Eight Days a Week

Just eight days ago I was a worrisome old lady.

I had only received my first paycheck after coming back home, and by now I was supposed to be almost going back to India. I had hardly done all that my human brain had planned on doing in the past two months.

I thought I'd get a job the second I landed, work full-time, make $11 an hour. Pay not only the immigration lawyer, but also the I-130 petition fee, buy a new Macbook Pro, get an external hard drive, a couple iPhones (for my husband and myself), a plane ticket home to India for the 14th of January, and have enough leftover to get clothes and fun things.

Here's where I was really at eight days ago: $30 in my checking account (maybe), nothing saved for the lawyer, petition fee, Macbook Pro, plane ticket, etc. I was hopeless and worried I'd have to stay here much, much longer than anticipated.

I found this really cool website called crowdtilt.com. It's a site where you can put up a fundraising campaign. Want to start a new business? Need to raise money for a charity? Want to have a lot of your friends pitch in for a party you're throwing? Pretty much anything you need contributions for, you can make your own "campaign page" and start inviting people to join your campaign. The best part of it is, if the goal amount is not reached, no one's credit card will be charged.

So, on a whim and a prayer, I made one of those pages eight days ago and lo and behold, God has totally provided in miraculous ways!

Eight days ago Romel and I literally had nothing. Today we have $1,185 toward our $1,500 goal plus enough extra money to pay for the I-130 Petition right away and almost enough for my plane ticket to go back to India! I will be leaving two weeks after originally intending to, but that is better than the extra month I was sure I would have had to stay.

God is so good and we have 12 days left to raise the last $315. I just am in awe of how quickly things have turned around and how truly faithful and good our God is. Sure, we question him a lot, especially me during this tough time. Why do I have to be separated from my husband? Why does it have to cost so much to do immigration the right way? Why couldn't I have gotten a better paying job sooner? Why? WHY? WHY? But each time I'd start to question God I always reminded myself that his ways are higher than my ways. He is on the throne. He has overcome. He will provide in HIS time, not mine. And he did, he has, and he will!

So, please pray about contributing. Pray about joining us in our ministry overseas and also joining us in getting Romel here. Just $315 left to go and I believe it is going to happen.

https://www.crowdtilt.com/campaigns/immigration-lawyer-fees-for-romels-spouse-visa

No matter what; no matter how hard the enemy tries to get us down; to keep us apart; to make us worry, cry, and fight...

God is on our side. What can man do to us? What can the enemy really do?

Just a little something for us all to enjoy. My once-rehearsed version of Titanium by David Guetta feat. Sia. But actually...feat. Sarah! I just love this song.

Happy Birthday to me!

Apparently I am 27 years old today. It still feels like I'm in my early twenties. I mean, does anyone really feel their age? I remember being in 7th grade and thinking, "wow, I'm going to be a sophomore in high school some day and I'm going to be so grown up." Who thinks that? I was such a freak.

Anyway, birthdays have never really been my favorite. Having a birthday two days before Christmas, or as I've always liked to call the 23rd of December: Christmas Eve Eve. Having a birthday today sucked growing up because all my friends were out if town on my actual birthday so is have to have my party a week or two before my actual birthday.

The best parties that have been thrown for me were not birthday parties at all, but going away parties. What does that tell you?

Needless to say, I'm sitting here at a bad coffee shop to pass time until the thrift store across the street opens. I still have some Christmas gifts to buy and who knows, perhaps I just might buy myself another Cosby sweater or vintage shoulder-padded blouse because its my birthday.

Pictured below we have my current look, and yes, I am in a public place right now. Next is the bad coffee, then my current thrift sweater which just might be the most normal one I own to date!

Just Breathe.

My oh my, it has been quite a while since I updated this blog. Sorry for all of you who have been checking every day hoping for a post, as if.

Life has been better.
Life has been worse.

Being in Minnesota with my family is pretty awesome.

Being in Minnesota without my husband is pretty much the loneliest.

I found a job at a hotel here in Maple Grove. It is not the best pay, but I'm working almost full-time and it is really easy stuff. I'm basically a janitor. I clean all the common areas at night. Second shift. I spend six to eight hours alone, cleaning. Often not seeing or talking to a human being for hours. It's kind of perfect.

You see, the more I fly back and forth between India and Minnesota, the more withdrawn I am becoming. I prefer alone time or else I follow my mother around the house like Peaches does.

It is quite depressing to be home during this freezing, snowy weather without the one human being you love most. It's quite depressing falling asleep alone every night and waking up alone every morning. I pray that Romel and I will never have to be separated again.

It's all because of money and immigration stuff. I could go back to India tomorrow, but I don't have a plane ticket and the sole purpose of my being here is to pay the lawyer so that we can finally start this process.

Romel is with his family in Nagaland right now experiencing the same things as I am, minus the working part. Getting a job in India without a college degree is pretty pointless because you will literally be paid next to nothing. So, it's up to me to be the bread winner this season of our lives and that is hard for Romel, as the man, to swallow. I don't like it either, but what else can I do?

I feel like I'm not quite trusting God like I should be. I haven't quite let go of this control that I think I have over my life.

All I am asking for is money, but I hate only asking for money. I feel like I only approach the Amazing, Perfect, Magnificent Creator and King with stuff I need and not with anything to offer or give up. I got a lot of stuff to give up but I'm like a child holding onto my little toys so very tightly.

Sigh.

Just some pictures of two cross-cultural lovers.

Help get this handsome devil to Minnesota!

Packing is a Pain

Well now, look at how adorable my husband looks. Taking a little nap while I'm finishing up cleaning and packing. 

I can't believe that I am leaving tomorrow night. I knew this day would come, but never thought it would come so fast. This is my sad face.

Sad because I won't be with my husband for a little over two months. Sad because I won't be able to eat real Indian food for over two months. Sad because I really will miss this place.

As much as I can get frustrated with this country, I friggen' love it. I'm going to miss the simple things and the cheap food. I'll miss the beautiful women and adorable children. I'll miss seeing them playing cricket in the streets. I'll miss old uncles going for walks and laughing with missing teeth. I'll miss all my dear friends that are mostly over here now. My how things have changed in the past four years. My world has completely flip-turned, upside down, as the Fresh Prince once said.

However, things need to be changed once in a while and it's about that time for me to once again walk on U.S. soil and be with my family. Eleven months is a long time to be gone. In fact, I called my dad on the phone the other day and I can't even describe the feeling I got listening to his voice. I haven't heard his voice in too long. Usually I call my mom or skype my mom, not because I don't like my Dad or anything, but my mom's always around and my mom loves to talk. My dad however, is just like me, you call for a purpose, you don't call to just "chat" and when we're on the phone with each other it's short, and full of long pauses. It's like "hi" "how are you?" "that's great, I'm fine" "anything new?" "No? Cool." "well, have a good night." When we are face to face however, we can talk for hours, and it's that I'm looking forward to.

Sometimes I really do feel like my life is in a suitcase. And I just finally got used to living with my husband.

Sure I'd like a Smartphone, but it's not THAT important.

I just found out that J.K. Rowling has a new book out and I have absolutely no money to buy it. Oh the life of a volunteer worker in a third world country! People sometimes are shocked (or as many Indian people from the Northeast say, "socked") when they find out that not only am I a teacher of college students, but I am paying to be here. I am paying money to teach instead of being paid money to teach.

Some people are seriously nervous or apprehensive about "sponsoring" missionaries or people "in the ministry" blah blah blah, but honestly, it's not like they have to just give money to someone on the other side of the world. Sure, that's the best way to support someone like me, but it's not the only way. We have just enough money to barely cover our rent, electricity, gas, and food each month. Literally, there is not much money left over after the necessities are covered, so we don't get to really go see movies, go out to dinner, pay for cable TV, or even really put more than $1 on our pre-paid cell phones once a month. Trust me, $1 goes a long way and we don't usually run out, the only person who ever calls me is my husband anyway. I bet I get 4 phone calls in a week.




Anyway, giving money is not the only way to support a missionary or volunteer worker. You can give them an amazon gift card or itunes gift card. You can send them a care package full of goodies from home that are definitely not available where they are. You can write them an e-mail. You can buy or transfer Skymiles to their account. You can make an appointment to Skype call them. You can pray for them and write down your prayers and send them. You can actually go and visit them where they are working; see what they do every day; get your hands dirty for a week or two. When they come home on hiatus you can buy them coffee, food, a cell phone, books, or anything really. Or, ask them what they really need right now. There are so many things you can do for them that isn't just giving them cash. 

Needless to say, we don't have money to buy music, movies, or books for my kindle as we would like. We can't afford to buy the new iPhone 5 or even an old, used iPhone 3gs. We cannot afford to have "date nights" unless we stay inside and cook what food we already have in the house. We cannot afford to buy that awesome new shirt we saw in Pune on Friday.

We can't afford the things this world classifies as "necessity" and that's totally fine. Sure, it can be depressing when I log into Facebook and see a friend who bought a brand new iPad then a few days later a new snowboard and then a new car or a friend who's going on a vacation, again, across the country or overseas. Seeing people go to concert after concert or constantly uploading photos to instagram which means they must have an iPhone or Droid or some other smartphone. I almost want to delete my facebook account just so that I don't have to see how my "friends" spend their money as I am over here struggling to pay the rent and eat healthy food every day.

The hills near our home. It is quite beautiful here.

Ahh, Pune train station. Busy, smelly, and dirty.

But, this is where I am supposed to be. I know that this is what I am supposed to be doing. Living in India, with my wonderful husband, struggling to get by. I think I would not trade it for anyone else's life. I mean, we get to truly trust in God. We truly have to trust that he will provide everything we need.  We don't have a job to depend on. We don't have family money to depend on. We don't even have ourselves to depend on. We have only God and that's enough. Our lives are not full by the standards of most people on earth, but they are full by the standards of the Kingdom of God and that's enough for me.

Culture Shock, You Really Have No Idea.

It's quite amazing that I can be in Mumbai at one moment and then just 22 hours and 40 minutes later I can be in Minneapolis. I've been on trains across India that took longer than that to reach my destination. I once rode on a train for almost three days. On one train. However, I prefer train travel to plane travel because at least on a train in India I can lay down, and it costs $60 dollars for a three-day train journey. I absolutely cannot sleep on planes. It's impossible. I just can't sleep sitting up. The fact that the seats on an airplane "recline" is yet to be proven true.

Indian people amaze me though. They can sleep in any position. They sleep laying down. They sleep sitting up on the local train or on buses. They sleep crouching against a wall. I'm sure they even sleep standing up sometimes. They can also sleep through any disturbance or noise. I can't fall asleep if there's a ticking clock in my bedroom, but they can sleep through train horns, dogs barking all night, the call to prayer, fire crackers and wedding celebrations that last long into the night, and if they're sleeping while traveling they can even sleep through bumps, turns, talking, and shouting. 

I wish that I had acquired that aspect of being Indian. Sadly, I will have to busy myself with books and the in-flight movie selection to wile away the hours because Lord knows I don't want to talk to anyone and there is no way I'd ever fly first-class and be able to lay down unless God decides to do a miracle.

I remember the first time I came to India, there was no one sitting in the same row as me for the 17 hour flight. It was like I got onto a plane that was actually heaven. I got to lay out over the seats and actually sleep for most of the flight. Unfortunately, these days planes are getting more and more packed. There's not even enough room for all our over-head luggage and we're forced to check our carry-ons at the gate. Fortunately, they usually check them for free since they absolutely need to and that's how I get rid of extra baggage I didn't want to fork over $200 to check when I checked-in. 

I also discovered a way to eat really healthy, fresh food while flying. I am not a fan of airplane food and I'm sure it's not that healthy for you. When I book my tickets I say that I require gluten-free meals because firstly, if you have a special meal you get your food before everyone else, and secondly, in the gluten-free meals you get fresh veggies and fresh fruits and rice cakes and other fresh items without all the carbohydrates. Delicious and healthy! What more could you ask for on a stuffy, 9 hour flight? Would it be weird though to request a gluten-free meal and then drink beer on the flight?

As much as I hate flying, I have become quite good at it as the years go by. I am now able to get onto the flight with little to no carry-on luggage and have not had an overweight suitcase in years. 

The first most shocking thing for me flying to the U.S. after being in India is seeing all the white people. At least in Amsterdam there will be a lot of white people, but they won't be speaking English necessarily. It's when I land in Minneapolis that I almost start weeping. I almost weep because I can finally understand what everyone is saying around me. I almost weep because I see Starbucks and Caribou Coffee (not that I like Caribou, but it's familiar). I almost weep because things are in U.S. dollars again and too expensive. I almost weep because everyone has an iPhone or iPad or other hundreds of gadgets they're carrying around the airport and know that if they sold them I could pay rent for two months. I almost weep because I feel so out of place yet it feels so familiar.

The last time I was in Minnesota was in November of last year and so this is the longest I've ever been away from "home." I am curious to see if I will encounter more culture shock this time than ever before.

These are all the things I have to look forward to in a few weeks when I again make the trip from India to the United States.