Regent Law in India

Sorry for the Delay . . .

2010-11-10T16:20:00.000-08:00

Greetings! It has been a while. First, in case you were wondering, I did actually make it back from India. I am now back in Virginia and well into my third, and final, year of law school. I was asked at the beginning of this year to continue blogging as a student and have failed miserably in fulfilling that request. Before I give an update on life, I must thank you all for reading my blog this summer. It means a lot to me that you would take time out of your busy day to read my blog.

I have constantly put off writing because I wanted to give a nice summary of all that I learned in India this summer. I have come to realize that I am still learning from my experience and a nice, concise, clear summary probably will not be a reality in the near future. It is hard to put into words how spending six weeks in beautiful India has forever changed my heart.

Upon my return from India, I went on an adventure trip with the young professionals group from my church here in Virginia Beach. We went white water rafting, cliff jumping, bridge jumping, rock climbing, rappelling, and waterfall sliding. The highlight of my trip was finding enough courage to do a front flip off of the bridge into the river. After spending a few wonderful weeks with family and friends back in Arizona, I am now back in the rhythm of law school. It has been a busy, but good semester. I have survived another round of binders and neurotic check with Law Review, helped plan an awesome Symposium, done fairly well at keeping up with my school work, learned a lot, and grown deeper in love with God.

I must also mention that this semester has been one of my most challenging. Though it is slowly winding down, I am beginning to see how many wonderful and challenging lessons God had for me (and still has for me) through it all. I have learned more about obedience, trust, reliance, hope, love, discernment, and peace. Life is truly beautiful! Lately, I have been pondering over Lamentations 3 and Psalms 13. Such beautiful passages of trusting in the Lord when things are challenging, tiring, or overwhelming. I love how the Psalmist cries out to God in the beginning, but then ends with these beautiful words: "But I trust in your unfailing love, my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me." Psalms 13:5-6.

I pray that the Lord would be speaking his words of love to you today. Thank you for reading and I hope to be more consistent in my posts in the future. Have a wonderful day!

The Time has Come to Bid Pune Farewell

2010-07-14T11:20:00.000-07:00

Greetings to you all as I write what will be my last post from India. I cannot believe my time here has almost come to an end! Though I am not leaving India until Monday, I will be leaving Pune tomorrow evening to go to Bombay for the weekend and will not have internet access where I am staying (meaning no more posts until I return home). There really is no other word to describe parting with this amazing place than bittersweet. I am excited to come home and see my family and friends, but sad to leave the new friends I have made here. Everyone has been asking me when I will come back and I just say, Lord willing I will be back someday for I have truly fallen in love with this place and its people.

Though my last post was devoted to my trip to Ooty, I had another amazing experience on Sunday afternoon that I wish to share with you. I had the opportunity to go on a hike with some people from the church I have been attending. It was grand. The view from the top was amazing! It was such a blessings to just enjoy God's creation and have good fellowship. At the left is a photo of me at the top of the mountain/hill we climbed. It was windy, beautiful, and just glorious at the top!

After the hike, I went with a few of the guys to a "reasonably safe" place to have some food. I must say that I was a bit skeptical when I was asked if I wanted to try food at a place that was "reasonably safe." But, they told me that my Indian experience was not complete until I had panu puri and behl puri, so I said a little prayer of protection for my tummy and in we went! Essentially, panu puri is a little fried shell type thing filled with a water/spice combination. Behl puri is a mixture of stuff that is a bit spicy. The photo at the left is me and two of the guys eating behl puri and, no, I did not get sick :-)

The past few days have been spent finishing the projects that I have been working on for Freedom Firm, seeing and doing those last few things I had wanted to do, purchasing a few more gifts, and saying goodbye to new, but dear friends. There would not be enough space for me to share about all the amazing people I have met here. I feel truly blessed to have met each and every one of them. They will forever be in my heart!

I will share one story from today before I part with you. I went to MG Road to purchase a few gifts and while I was walking around I was approached by a little boy. I had my camera out taking pictures of street scenes and he pointed at it and then gave me a big smile. So, I took his picture and showed it to him. He giggled with glee. Then his mom came over and pointed to my camera and then to her and her son, smiling all the while. So, I took their photo together and showed them. The little boy clapped happily at this one. It was such a precious moment. Though we did not speak the same language, she communicated to me where she was from. We waved goodbye to one another as I left. The picture at the left is the woman and her son. So beautiful!

As much as I would love to share more, I must get to bed. I will write again a few more times after I have returned home sharing more about my experience. I thank you all for sharing this journey with me and cannot wait to see you when I return to the the States. May you live life abundantly this day and every day!

2010-07-11T03:26:00.000-07:00

Greetings again! I do not even know where to begin. This past week was amazing. I arrived in Southern India late Tuesday night with enough time to meet my wonderful hostess Christianna and go to bed. Christianna is a volunteer with Freedom Firm's aftercare program. I went South to visit Freedom Firm's aftercare program and spend time with the rescued girls who are a part of it.

First, a little about the aftercare program. The aftercare program consists of two aspects: education and job experience. When the girls first come into the program, they attend school during the morning and work at their paying job of jewelry making during the afternoon. Another part of the program is participating in horse therapy. Once they have successfully graduated from the program, they have the option to continue their job making jewelry. One of the great things about this program is that it not only teaches them book knowledge, but real life skills.

Most of my time was spent with three of the girls who are either involved in the program or have graduated and are now participating in the jewelry making business. These girls are so beautiful! Each one had been rescued from a brothel where they were forced into prostitution. Each one has a story that breaks my heart. One of the girls watched her mother burn to death while she was young and was then forced into prostitution by her own grandmother. Another was sold into prostitution by her "boyfriend" after leaving home due to harsh conditions there. The girls are so strong! They have been through so much, yet they have such joy as well. God is slowly redeeming them and restoring them and that is so beautiful! My favorite thing while I was there was to see them smile. This work can be challenging and frustrating at times, but seeing the girls, hugging them, talking with them, and just sharing life with them makes it all worth it!

Though I cannot post a picture of their faces, I will share a picture of their feet alongside my own. Each of us have had different walks of life, but have shared a part of our journey together! I know I am forever changed by visiting the aftercare facilities and I trust they are as well. Their names and faces are forever etched on my heart :-)

Besides spending time with these amazing girls, I also had many other great and somewhat interesting experiences. On my drive into the city, I saw a mama and a baby elephant chilling on the side of the road. Then on my way back to the airport on Saturday, I saw monkeys, lots and lots of monkeys. They come to chill on the side of the road during the day because people feed them, which is actually encouraged because they would otherwise come into the villages and towns looking for food and can become violent.

Here is a picture of one of the monkeys chilling on the side of the road that I took at a safe distance. I was told they were dangerous monkeys and then wondered why my driver, shortly after informing me of this fact, then pulled over to the side of the road to look at them. I was close enough that I could have probably reached out and touched them! They are so cute, but apparently their cuteness is deceiving because underneath lies a potentially dangerous animal. This was the first time I have seen elephants and monkeys that are truly wild!

The drive was also absolutely gorgeous! Here are two pictures from my drive back down the mountains to the airport. The views were just breathtaking!

Lastly, I have one more story I will share about my trip. This little story is entitled the Two Americans v. the Big Nasty Spider. I was actually in my room when Christianna came in and asked how I felt about spiders. We both discovered that we are both terrified of spiders. Well, this posed a problem because we were the only two in the house that were awake (the gardener was asleep upstairs, but not for long . . .). I went into her room to see this spider for moral support and it was sooooo ugly. It had a little body and long legs covering about the area of a tea cup plate! So gross! Well, we both decided that neither of us would sleep with that thing alive in the house. So, it must be killed, but neither of us would get close to kill it, so I devised a plan to use a longer object to try to jab at it to kill it. I found a badminton racket, taped a box to the end to expand the area of our weapon for a greater chance of success, and then spent about twenty minutes getting the courage to get close enough to jab at it. Well, after lots of screaming, I jabbed it and got it! But its legs were still moving. Eventually it stopped moving and I then scraped it into a wastebasket. I decided to make sure he was dead by beating him with our weapon a few more times. It was at this point that Chrstianna said my name, which made me think she saw another spider, so I screamed and ran, which made her think I had seen another spider, so she screamed. Needless to say, after about a half hour or so, the two American girls prevailed against the big nasty spider! We do have pictures of me killing the spider and I promise that when I get them from Christianna, I will post them. For now, a picture of the spider is all I have, which can be seen alongside this story. He was so ugly!

Though there is so much more to share, I must leave you for now. Perhaps another post shall follow soon! Have a most blessed day!

Life is Truly Beautiful

2010-07-04T08:04:00.000-07:00

Greetings again to you all! Today has just become a work from home day for me. The opposition parties here in India have called for a bandh, which is basically a strike. They have asked for public transportation to not run and for businesses, schools, shops, and restaurants to close until 4:30/5 pm today to protest the rise in fuel costs and inflation. We heard this morning that, unfortunately, some of the protesters had turned violent in some areas. So, even though it is supposed to be a peaceful protest, for the sake of safety, we have decided to stay home until the bandh is lifted this afternoon.

This past week was a full week! Most of the week was spent at the office continuing to learn about the law, the cases Freedom Firm is working on, and just how they work to eliminate child prostitution. I have learned a great deal about the challenges that are faced daily in doing this type of work as well as the great joys when a girl is rescued and successfully testifies against her trafficker and/or brothel keeper. This week we were able to see fruit of all the hard work they have done. If you remember, I told you of Jane in my post on June 7. We heard this week that the judge convicted her trafficker! It is moments like these that make it all worth it. To see a beautiful girl be rescued from such a horrific life, be restored to her family, and see her trafficker convicted. I am so blessed to have been able to be here for a part of her story.

After talking a great deal about Freedom Firm's team, I finally have a picture to share with you all. This is the team. We were celebrating a birthday on Friday, so here they all are enjoying yummy cake. I love this group of people! They have been such a blessing to me and have taught me so much, not just about the work they do, but about life as well! Everyday we all eat lunch together and share our lives with one another. I will miss these times and these people very much when I go, but they will forever be in my heart!

As for life in general, I had a very full week! Rupali, the awesome young woman I am staying with, left yesterday to go to Bombay for a new job. So, this past week, I spent most of my evenings out and about doing things with her. We had dinner at a wonderful Italian place Wednesday night, went to a fusion concert of one of our friend's on Thursday night, and watched the World Cup games on Saturday night with a bunch of friends. Such a full and fun week! At the left is a picture of Rupali and me at our friend's concert. I have been blessed by living with her and will miss her a great deal!

This past weekend, I also had a great opportunity to travel out to a village in the countryside just south of Pune. The city is called Saswad and it is a beautiful, historic city where you can still see the remnants of what once was a a great fortress surrounding most of the city. While we were there, I also had the opportunity to eat an Indian hamburger, which is a potatoe and spice patty that is fried and put on a dinner roll type of bread. At the left is a picture of me eating mine. It was quite tasty!

We also had the opportunity to go explore an old fort on the top of a mountain close to Saswad. It was a rainy/cloudy day and the clouds were covering the mountain top making for a nice misty hike. Here is a picture of us making our way back down from the fort. I just kept thinking how eerie it would be if you were guarding the fort on a day like this not knowing what may be below.

On our way back to Pune, we stopped at this overlook where you could see most of Pune. It is such a big city! Here is a photo of me with the city stretching out behind me. If you notice, I am wearing my rain jacket. For the first time since being here, I was actually a little chilly! Pune is down in a valley and so is Saswad and they are separated by a mountain range. So, this lookout is up on side of the mountain range coming down into Pune. Thus, the elevation along with the wind and clouds made it a bit chilly!

I must also wish you all a Happy (belated) 4th of July! I absolutely love fireworks and was sad to miss them this year, but I had the wonderful opportunity to gather with some other Americans (and a few locals with American ties) to celebrate the 4th. I have not been around that many American since arriving here and it was great fun to just chat about life with one another. I even met another young woman from the Valley of the Sun! It is so amazing that all the way in India, I found another gal from Arizona. Though I love India, I am truly proud of my own heritage and proud to be an American. A few of us even sang our national anthem for everyone after church yesterday!

I know this post was long and thank you for hanging in there to read all of it. I want to mention one more thing. This upcoming week, I will be traveling to Southern India to another Freedom Firm office where I will be able to meet some of the rescued girls who are at an aftercare facility there. I am very excited for this opportunity and ask prayer for safe travels as I will be gone from Tuesday through Saturday. I thank you all for your encouragement and support! I wish you all a most blessed day!

Learning to Love as God Loves

2010-06-27T10:17:00.000-07:00

Greetings! I have officially reached my half way point. I have been here for three weeks and I have another three weeks to go. I can't believe how quickly time is passing now!

This past week was a good, but challenging week! Though I cannot go into too much detail here, I had the opportunity to really learn how the investigations team at Freedom Firm works. I also learned a great deal about how the girls are trafficked and about their life in the red light area. My heart continues to break for these beautiful girls, but Freedom Firm's team and the work they do show me that there is hope and light in the midst of such darkness. It is truly beautiful!

This past weekend I ventured out on my own to do some touristy things. Though I am the tourist here, I often feel like I am actually the one on display. Whenever I go anywhere, I get stared at. Not only do people stare, but they want to talk to me and ask me questions. They ask me my name, where I am from, if I like India, if I like Pune, and if this is my first visit to India. I have even been asked by locals if they could take my picture! This seemed a bit odd to me at first, but then again, it is also neat that they are so interested in who I am and how I like their country. It is kind of like a constant welcoming committee!

Here are some photos from my adventures this weekend:

This first picture is the front of Shaniwar Wada, which is a large fort/palace in the heart of the city. It was gutted by a fire inside some time ago, but you can still the foundations for what once, I am sure, was a grand palace. Due to the beautiful trees and area inside, it still remains a popular place for locals to come and enjoy its beauty.

This picture is me inside the fort/palace complex in front of a garden area wearing a shirt I purchased here. On a side note, I love the textiles here, they are absolutely gorgeous! The scarves, the shirts, the pillow cases, the wall hangings! I love them all! Now, back to the photo. I asked some people to take a photo for me after they stopped to inquire where I was from and how I like India.

This is a street scene during my random wanderings. I decided to travel by foot as much as I was able to so I could truly see the city. Well, the map I had and the actual layout of all the streets were not exactly easy to follow. The result was a lot of walking, a lot of asking directions, and a lot of sweating. But, I was successful in finding everything I had hoped to see (and so much more). I now have oodles of street scenes. This intersection was the result of walking the wrong way for too long in search of another palace buried in the middle of the city. On another side note, I also did some shopping along the way. :-) I cannot help but wander in and out of the shops just to see what they have, which occasionally results in a great find.

This next series of pictures were taken of and around the Aga Khan Palace. This palace served as an internment location for Gandhi, his wife, and secretary for almost two years following the launch of the Quit India Movement. Some of Gandhi's ashes are also enshrined there as well.

This first one is a picture of the side of the palace. There a beautiful gardens surrounding the palace, making it hard to get a frontal shot, but also making it a wonderful place to sit and enjoy God's creation!

This next one is a picture of part of the garden. The trees are so big, full, and gorgeous. I enjoyed just sitting there for a while listening to the wind blow through the trees thinking of how great my God is!

Finally, this is me in front of one of the beautiful walkways in the garden area. Again, a nice passerby took my photo for me (and also asked a few questions).

There is such beauty in this place. Even though adjusting to India has been a challenge for me, God has opened my heart and mind to see this land and its people as He does. The people here are so welcoming and a joy to be around. The church I am going to has lunch together after every service. They all have welcomed me with open arms and it feels like I have been going there for a few years rather than a few weeks. Though I am excited to come home in a few weeks and see my dear family and friends, I am going to enjoy every minute left I have in this beautiful country! Until next time, have a most blessed day!

There Goes the Crazy White Girl

2010-06-19T04:27:00.000-07:00

Greetings! This past week started out a little rough, but ended very well. I woke up Monday and was not feeling so well. Not sure if I ate something bad or if I caught a little bug that is going around here. Either way, I am feeling much better now, praise the Lord!

I had the opportunity to go to court here in Pune again this past week. Three girls were supposed to testify, but the accused did not arrive until after the case had been called and another date set. As I looked at these beautiful girls, I could not help but smile. Everyday I have the opportunity to see people working to rescue and restore these girls and prosecute their traffickers. The love and passion they have for these girls just radiates from them. I love getting up and going into the office each day because each day is a new adventure full of opportunities to learn more about Freedom Firm, its work, and about India in general.

On another note, I think I am finally getting accustomed to living here in India, at least for the most part. I learn a little bit each day about living here. One of the more important lessons from this past week was negotiating with the rickshaw drivers. I don't know how to describe a rickshaw, so here is a picture of one (blurry, but it will do):
Since I am obviously a foreigner, the drivers try to ask me to pay more than it should cost to take me where I want to go. So, you will find a crazy white girl arguing with the drivers over the cost of the ride and if they just will not budge, then I just tell them I will walk and I walk off. (Fortunately, I somewhat know my way around now, so this is not much of a dilemma for me and walking is not going to hurt me either.) At that point, they usually either turn the meter on, which they are supposed to do in the first place, or offer a better rate. If either of those does not happen, then I find another driver who is more honest and cooperative. It usually does not take too long because there is a plethora of rickshaws here. I do find it a little entertaining when they look at me like I am crazy as I walk off down the road. Perhaps I am.

I ventured out on my own today to wander and see the city. This is a picture of MG Road. It has lots of little shops along it that I enjoyed roaming through as well as making a few purchases. This picture is also a great example of the roads and busyness that goes on everywhere here!

This is a picture of homes above the shops on MG Road. I also learned today why people (and the rickshaw drivers) think I am crazy for walking. The combination of heat, humidity, and a lot of walking equals one hot, sweaty, and tired white girl. But, I enjoyed every moment of wandering because it allowed me to truly see a part of the city and continue to learn my way around.

Everyday continues to provide many new challenges for me as I live in a culture and place so different from my own. God has taught me so much in the two weeks I have been here and I look forward to the many more lessons and challenges he has in store for me! Wishing you all a blessed day from India!

Learning to Live in India

2010-06-13T02:14:00.000-07:00

Greetings friends and family! I have now been in India for over a week! I learned a very valuable lesson on Thursday for living in Pune, India. If you need electricity for anything, be sure it gets done before Thursday or when you have it. There is a power shortage here and Thursday is the day they turn it off for a chunk of the day or parts of the day. This means no fans, no lights, and no internet while it is out. I then learned on Friday that, really, the electricity can go on and off at anytime. It is sometimes off for a few minutes, sometimes for a half hour, maybe even longer. Friday morning it would go off about every half hour, stay off for about a half hour, come back on, and then repeat. Eventually it comes back on on a semi-consistent basis. So, I learn to adjust accordingly. For example, the power went out in the middle of a skype call with my mom on Friday night. So, I got out my head lamp and a book, curled up on my bed and read while listening to the rain outside.

I am slowly slowly adjusting to life here in India. It has cooled down a little bit since last weekend since the rains have begun, but it is also more humid. My room is getting down to the low 80's at night, which is a huge blessing.

My first week at Freedom Firm was great. During the remainder of the week, (my last post included the beginning) I had the opportunity to learn about how investigations are done and to meet some of the investigators. For security reasons, I cannot share much about who they are or how they do their investigations, but I can share that all of the workers here have a heart for these girls and desire to provide assistance to them to bring them out of a life of prostitution. It is a very beautiful thing to listen to this team come together to discuss and plan how to rescue these girls. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to observe and help the firm in any way I am able.

This weekend, I had the opportunity to spend time with Rupali. Yesterday, we went to MG Road, which is a main road with lots of shops. We went to a mall and wandered as well. I also got to go out to a nice little restaurant with her and one of her friends, who goes by Bones. We had a great lunch and I learned that I am not to trust anything Bones says (at least not about what I should do in India) because he likes to tease me a lot since I do not know the customs here by telling me lies. Rupali and her friends have been great and so welcoming to me. Two of them came over late last night and when I walked around the corner into the living room, they started calling my name out, saying hi, and asking me how I was doing. Rupali and I also went to a movie last night. Indians like to go to the movies. So, I decided if that is what they do, then that is what I will do here too. I decided I understood why, first, it is not that expensive (200 Rupees/about $4) and it is air conditioned! I was very happy about that.

It is crazy to think that as my day is winding down, yours is just beginning. May you all have a most blessed day and again, I would love to hear from you if you have time. I miss you all! Until next time . . .

2010-06-07T09:58:00.000-07:00

Three days have passed since my last post and for that I am sorry. My past few days have been packed full! I was able to go to church on Sunday with Rupali and was really blessed by being there. I am really excited to go back this weekend. After church, I had the opportunity to eat lunch with everyone and hang out at a coffee shop with some of the girls from the church (Tanya, Naeisha, and Caroline).

Yesterday was a good, but hard day for me. We drove to Bombay because one of the girls was to testify in court there. Jane (name changed for confidentiality) is a beautiful and brave girl. When she was fourteen, her sister-in-law's sister promised to take her to work in a factory where she would be paid well. Instead, she was taken to a brothel in a red light district far from home. After about a month, she was rescued from the brothel. Jane did an amazing job testifying in front of her trafficker and others present (some known to also be involved in trafficking) in the courtroom there to support the accused.

For so long, I have only read about these girls, perhaps seen a picture or two of them. But, to come face to face with one of them, to put a real face to a story, both breaks and uplifts my heart. I will never be able to comprehend how someone could do such a thing to this precious child. But I am so encouraged that there are people out there who will fight for them. It gives me hope in the face of pure evil, a hope that I need to have.

Today (Tuesday) I was able to go into the office and just begin to learn about what they do and how they do it. I began a project helping to organize relevant caselaw. I was also able to go to the courts here in Pune for a meeting and a quick tour around the court buildings.

I am sure some people who read this, if anyone does, are wondering how I am doing with being in India. I must say, I have been challenged a great deal in being here. First, most places do not have A/C and this is hard for me. It is hot and humid here and, as many of you know, I do not handle humidity well and neither does my hair :-) I am slowly adjusting and have had a fairly good attitude about pretty much sweating most of the time, especially when I move (at all). Fortunately, it has cooled down at night to 87-88 degrees in my room instead of the 88-90 degrees it was the first two nights. Second, I have had a harder time adjusting to the culture here than other countries I have been to. I do love it so far, but it is a hard adjustment. On a happier note, so far I have not gotten sick, praise the Lord! I have not been terribly adventurous with my eating and was advised by Sunayna (a social worker for the firm) that I should not be adventurous with what I eat and perhaps I will take her advice!

On another note, I know that some people were having trouble subscribing to my blog, but that is working now if you were interested in getting an e-mail when I update rather than having to check off and on. I appreciate you all and your interest in my travels. I would love to hear from you via comment or e-mail! Until next time . . .

One of These Things is Not Like the Others

2010-06-05T08:14:00.000-07:00

After about twenty-six hours, over 8,000 miles, three continents, and a three and a half hour car ride, I arrived in Pune, India at 6am this morning. I would say my travels here were mostly uneventful, except my last flight from Frankfurt, Germany to Mumbai.

When it was time for us to board our flight, everyone got up and went to the gate. After fighting my way to get onto the plane, I began looking for my seat, 24k. I soon, with a bit of wandering back and forth and some help, discovered that I actually had a window seat in business class for this flight. After double checking my ticket and seeing that this was truly my seat, I settled in to enjoy the flight. What a blessing from God! After two of three courses of dinner (I skipped dessert), I was finally able to sleep in my fully reclining seat for three and half hours! Granted, I am sure I stuck out in business class. I felt like it was one of those games of one of these things is not like the others because I think it was clear to the flight attendants (and probably everyone else) that I had never flown business class before and didn't know how everything worked up there. Nonetheless, it was a great flight!

I am now settled in Pune and ready to go. I am staying with a wonderful young woman named Rupali, who has a nice flat here (pictures to soon follow). Today consisted of unpacking, getting settled, and trying to stay awake most of the day. I even ventured to the little supermarket (very little, but amazingly well stocked) to buy a few grocery items and toothpaste. Yes, I left my toothpaste at home. I cannot say I forgot it because it was sitting out for me to put in my suitcase after I brushed my teeth Thursday morning, but I must have put it back in its proper place rather than in my suitcase where it belonged at that moment. Fortunately, I had a mini one in my carry-on bag that I could use until I purchased more this afternoon.

There is much more to tell about the awesome people I have already met, but I am half asleep as I type this and will write again soon with more details. I did sleep for a few hours first thing this morning when we arrived in Pune, but I forced myself to get up and stay up the rest of the day so I can get myself onto Indian time. More information and details will be coming soon, but for now, sleep is calling my name!

God is in Control

2010-06-02T14:42:00.000-07:00

Greetings! My name is Kara Cooper and I am leaving for India tomorrow. I know it is kinda of crazy, but if you know me well, it is really not all that shocking. I hope that through this blog you can share my journey and that this blog will be a blessing to you as well. I have never really blogged before, so this will be an interesting and wonderful journey for us all!

You may be wondering why India. The short version is: when seeking what to do with my life before graduating from the University of Arizona, God gave me the verse at the top of this blog as my calling. I will be doing what I can while there (and always) to live this verse. India has been on my heart since undergrad and I am honored that God has blessed me with the opportunity to go serve the people there!

I have spent a long time preparing for this trip and it is finally here. I am so excited. I believe that God is going to do amazing things in me, through me, and around me on this trip. I think I am as prepared as I can be for it. I have run my last few errands, packed my bags, and dealt with the police. Yes, the police. I went to leave this morning to go run my last few errands and my car had been hit in the parking lot over night. No note. No apology. Just a big dent on the back passenger door of the driver's side. Even in the midst of dealing with this unexpected little bump in my day of final preparations, God is in control and God is good. As my mom reminded me (and a few others), God knows I am leaving tomorrow and knew this was going to happen today. Nothing surprises him. Such a beautiful reminder as I get ready to travel 24 hours to a land I have never been to, experience a culture I am not familiar with, and meet so many beautiful people I have never met (but am so excited to meet). God is in control of this trip, it is his trip and I am along for the beautiful, albeit challenging, ride that is coming!

As for my car, the dent will still be there when I return and I will deal with it then. For now, I am turning my eyes towards India and the amazing adventure God has planned for me.