is true...Everything comes down to poo...

Looking forward to more (poo) adventures ahead!

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Thailand - The Land Of Smiles

I recently returned from a week in Thailand which was fantastic. I went there for a 2 day (Monday-Tuesday) teacher training conference, but because of the cost of my flights (my school wanted to send us on the cheapest possible flights), I ended up arriving the Friday before the conference and left the Friday after, which meant more time for eating, shopping and hanging out at the beach - AWESOME!

When we arrived, we were in awe of the tall skyscrapers, efficient public transport and how clean the streets were. Everywhere you turned, there was something to buy - food, clothes, souvenirs. It was fun to be in a place so different to Kathmandu, but at the same time, I realised how much more I wanted to buy because it was there, not because I needed it. In the short week I was in Bangkok, I became aware of how easy it is to consume for the sake of consuming.

Although I've returned to a country with no electricity for 14 hours a day, a limited water supply and dirty streets, there's something comforting about the simplicity of life here. I'm sure that KISC is nowhere near as fancy as the schools the other conference participants teach at, but I'm glad to be teaching in a place where earning money isn't why the teachers are there (90% of the staff are missionaries of volunteers) - we're there to love the kids with the love of Christ by providing them with a quality education.

Looking forward to many adventures ahead! :-)

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Has it really been 2 months?

I can't believe time has gone by so fast and I've been so slack in not posting for so long!

So much has happened in the past 2 months that I'd love to tell you about:

CHRISTMAS:

Christmas was spent eating lots of food and enjoying carol services. Being in a Hindu country meant that not that many people celebrated Christmas...it was mainly the Christians and other expats, so the focus was really on the birth of Jesus which was awesome.

CHITWAN

As we had school holidays over Christmas and New Years, some friends and I headed to the terai (the lower plains of Nepal) and spent some time in Chitwan National Park. It was lots of fun - riding elephants, doing a jungle walk and taking a nice canoe ride down a river. We saw lots of cool animals such as rhinos, deer and crocodiles, but unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to see a tiger (boo). The highlight for me was when we got to bathe with the elephants. It was fun sitting on the elephant bear back and have it spray water up at us from its trunk.

TEACHING AT KISC

School started a month ago and I've been busy trying to find my feet as I take small groups of students for ESL classes, sit into classes as a teacher's aid, as well as take care of the Grade 9s as their homeroom teacher. I've also been leading the Christian group that meets on Thursdays at lunchtime. I've been enjoying getting to know the students, although handing out detentions and having to discipline them is all pretty new to me. KISC is a really great environment to work and I thank God for the opportunities I've already had to share Jesus with some of these kids.

NEPALI CLASSES

After arriving in Nepal, I did a 3 month Language and Orientation Program run by KISC. After I finished the program and started teaching at KISC, I decided to continue with my language lessons twice a week at a different language school. I only started there 2 weeks ago, and last week was REALLY cool! My language teacher, who's not a Christian, started asking me ALL these questions about the Bible and Jesus. He's been to church a few times before and is VERY open to knowing more about why Jesus came. Please pray that we'll continue to have conversations about Jesus and that God will give me wisdom and the words to say. Pray also that what's communicated will be clear, as his English isn't that great, and my Nepali is definitely not at a very high standard.

This year has started out really well and I'm SUPER excited about all that God's gonna do in and through me during the year.

Looking forward to many adventures ahead! xoxo

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